News - Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Drinks Americas bags Olifant

Published: 16 January, 2009

US spirits firm Drinks Americas has completed the acquisition of the Olifant vodka brand.

Rare Grange at Barossa auction

Published: 16 January, 2009

A collection of limited-release and rare Penfolds wines will be sold at the biennial Barossa Vintage Festival Rare Wine Auction in Australia.

Alcohol number one in festive online sales

Published: 16 January, 2009

People turned to the internet last Christmas for the best discounted alcohol deals, according to new research released by online specialists, IMRG.

Solar energy scheme for Constellation

Published: 16 January, 2009

Constellation Brands has begun installing what it claims is the world's largest solar energy system in a winery, at Gonzales in California.

Chablis Wine Award winners announced

Published: 16 January, 2009

The winners of the 23rd Annual Chablis Wine Awards have been announced following the judging of over 300 wines from four appellations to reward the best wines of the 2006 and 2007 harvests.

Burgundy favourite makes on-trade debut

Published: 15 January, 2009

Blason de Bourgogne has made its on-trade debut, almost seven years after it first appeared in the UK take-home market.

Rosé sales to lead growth in UK

Published: 14 January, 2009

Rosé sales will be the powerhouse in the UK wine market over the next five years, according to research commissioned by Vinexpo.

Tesco has poor Christmas

Published: 14 January, 2009

Tesco has reported its worst Christmas sales performance since the last recesssion, as the discounters continue to make gains in the UK market.

With wine and spirits activity slowing to its seasonal drip, it looks like there is no escape from the recession for the industry. But it is not the reduced activity, which is likely to have an adverse impact on smaller companies.

Constellation dumps value spirits brands

Published: 13 January, 2009

Constellation Brands is selling its value spirits business to New Orleans-based Sazerac for $334 million.

Wines in the Press, January 10-11

Published: 13 January, 2009

The Observer

Wetherspoons boss's warning over pub debts

Published: 12 January, 2009

Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin has warned that private equity-owned pubcos are too burdened with debt to invest in their struggling estates.

Letter January 9

Published: 12 January, 2009

There's a silver lining to every cloud, or so the saying goes. This new year, in my opinion, is going to be a fantastic year for those with burnt thumbs from unfriendly, 'human driven' and down trodden stocks and shares to diversify their investment portfolios (i.e. spread their risk) and stick some of their hard earned money into one of the oldest investment asset classes - fine wine.

Bullish Christmas sales a boost to the industry

Published: 09 January, 2009

Wine retailers are bullish about their Christmas sales, with early indications suggesting that a late surge may have compensated for a sluggish start to the festive period, according to a report in today's issue of Harpers.

Mount and Paul set up consultancy business

Published: 09 January, 2009

Former Western Wines boss Mike Paul and Somerfield wine supremo Angela Mount have joined forces to form a new wine business consultancy.

Constellation's European sales take a hit

Published: 09 January, 2009

Constellation has admitted that branded wine sales in Europe fell by 11% in its third financial quarter.

Divine Proportion

Published: 09 January, 2009

Since the Renaissance, many artists and architects have proportioned their works to approximate the golden ratio - especially in the form of the golden rectangle, in which the ratio of the longer side to the shorter is the golden ratio. The rationale behind it is the belief that this proportion is organic, universal, harmonic and aesthetically pleasing. Indeed, being evident everywhere in the universe (in fact, many things around us can be expressed in this ratio), divine proportion (which is also called Golden ratio, divine section, golden cut and mean of Phidias) is probably the most known law of proportion which can dramatically improve the communication of your design.

Weak pound buoys UK's fine wine auction market

Published: 08 January, 2009

Auctions of fine and rare wines in the UK are bucking a global downward trend as international buyers move their trading to London to take advantage of the weak pound.