Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

forthcoming events

Published: 23 July, 2008

8 May-19 June
Sotheby's - Regional Wine Course Spring Term - 34 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA. Contact Sotheby's Wine Department on 020 7293 6423.

By Jack Hibberd
Christian Delpeuch has controversially stepped down from his position as president of the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) in protest against the inertia shown by various groups in dealing with Bordeaux's problems.

Jackson heights

Published: 23 July, 2008

There must be some Alan Sugar-type management byword that nice men (or women) don't make it to the top. At the risk of sounding like a Martyn Lewis acolyte (he was the BBC News presenter who complained that there were not enough nice' stories in the news), Peter Jackson, the new boss at FGL Wine Estates Europe, the merged business of Foster's Beringer Blass and the Southcorp portfolio, defies many people's belief that you have to be nasty and Machiavellian to succeed corporately.

Waverley TBS returns to Hemel Hempstead

Published: 23 July, 2008

Five-and-a-half months after the Buncefield Depot explosion on 11 December, WaverleyTBS has moved back to Hemel Hempstead.

New CEO at Oddbins

Published: 23 July, 2008

Oddbins' managing director, Jacques Duley, is leaving the high street retailer with immediate effect.

The Interview - Paul Askew, chef proprietor, London Carriage Works

Published: 23 July, 2008

Paul was born in Sunderland, and moved to Liverpool when his father joined the Blue Star line as a merchant navy sea captain. He lived all over the world, as his father was stationed in various ports, then returned to catering college in the UK, followed by a spell working in the kitchen of a restaurant on the Wirral. After it was bought by the brewery Greenalls, he left to work in upstate New York for a chef agency. He came back to England for his first head chef position at Wincham Hall in Cheshire, and then became executive chef at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool in 1995. While eyeing up the London Carriage Works building he met the man who had bought it, Dave Brewitt, and joined as chef proprietor. They opened the restaurant and attached Hope Street Hotel in December 2003, and still retain control of the Philharmonic kitchen.
Suppliers include House of Townend, Boutinot, Rodney Densem, Laurent Perrier, Justerini & Brooks, Playford Ros and Inverarity Vaults.

Champagne Taittinger to stay in the family

Published: 23 July, 2008

Taittinger Champagne is set to return to the ownership of its founding family in a deal worth in excess of 600 million (410 million).

WOW summer party

Published: 23 July, 2008

Women of Wine is holding its annual summer party at Vivat Bacchus in Farringdon, London, on 21 June. Both men and women can attend, with tickets priced at 20 for members and 30 for non-members.

Profit or what?

Published: 23 July, 2008

Sounds simple enough. You're a wine producer, you want to break into the UK market and you're heartily fed up with the big, bad multiple retailer. He hogs all the margin while you practically have to mortgage your winery and sell your grandmother just to get a listing. Then fund a 2 price-off.

Which? barbecue wines

Published: 23 July, 2008

A Vergelegen Chardonnay from South Africa (9.49, Majestic) and a French Old Vines Grenache Noir from Marks & Spencer (5.49) are the top scorers and among the best buys in the Consumers' Association's Which? magazine On Test: Wines for Barbecues'.

Watch fizz space

Published: 23 July, 2008

When faced with the juggernaut that is Champagne - complete with the biggest marketing budgets in the wine world, ultra-slick PR teams and profit margins that would make most producers dance naked through their vineyards - it is easy to forget that more than half the fizz drunk in the UK doesn't hail from northeast France.

Italy forever?

Published: 23 July, 2008

Last week, the debate over how best to promote Italian wines in the UK took a giant step forward.

Georgia targets UK

Published: 23 July, 2008

This week, just two months after Russia imposed an outright ban on the importation of wines from neighbouring Georgia, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Zurab Nogaideli, was in London promoting his country's wines at a trade and press tasting held at Vinopolis.

The Interview: Michael Andrews, Train manager, The Royal Scotsman

Published: 23 July, 2008

Where did you first learn about wine?
My first job was at a fine Relais & Chateaux hotel in the West Country called Hunstrete House. It was owned by John and Thea Dupays, who also started the Bath Priory. We had hanging larders for game and served the best local produce. One of the things John loved most was wine, and at the time Hunstrete House had one of the ten best wine lists in the UK. It was a good grounding.

forthcoming events

Published: 23 July, 2008

8 May-19 June
Sotheby's - Regional Wine Course Spring Term - 34 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA. Contact Sotheby's Wine Department on 020 7293 6423.

Harpers debate: Thinking outside the box

Published: 23 July, 2008

MOTION
This House believes that what's on the outside of the bottle is more important than what's inside.'
THE PANEL
Chairman:
Christian Davis, editor, Harpers
Proposers:
Keith Lay, marketing director, Ehrmanns;
Kevin Shaw, Stranger & Stranger
Opposers:
Robin Kinahan MW, director, HwCg;
Nick Room, buyer, Waitrose
Statistician/independent witness:
Lulie Halstead, Wine Intelligence

Nielsen confirms wine sales fall

Published: 23 July, 2008

Market analyst AC Nielsen has confirmed that off-trade wine sales have struggled since the turn of the year and have recently started to fall.

New vintage sparkler from Jacob's Creek

Published: 23 July, 2008

Jacob's Creek's chief winemaker Phil Laffer has revealed that the company's first vintage sparkling wine will be released in the UK by the end of the year.

Brewers merge wine arms

Published: 23 July, 2008

Cockburn & Campbell, the wine and spirits subsidiary of London brewer Young's, and Havelock Wines, owned by Bedford brewer Charles Wells, are to merge as part of the creation of a new company to produce the two brewers' beers.

Harrods ber alles

Published: 23 July, 2008

Harrods is promoting German wines for the first time in its history. With the World Cup just days away, one-third of the London store's wine shelf space will be devoted to German wine.