Women of Wine (WOW) is holding a cheese and wine evening on 26 September at La Fromagerie in Moxton Street, London. Twelve wines will be matched with British and Continental cheeses, and there will be cheese experts on hand to offer advice and information. Email womenofwine.yahoo.
com for more information.
Tesco is expanding the fine wine fixture it introduced in March - with both the number of lines and the number of stores that stock them being increased.
Waitrose is giving the New World a boost with a New World Wine Showcase to be held in all branches from 4 to 24 September.
Zwiesel Kristallglas AG claims that rival glass company Riedel, Nachtmann and Spiegelau has misrepresented the facts of a dispute over marketing material in a recent statement to the industry.
Read more...Suggest to Mark Williamson that Waitrose is middle-class, and he quivers. It's so remarkable that it's worth saying again - and he quivers again. The phrase middle-class' is clearly a tricky one: he prefers the description people who appreciate good food and wine, regardless of what car they're driving'.
Read more...By Dawn Cran
Drinks giant, Diageo, is launching a new 16oz spirits and mixer glass into the UK on-trade to take advantage of recent figures that show footfall within the on-trade has been increasing by 12 extra visits per outlet since early 2005.
by Larry Walker
Grape growers throughout California are keeping an uneasy eye on the weather while getting ready for the 2006 harvest.
Kevin Howell has been in the licensed trade just about all his 44 years. His parents ran the White Hart, one of major pubs in Hythe High Street in Kent. After studying at Portsmouth College, he went to work in a Peter Dominic off-licence in nearby Bearsted in Kent. He then moved to the Thresher shop in Hythe, 17 years ago. Kevin is the second person to switch from manager to fracnhisee under the new Thresher franchisee scheme. He is also vice-chairman of the local chamber of commerce.
Read more...If you've survived the annual jaunt to the two major events in the wine trade calendar, the London International Wine & Spirits Fair (LIWSF) and Vinexpo, it's now time to sit back and enjoy the brief lull before the next round of exhibition hall madness. But how many of us are already planning to visit some of Europe's smaller wine fairs next year too? And are wine trade fairs an essential part of an independent wine merchant's buying strategy, or simply a waste of time and energy?
Read more...The managing director of Wines of Argentina has quit the post less than one year after taking up the reins.
Read more...Len Evans AO, OBE, oenophile
Born 1 August 1930; died 17 August 2006, aged 75
A few months ago, I visited one of Australia's leading small wineries at harvest time. A small open-top fermenter had been loaded with Shiraz the previous day: now, some 24 hours later, the must was already quite deeply coloured, but fermentation hadn't yet begun.
Read more...What do most people think of when Austria comes up in conversation? Almost certainly Mozart and Viennese Opera, maybe Wiener Schnitzel, perhaps even mountainous ski resorts, but Austrian wine is unlikely to feature. This is no great surprise, considering that Austria accounts for less than 1% of the world's total wine production, but there are some serious wines hiding away here, and those who start to include them in their Austrian experiences are unlikely to regret it.
Read more...By Max Allen
Len Evans - one of Australian wine's most important figures - died of a heart attack last week (17 August), just a few days short of his 76th birthday, and hours before the annual Hunter Valley Wine Show dinner - at which, no doubt, he would have made a typically ebullient speech.
By Ron Emler
The long-running row over who owns the Havana Club brand has reached a new intensity, with Pernod Ricard planning fresh legal action in the US against Bacardi.
With the alcohol level of wines on a seemingly inexorable rise - led by the New World, but now increasingly driven by the Old World as well - the International Wine and Spirits Competition decided to hold a debate to discuss the often controversial issues that surround high alcohol. Does high alcohol go hand in hand with high quality? Do consumers like elevated alcohol levels? What are the health issues associated with consuming wines with high alcohol levels? And can a wine of 15% ABV ever be balanced?
Read more...New marketing director at Maxxium UK
Maxxium UK has appointed Peter Mooney, 37, as marketing director. Mooney, currently international marketing manager for Scottish & Newcastle, replaces former marketing director Huw Pennell, who took on the role of Maxxium UK managing director earlier this year.
From Persia to Paarl' is the theme of the first-ever South African wine festival devoted to the Shiraz grape.
Read more...Wine Australia 2006, held in Sydney last month, concentrated on championing smaller producers. Stuart Peskett considers whether the format was a success
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