Published: 14 November, 2023
I've been trying to figure out just why I’m so instinctively hostile to celebrity wines. Ultimately, I suspect it’s an inherent aversion to smug egotists enjoying gushing media coverage and immediate space on supermarket shelves despite a complete lack of winemaking credentials. I also suspect I’m not alone in this stance. But journalistic rigour demands that I essay a more objective appraisal of the worth of such wines to the industry, so in a bid to get over myself, here goes…
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Published: 10 November, 2023
The WineBarn’s multiple award-winning founder Iris Ellmann – an early champion of dry German whites and Spätburgunder in the UK – makes the case for somms to stick with specialist importers.
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Published: 04 January, 2023
The year 2022 certainly had its challenges, with businesses struggling to make ends meet amid a soaring cost-of-living – and trading – crisis. However, one business is celebrating a bumper festive period, with last month offering up the best December in the company’s 30-year history.
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Published: 28 September, 2022
Waitrose is doubling down on its strategy of offering ‘something for everyone’ at all price points, with a mixture of promotions and everyday low-price sales remaining key to the retailer’s approach this autumn in store and through Waitrose Cellar.
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As we hover on the edge of a possible recession, with inflation reaching a 40-year year high in June, it’s no surprise that UK consumers are tightening their belts.
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Published: 26 January, 2022
In the first of a regular look at the multiples, Andrew Catchpole sizes up the general health of the sector.
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Many decades ago, I studied economics at university. The difference between theory and practice bothered me. All too often the first didn’t seem to describe the latter, let alone explain it. The problem was usually people – they simply didn’t behave as the theory said they should.
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Sales of alcohol online have remained strong despite the fuller opening of the on-trade, signalling how buying BWS online has become a way of life during the pandemic, as Jo Gilbert reports.
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Published: 17 March, 2021
Fine wine investment enjoyed a growing reputation for resilience during the ups and downs of Covid. Chloe Ashton, COO at Wine Lister, takes a closer look at the evolution of this ever-changing market.
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Published: 04 February, 2021
When it comes to buying wine, the Welsh are the most sophisticated while the English hunt for a bargain, according to data which aims to map the buying behaviours of UK drinkers.
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Published: 11 August, 2020
The extraordinary upward curve in online wine and spirit sales appears to be flattening, suggests the latest data from Wine-Searcher.
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Published: 26 March, 2020
Argentina is upping its game to become a major player in boutique bulk, as Chris Wilson reports.
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Published: 17 March, 2020
Majestic Wine has realised a statement saying “shelves will stay stacked with wine” after customer stockpiling drove dramatic increases in demand for wines over the weekend.
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Published: 12 December, 2019
In a new series we get under the skin of wine buyers from across the trade, quizzing importers, restaurants, independents and wholesalers about how they got into buying, what informs their day-to-day decisions and what tips they’d offer newcomers.
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Published: 02 December, 2019
Over three-quarters of UK grocery buyers have made buying decisions based on a brand’s environmental policies in the last year, new research from data insights consultancy Kantar has revealed.
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Published: 17 September, 2019
Speaking to independent merchants on the September tasting circuit it’s clear that their minds have already turned to Christmas and what is for them the busiest time of the year.
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Published: 17 September, 2019
Sometimes the best ideas are the most straight-forward ones; at least that’s the hope of Solano Peña-Lenzi from specialist wine importer Hispamerchants.
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Published: 13 August, 2019
With a new chief executive at the helm, Andrew Catchpole visits The Wine Society to discover what’s up at this venerable members’ merchant
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Published: 29 October, 2018
As summer slides inexorably into autumn, we Brits start ringing the seasonal changes. Light cotton shirts give way to warm sweaters, then the coats come out of seasonal hibernation. Afterwards there’s the annual dither about whether or not to switch the central heating on yet. Before you know it they’ll be playing Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas on a continuous loop in every shopping mall and supermarket between Land’s End and John O’Groats and offering deals on anything from Play Station consoles to family-sized boxes of Quality Street.
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Enotria&Coe has appointed Ivan Dixon as its new head of spirits buyer.
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