Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Nyetimber predicts bumper harvest

Published: 20 August, 2025

English sparkling wine producer Nyetimber says it is expecting a top-quality 2025 vintage following a warm and sunny spring, then a hot and dry June.

First cask filled at new Eden Mill distillery

Published: 09 April, 2025

Independent St Andrews distiller Eden Mill has announced the commencement of production at its new distillery, based astride the Eden Estuary a short journey north of the famed university town.

British wine producers celebrate ‘small but good quality crop’ after difficult vintage

Published: 19 December, 2024

Following a challenging growing season, beset with “recurrent rainfall and higher disease pressure”, UK wineries are nonetheless relatively optimistic that 2024 will deliver wines with “a high level of phenolic ripeness” – a concomitant of longer hang times due to the late harvest period.

Jerry Lockspeiser: More sex please, we’re British

Published: 17 December, 2024

We need to be innovative to solve the many challenges facing the UK wine trade. Well, more sex might just be the answer. This could be very good news, being not only pleasurable but without cost to anyone’s business.

From Port wine to table wine

Published: 22 November, 2024

Jo Gilbert embarks on a deep dive into Douro producers’ dual strategies for both table and fortified wines as a way of adapting to market demands and preserving the region’s winemaking heritage.

Domaine Bousquet ramps up sustainability achievements in report update

Published: 16 October, 2024

Sustainability leader Domaine Bousquet has released a half-year update to its inaugural sustainability impact report, detailing a significant increase in the production of lightweight bottles and recycled waste.

New limits on Etna to control invasive investment

Published: 02 December, 2022

New moves to limit Etna DOC (PDO) wine production volumes have been designed to maintain and control average grape prices, as a way of preserving the Sicilian mountain’s wine economy, its environment and viticultural heritage, the Etna DOC wine board has said.

Cramele Recas rolls out PET trial

Published: 25 November, 2022

Romanian winery Cramele Recas has officially launched its Recycled PET Multibarrier Bottles Project, as it tests the waters of alt formats with customers – and with the aim of eventually bringing a full-scale launch to market.

Ventoux whites look to climb new heights

Published: 27 October, 2022

The Ventoux region – home to the one of the most recognisable landmarks of the Tour de France – is leaning into its white production as it unveils its plans for growth in the UK.

Chapel Down to produce two million bottles from 2022

Published: 17 October, 2022

The UK's largest winery has published an update on vintage 2022 in southern England, celebrating “both the exceptional grape quality and yield”.

Sud de France – register now

Published: 07 October, 2022

Registrations are now open for the Sud de France Top 100 Discovery tasting – Part II – where members of the trade are invited to meet producers and winemakers.

Producer Q&A: Gabriel Asseily, Château Biac

Published: 25 August, 2022

Gabriel Asseily, co-owner and head of production at Château Biac, talks Andrew Catchpole through the challenges and triumphs of swapping a cosmopolitan life in London to head up a family-bought estate in Côtes de Bordeaux.

Global wine exports reach record high

Published: 03 May, 2022

This year 2021 saw a partial recovery of global consumption after the doldrums of 2020, the OIV said in its latest update. However, 2022’s outlook is looking increasingly uncertain due to the turbulence posed by the global supply chain crisis, the war in Ukraine and mounting energy prices.

Cotswolds Distillery announces plans for 'major expansion'

Published: 01 February, 2022

Leading craft spirit producer Cotswolds Distillery has unveiled plans to construct a new dedicated distillery for its whisky, allowing the firm to dramatically increase production.

Long read: Organic wine, climate crisis and what it means for brand identity

Published: 04 November, 2021

With COP26 pressing the urgency for action on climate crisis, Denomination’s CEO Rowena Curlewis stresses the need for producers to build change into their business strategies and examines what this means for packaging and identity.

When in Rome implements climate footprint labels

Published: 11 October, 2021

When in Rome, the Stroud-based wine company, has revealed that it has become the first wine brand in the UK to implement a climate footprint label on its packaging.

France Report: The Rhône’s great whites

Published: 11 October, 2021

A fresher, technology-driven approach to white wine in the Rhône is helping producers in both the north and south of the region to find an audience, as Simon Woods reports.

Champagne sets an available yield of 10,000kg of grapes per ha

Published: 26 July, 2021

The Comité Champagne’s executive board has decreed an available yield of 10,000kg of grapes per hectare (ha) for this year’s harvest.

Talking up organic

Published: 13 July, 2021

Argentina is well placed to lead the charge in organic wines, with Malbec as an ever-popular ‘in’. Harpers talks to a couple of pioneers who are determined to make this happen