Alliance Wine opens London office to grow on-trade sales

Alliance Wine is opening an office in London to boost its sales into the capital's on-trade and south east market.

Rioja needs own wine trade tasting week to compete at top end

Rioja needs to introduce its own trade tasting week, if it is to compete at the top end with Bordeaux or Burgundy, says a senior UK buyer.

Michael Simms, head sommelier at Sartoria, on a life serving wine

Harpers.co.uk talks with Michael Simms, head sommelier at Sartoria in Mayfair about how he accidently fell into training to become a top sommelier.

The art of craft gin distilling with Tom Warner and Sion Edwards

After meeting at agricultural college, Tom Warner and Sion Edwards started on separate paths in the fresh-food industry. But they soon came back together to set up their own boutique gin distillery in the Northamptonshire village of Harrington, which provides the sub-brand name of their flagship Warner Edwards gin. This is craft distilling in action, as Warner and Edwards distil, fill, number, label and wax seal every bottle by hand. Nigel Huddleston asks the questions

Harpers Awards 2014 winners announced at London's Hurlingham Club

Morrisons, Naked Wines, Bibendum, Corks Out, Vinoteca and the Chiltern Fire House were some of the big name winners announced tonight at the Harpers Awards at London's Hurlingham Club.

Hawksmoor Knightsbridge set to open in July

The Hawksmoor, one of London's favourite steak joints, will be opening a new location in Knightsbridge on Yeoman's Row on July 3, 2014.

Joel Cadbury on driving wine sales and training at Bel & Dragon Inns

Douglas Blyde talks with Joel Cadbury, founder of the Groucho private members club, about the wines he is serving up at his estate of Bel & Dragon Inns.

London Wine Fair Brewhouse

Brewhouse will be a table-top tasting devoted to small-batch, specialist and craft beers, which follows on from the successful Pop Up International Beer Competition at last year's fair, which attracted large numbers of visitors, and reflects the growing interest in craft beers from the independent and on-trade sectors as well as from the multiple grocers.

MPs get through £750k of wines, beers and spirits a year in House of Commons

MPs manage to get through £750,000 worth of alcohol a year whilst working at the House of Commons, according to media reports this week.

Buckingham Schenk adds Saint Emilion's Malet Roquefort to portfolio

France dominates the Sommelier Wine Awards 2014

France took home a total of 366 medals and commendations in this year's Sommelier Wine Awards, with nearly 100 more accolades than the runner up Italy, which took home 267.

Premium New Zealand wine commerce site launches in UK

Top New Zealand wine expert Melanie Brown is launching an e-commerce site dedicated to over 160 premium New Zealand wines for the UK market.

New Zealand winery Amisfield signs Inverarity Morton as UK agent

New Zealand winery Amisfield has returned to the UK market after a five-year absence and signed Scottish distributor Inverarity Morton as sole agent.

Mitchells & Butlers sees flat half year profits but food volume growth

Bar and restaurant chain Mitchells & Butlers has seen a sluggish first half, with pre-tax profits flat at £68 million and like for like sales up 1.1%.

Wine merchants launch Orpens cider with help of winemaker Bruce Jack

Two Irish wine merchants are launching craft cider Orpens into the UK market, with the help of renowned South African winemaker Bruce Jack.

Ibiza Ice looks to crack the sparkling wine cocktail category

Ibiza Ice is the latest brand entry in to the growing sparkling wine cocktail category with the added selling point of having only a 5.5% abv.

France still best performing wine in on-trade

On-trade wine sales fell by 2% during 2013, and stayed flat in the first quarter, according to figures compiled by CGA for the WSTA market report. In the long-term, France still remains best-performing country for wine in the on-trade. It has grown 10% in the 12 months to January 25, 2014 and now holds a 27% share of total wine sales.

Matthew Clark ramps up wine training for sales teams

Matthew Clark is bumping up its wine training for its sales team as it looks to boost its wine sales and credentials.

Merchant House to open specialist gin and rum bar in London

The London Bar Consultants are opening Merchant House in the City, which will stock super premium and rare rums as well as 250 different gins.

Matthew Clark sees wine sales rise 7%

Wine sales at on-trade wholesaler Matthew Clark have jumped by 7% in the last year, outperforming the on-trade as a whole where sales fell 13%, according to CGA.