Global Scotch sales: Slight decline with £5.4bn exported in 2024

Figures from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) reveals that the total global export value for Scotch whisky stood at £5.4bn for 2024. This represents a slight decline of 3.7% in exports by value compared to 2023.

Oregon and Washington's winemaking coalition

Once again presenting a united front, Washington and Oregon returned to the UK on Thursday (6 February) to showcase the unique offering of the Pacific Northwest as North America’s answer to Burgundy and Bordeaux.

New Zealand pioneer Peter Babich passes away

Peter Babich, second generation head of the Babich family and a giant of the New Zealand wine industry, has passed away at the age of 92.

American whiskey shipments brought forward to protect against tariffs

Premium spirits company Luxco has brought forward its transatlantic shipping schedules of American whiskey amidst uncertainty about trade tariffs between the UK, EU and US.

Friday Read: Reviving Armenia

Justin Keay speaks to Armenian star, Zorik Gharibian, who grew up in Italy and turned his back on a successful career in fashion in order to make wine in his ancestral homeland. As the founder and winemaker of Zorah Wines, Gharibian has played a pivotal role in helping shape the country’s modern wine industry, most recently having just revived a range of once-extinct native varieties.

Cooke takes Thistledown out of Alliance

Giles Cooke MW is parting with Alliance Wine Group to take its Australian Thistledown winemaking project solo.

Wines from Spain Annual Tasting breaks new ground in London and Manchester

Leading Spanish importers are gearing up to descend on the Science Museum’s new Illuminate venue in London as well heading to Manchester for the first time this April, where 20 wineries seeking distribution will present their new offerings for the UK market.

Berkmann announces Australian portfolio expansion

Berkmann Wine Cellars has announced the additions of Kooyong from the Mornington Peninsula and South Australia’s Rieslingfreak.

Mentzendorff adds Napa Valley icon to portfolio

France makes good on its large tasting ‘gamble’

France’s increasing regional complexity has made its tasting format something of an intermittent affair in recent times, with the country’s myriad interprofessional bodies usually heading up smaller regional tastings throughout the year.

US Whiskey producers anticipate new government guidelines

The recent decision by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to set specific identity regulations for ‘American single malt whiskey’ will come into effect on Monday 19 January.

Liberty expands Spanish portfolio offerings

Liberty Wines has announced new additions to its Spanish portfolio by becoming the exclusive UK distributor for Casa Castillo from Jumilla and Celler del Roure from Valencia.

SWA highlights daily loss for HMRC of £500,000 duty

SWA chief executive has claimed the industry is “not crying wolf” over the impact of the double-digit rise in spirit duty since August 2023. According to Treasury figures, the revenue from spirits duty fell by £255m for the period running 1 August 2023 to 30 November 2024, which equates to an eye-watering half a million-pound loss in revenue every day for HMRC.

Cabrach celebrates first distillation in 170 years

A community-owned, government-supported distillery has revived the tradition of whisky making at The Cabrach estate in Speyside, a sparsely populated Highland area that hasn't produced single malt for 170 years.

King Charles reissues Royal Warrants

An eclectic list of importers, sparkling wine producers and distillers have been granted Royal Warrants by King Charles III.

Friday read: A new frontier between the vines of Cyprus

As Cyprus celebrates 800 years of its iconic sweet wine, Commandaria, a younger generation of winemakers is proving the island’s indigenous grape varieties can produce some serious dry wines too. Rebecca Pitcairn dives in.

British wine producers celebrate ‘small but good quality crop’ after difficult vintage

Following a challenging growing season, beset with “recurrent rainfall and higher disease pressure”, UK wineries are nonetheless relatively optimistic that 2024 will deliver wines with “a high level of phenolic ripeness” – a concomitant of longer hang times due to the late harvest period.

Vranken-Pommery Monopole announces major shakeup of governance board

Champagne producer Vranken-Pommery Monopole has made a number of key changes to its corporate governance, promoting Nathalie Vranken, currently deputy CEO, to the position of CEO as of today (18 December).

Enotria&Coe adds Marqués de Cáceres to its Spanish portfolio

Enotria&Coe has entered into an exclusive partnership with Rioja stalwart Marqués de Cáceres, distributing its wines to the UK off-trade.

Museum Wines expands portfolio

A leading importer of premium Cape wine has agreed to represent Hazendal, a Stellenbosch farm seeking distribution in the UK.