PLB Beer picks up new accounts

PLB's Beer Division has won new listings in Sainsbury's and Booker C&C for Summer Lightning - the Premium Bottled Ale from Hop Back Brewery, which is represented by PLB in the Off-Trade.

Absolut Vodka sale reaches completion

Pernod Ricard's purchase of Vin & Sprit (V&S), the company that sells Absolut Vodka, has been completed.

Russian Standard Vodka Launches in Taiwan

Russian Standard Vodka has announced the official launch of its Russian Standard Original brand in Taiwan.

Guala Closures Group Sponsors ISI

Guala Closures Group has entered into a sponsorship programme with the International Screwcap Initiative (ISI).

The Sunday Times

English wine should be "top of your list if you're feeling even faintly patriotic," Joanna Simon feels. "Quality across the board has been rising steadily," she adds, but consumers can expect to pay for the experience. The 2006 Bacchus Reserve Chapel Down (12.99, Selfridges) is a "delicious, tangy, floral, passion fruit-flavoured" wine.

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Enotria does on-trade deal with Wheeler Cellars

The directors of Colchester Wine Ltd. are pleased to announce that their On-trade wine supply business, trading as "Wheeler Cellars" (formally the Trade Division of Lay and Wheeler), and their Agency business, trading as "Select Vineyards", will join forces with the highly successful Enotria wine distribution company with effect from Monday 21st July 2008.

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Blackthorn targets 'down-to-earth blokes'

The Gaymer Cider Company is to invest £1.2 million in its Blackthorn campaign which looks to engage with its target market of 'down-to-earth blokes'.

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The Sunday Telegraph

This week Atkins joins MacQuitty with her own assessment of alternative wine packaging and in particular the pouch, which "is a plastic, silvery, space-age thing with a tap in the top". The 1.5-litre 2007 Chenin-Chardonnay Arniston Bay (9.79, Tesco) is "simple and light, but a perfectly palatable white, with some crisp, green apple fruit". As long as you don't expect the world, Atkins has good things to say about the pouch. One word of warning from her though as "no one is putting classed-growth Claret in a pouch, just yet".

The Sunday Express

Jamie Goode is thinking of our health this week as he touches on the subject of low-alcohol wines. "There are times when something a little lower in calories or alcohol is required," he says. One of his more interesting recommendations is the 2006 McGuigan Shiraz Lower Alcohol (6.19, Tesco). "Aussie Shiraz normally packs a punch like an angry kangaroo," he warns, "[but] there's no doubting its heritage" when you taste this low-alcohol and reduced calorie version.

Financial Times

Jancis Robinson MW is thinking pink this week. "Perhaps the most visible change in what goes into wine glasses over the past few years has been the newly respectable status of pink wine, even for men." And what should we be drinking, pray tell? The 2007 Chinon Ros Chteau de Ligr (8.90, Yapp Bros) features as does the 2007 Les Parcelles Ros Foncaussade (5.69, Waitrose), which is "a wine that actually has character".

The Observer

"Let's hear it for Cabernet Franc, a grape that is usually regarded as the least interesting of the three major red Bordeaux varieties," says Tim Atkin MW. Often used in the Gironde to perfume red blends, it is only in the Loire Valley where the grape gets solo billing, he adds. The grape's style "varies from light and fruity to rich and profound" but it is always good value making chilled Cabernet Franc one of Atkin's "favourite summer wine styles". The 2006 Cabernet Franc Raats, Stellenbosch (17.99, Alliance Wines) merits a mention for its "subtle perfume, sleek oak and polished tannins". Atkin also highlights the "complex, silky" 2001 Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos, Charles Joguet (13.99, Majestic).

The Sunday Express

"Strawberries are the ultimate summertime treat," says Jamie Goode and his wine selections are intended to reflect this. His first choice is "utterly delicious", if slightly predictable - it is the 2007 Shiraz Ros Casillero del Diablo (5.99, widely available). Next up from Britain's best-known wine blogger is the 2006 Carmenere Luis Felipe Edwards (6.19, Tesco), which gains plaudits for its "deliciously intense, dark-fruited" nature. The "blush-coloured" 2007 Syrah Ros from Santa Julia (5.19, Somerfield) also makes an appearance.

The Independent

Supermarkets are beginning to catch on to the biodynamic craze as consumers develop a taste for wines free from pesticides, says Anthony Rose. There is still some scepticism around the subject, he admits, but believes it is healthy as "it questions the practices and the effects without swallowing them hook, line and sinker". And whether or not you feel burying a bull's horn in a vineyard will improve the taste of its wine, there are still some great recommendations this week. The "stylish" 2007 Watervale Riesling KT & The Falcon (19, Berry Bros & Rudd) features as does the 2006 Sustainable Shiraz Cederburg (Waitrose, 7.50) whose "black cherry fruit is neatly rounded out with a touch of oak".