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Andrew Dunne, James Hewitt and Thomas Sloan have been banned as directors for their part in a series of wine investment scams. In mid-July, London's High Court banned 46-year-old Dunne and 37-year-old Thomas Sloan for 10 years, while 26-year-old Hewitt was banned for until 2012.
The DTI said: Their companies, Liquid Acquisitions and James Hewitt Associates, were investment wine companies that promised clients a fantastic return on their investment. In reality, people ended up buying wine at up to three times its true value.'
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Leading Rhne merchant and grower Paul Jaboulet An -
one of the major vineyard owners in AOC Hermitage -
is close to agreeing a deal to sell the company to Swiss financier Jean-Jacques Frey for an undisclosed sum.
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Pernod Ricard has successfully negotiated with the SPI Group to gain the worldwide distribution rights for Stolichnaya vodka (previously held by merger partner Allied Domecq). It has also intimated that it may buy the brand in the future.
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The new director of Wines of Argentina, former perfume marketer Fernando Farr, has said that the UK will probably get a dedicated Wines of Argentina office before 2007'.
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Monthly MAT breakdowns of wine sales provide an essential guide to the marketplace, giving retailers and shippers an important snapshot of where the market is heading. But not all data is collected, or made available, on a month-by-month basis; and when the long view is required - producers work to an annual cycle, for example - series based on the calendar year can provide useful additional detail. And while sales data
are pre-eminent in the short run, volume data comes into its own when a longer perspective is required. In order to build
a multidimensional picture of the UK drinks industry, incorporating on- as well as off-sales, the World Advertising Research Center (WARC) brings together numerous sources of data, including official imports and clearance statistics,
as well as household expenditure and regional breakdowns, in one convenient document. The Drink Pocket Book is published every October in association with AC Nielsen.
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Cognac Frapin and Maxxium UK's malt whisky brand Highland Park have both made additions to the very top ends of their portfolios.
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Joanne Simon and Jo Burzynska are to rejoin Harpers as South Africa and New Zealand columnists respectively.
Joanne, who was born and raised in Johannesburg, joined Harpers in 2002 as a staff writer, after a stint in Cape Town as a political reporter.
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Lindemans is continuing its partnership with ITV drama programmes with another year's sponsorship of prime-time shows.
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Two Champagne producers have said that the 2005 vintage is shaping up to be one of the best in years.
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London-based auction house Christie's is to take over the running of the Hospices de Beaune wine auction.
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Champagne Devaux, the Cte des Bar-based specialist in Pinot Noir and ros Champagne, has launched two new ros styles: Champagne Devaux, D de Devaux Le Ros and Champagne Devaux, Ros Intense, bringing the total number of pink Champagnes in the Devaux portfolio to four.
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California wine brand, Blossom Hill, is extending its portfolio with the launch of Blossom Hill Sparkling Ros and Sparkling White.
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John Hawes, the founder of award-winning Spanish specialist Laymont & Shaw, has left the company he sold to Vinoceros in 2003.
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The sale of Groupe Lanson (formerly Marne & Champagne) has moved forward significantly, and it has been revealed that there are 15 interested parties.
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AUSTRALIA
Across the continent it appears to have been an extremely good year, with the happy combination of high - indeed, record high - quantity and quality. The chief reason for this success was the absence of extremes: a comparatively mild spring and summer, and a dry, warm autumn in most regions, resulting in a healthy, ripe crop. As always there were exceptions to the rule - a little frost and hail in Western Australia and Hunter Valley, New South Wales, in the early spring and summer, continuing drought in Hunter Valley, heavy rain for a few days in Eastern Victoria, and wet weather between the picking of the whites and the reds in Western Australia and New South Wales. But the exceptions were fewer than normal, and consistently high quality across all regions and varieties is one of the hallmarks of the vintage.
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The Wine Trade Foundation is holding its annual Charity Champagne Reception at the Vintners Hall on Monday
14 November. Tickets cost 26 and include Champagne and canaps. Phone Camilla Vann at Justerini & Brooks for details: 020 7484 6400. Dress code is jacket and tie'.
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The Slow Food movement, an international non-profit association founded as a response to the standardising' effects of fast food and the frenetic pace of the fast life', has been far from slow in spreading its doctrine. In less than 20 years, what began as a small gathering of food- and wine-loving friends in the Italian town of Bra has grown to 83,000 members in 107 countries.
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How did television's latest celebrity chef end up in Dartmouth?
Back from France, we were originally looking for a small country-house hotel. Then we heard that the Horn of Plenty, a place of pilgrimage once owned by the legendary Sonia Stevenson, was on the market, but prices had doubled in the last three years and we couldn't afford it. That brought us to the West Country, and we were about to take on a restaurant in Topsham when we were offered the Carved Angel. We initially turned it down because the owner wanted too much, but he persisted and we finally agreed a deal.
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PLB has added Chianti producer Piccini to its portfolio.
PLB's Alex Canneti, commented: Piccini is one of the major suppliers of Chianti that has consistently produced an export-oriented style with good intense colour, concentration and aroma. It is an ideal fit with PLB: not only is it a family company, it also has a 12% market share in the region and so is able to supply the right volume, quality and price to PLB's customers.'
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Top wine writer Tom Stevenson has used the introduction to the third edition of his annual guide to the wine world, Wine Report 2006, to launch an attack on the Portman Group.
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