Producers - Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Friday read: The other Caucasus contender

Published: 15 December, 2023

Armenia has a thriving wine industry, as Jacopo Mazzeo discovers, but faces an uphill battle to establish itself on the world stage.

Ribera harvest battles ‘pronounced and changing climate’

Published: 06 December, 2023

Ribera del Duero is celebrating a bigger than expected harvest, with this year’s crop up by 12% and the grapes achieving optimal levels of ripeness despite being one of the ‘most complex harvests to date’.

Segmentation aims to lift critically low grape prices for Cava

Published: 04 December, 2023

The Cava DO is pinning its hopes on the evolution of aged styles in international markets as a way of lifting the average price of its grapes, which now sits at around 30 cents per kilo – over twenty times less than the price of Champagne (€7 a kilo).

English fizz enters Swedish monopoly

Published: 01 December, 2023

Hattingley Valley has become the first English wine to secure a Swedish monopoly set listing, thus guaranteeing it a certain level of distribution across a defined number of stores, after it came out top against 14 other wines in a competitive blind tasting.

FJ Gritsch winery leaves Austria’s Vinea Wachau

Published: 01 December, 2023

FJ Gritsch, the family-run Austrian winery, will leave the Wachau regional winegrowers’ association and instead classify its wines under the DAC pyramid of origin.

Unite announces rolling Chivas Brothers strike action across Scotland

Published: 29 November, 2023

Workers union Unite has today (29 November) confirmed that over 500 members at Chivas Brothers distilleries and warehouses across Scotland are set for strike action in the coming weeks.

Centre-Loire a ‘typical winegrower’s vintage’

Published: 27 November, 2023

Following a fruitful vintage the year before, 2023 was hard work for winegrowers in Centre-Loire, according to the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins du Centre (BIVC).

Friday read: Chile's female winemakers on a UK mission

Published: 24 November, 2023

Last Friday (17 November), the Women in Wine Expo organisation returned to London for a very special event, the Itata Valley wine mission.

Californian producers predict 2023 vintage will be ‘finest in years’

Published: 21 November, 2023

Following a late harvest and thus extra ripening time, Californian producers are predicting the 2023 vintage will be one of the ‘finest in years’, according to the Wine Institute – the membership board representing Californian wineries.

Plumpton College Queen’s Anniversary Prize

Published: 17 November, 2023

Plumpton College has been awarded the highest National Honour in education, a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its work in wine education and wider impact on the English and Welsh wine sector.

Loire Valley vintage impacted by ‘complex weather’

Published: 16 November, 2023

Variable weather in the Loire Valley, which frequently fluctuated between soaking wet and scorching hot, has led to varied yields across the appellation.

Seedlip founder launches first product from new Pollen Projects

Published: 15 November, 2023

Ben Branson, the de facto face of the modern low & no movement, has announced the first headline product of a brand-new venture.

New Zealand supplies back in full flow at autumn tasting

Published: 15 November, 2023

New Zealand touched down via the country’s autumn tasting in London yesterday (14 November), where winemakers were celebrating a bumper harvest in 2023 and the knock-on effect, which has provided a boost to the world’s wine supply at a time when the global crush is at an all-time low.

Diageo profit warning knocks European drinks markets

Published: 13 November, 2023

Diageo has issued an unexpected trading statement to warn that this year’s revenue and profit will be significantly lower than the group previously expected – a blow which has had a serious knock-on effect for the European drinks sector.

Global wine production lowest in 62 years

Published: 08 November, 2023

Extreme weather around the world is believed to have sent global production plunging to its lowest level since 1961, while France becomes the world's biggest wine producer, new figures suggest.

Wigan succeeds Rose at Hill-Smith Family Estates

Published: 06 November, 2023

Hill-Smith Family Estates has announced that Sam Wigan will take over the role of head winemaker from Louisa Rose ahead of the 2024 vintage.

Champagne Day 2023: Recovery for the world’s top sparkler

Published: 31 October, 2023

Champagne appears to be holding onto its status as everyone’s favourite premium sparkling wine, new figures reveal, as the category continues an export drive dating back more than 20 years.

Barcelona Wine Week aims to put Spain on the global map

Published: 30 October, 2023

Barcelona Wine Week is continuing to cement its position as the pre-eminent wine fair for Spanish wine as it prepares for a sold out 2024 event.

Lafage leads new raft of silver memberships at IWCA

Published: 30 October, 2023

Three top wineries have achieved silver member status as part of the International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) – a sustainability initiative founded in 2019 by Familia Torres of Spain and Jackson Family Wines in the US.

English bumper crop highlights capacity conundrum

Published: 27 October, 2023

A bumper crop has led to winemakers turning down grapes from growers, highlighting English wine’s capacity conundrum: there’s an insufficient number of wineries to produce wine from the exponential growth of vineyards.