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Italian wines have always remained popular in the UK, with Italy regularly topping lists of wine imports by volume. As many of these importers note, this is reflected in the continued performance of the category across several key areas – particularly when it comes to more upmarket wines. Clearly, the enduring trend of premiumisation plays a role here, and especially in the on-trade, where curious consumers are looking to explore the diversity that Italy has on offer. Particularly, indigenous grapes are enjoying their time in the sun, from the re-emergence of Timorasso and Dolcetto to the more obscure (Maceratino, for example).
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Having landed the plum role at her family estate in 2008, fifth-generation Ayana has helped propel Japan’s elegant Koshu grape to greater global recognition.
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Last week two things led me to think about one of the wine trade’s most perennial questions – how can we best communicate with drinkers about wine?
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Twice a year I help to organise a wine dinner for a group of friends. For the next one, in Paris, my job is to bring the sweet wines and a selection of Grenaches. In preparation, I looked at what I have in bond and had a selection delivered to my house. Coravin in hand, I set to work.
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Ask a buyer what they think about Nero d’Avola and the chances are the words “pub wine“ or “Pizza Express“ will come up. They certainly did when anyone asked me about the variety in my time in the trade.
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At the end of my first year studying theatre at the University of Glasgow, some people were starting a wine society. I had been wine travelling with my mum and already had an interest in the topic, so I joined.
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The 2021 was our first Lindeiros vintage. La Rioja Alta is an expert in aged wines. They looked for years and years around how to make a great white wine with the potential to be aged the same as our reds. It took five years to find what was our best plot to make an aged white wine. After many experiments, in 2021 we did Lindeiros. The wine comes from Troviscoso. It’s a plot that we have in Cambados, and it is our oldest vineyard, planted in 1987, which is quite old in terms of Rías Baixas. We decided to try different vessels and materials to ferment and to age: 50% stainless steel, 25% concrete egg and 25% 500-litre, second-use French barriques. We age it for 12 months and keep it in bottle for at least one more year. 2022 was the warmest and driest vintage that we can remember in Rías Baixas. I used to think the best vintages to age white wines were fresh ones like 2021. But now I don’t think the same. After drinking very old white wines, I am realising that warm and dry years have the potential to age well because they have a lot of structure. We have the acidity even if the year is warm. If you try both, 2022 is more powerful and full bodied. We work with the same philosophy, so everything we did for 2021 and 2022 in the winery we did in the same way.
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In the fifth year of running our celebration of up-and-coming drinks industry talent, Harpers can firmly say the sector is in good hands.
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Harpers caught up with Joseph Phelps head winemaker Ryan Knoth about the producer’s new Borgo Project in St Helena.
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The English wine trade has reached a point of maturity that would have seemed unlikely just 20 years ago. English sparkling wine, produced using the traditional method, has secured critical acclaim, strong on-trade presence and a reputation for quality that now comfortably sits alongside champagne. That achievement should not be underestimated: it has validated English viticulture, attracted serious capital investment and helped build a premium image for the category.
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The new ad for Penfolds Grange is, essentially, everything that Australian wine shouldn’t be right now. Bland, weighty, pretentious, lavishly produced but devoid of place or identity. Or, as Penfolds describes it: “The shimmer of discovery lingers at the edge of perception. Vivid, layered with contrast and elusive qualities: Grange’s emotional terrain. A world in a moment.” Even Premier Estates’ horrendous You Can Almost Taste the Bush ad, banned after complaints from Wine Australia among others, did at least reference Australia.
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Against the backdrop of an incredibly challenging chapter for the drinks and hospitality sectors, Brett Fleming, MD of Armit Wines, decries a government that refuses to listen to the trade.
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Harpers caught up with Anna Patrowicz from Palestinian specialist Nabeeth Wine & Spirits to learn about the ethos behind the business and what drives the producers in its portfolio.
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Published: 29 April, 2026
Human beings – or more accurately European human beings – have been drinking grape wine for around 8,000 years. Declining consumption and the multitude of pressures on wine businesses across the western world may suggest that is about to end. It isn’t.
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Published: 28 April, 2026
Harpers caught up with the ‘hair of the dog’ mezcal brand founder, who explains why he chose to introduce artisanal mezcal to Scotland.
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Published: 23 April, 2026
How was Spiribam founded and what is the ethos of the company?
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Published: 21 April, 2026
Could you explain your view on how we can bring more people back to wine?
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Published: 16 April, 2026
Lanchester’s Chris Smith talks Andrew Catchpole through the benefits of mining carbon data – and old coal mines.
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Published: 14 April, 2026
Twenty-five years ago, when Michel Rolland was in his pomp, I was lucky enough to have dinner with him in London. I arrived early and was sitting alone at the table ordering my thoughts. Two Portuguese winemakers saw me and asked if I’d like to join them. “I’m waiting for Michel Rolland,” I told them. If I’d said I was dining with Cristiano Ronaldo, they couldn’t have been more impressed. “Would he taste our wines?” one enquired.
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Published: 09 April, 2026
The forthcoming 2024 vintage in Chianti Classico is not one producers are rushing to boast about, preferring to look ahead to 2025. But for buyers with customers looking for early-drinking wines from bankable names, it may offer something more valuable than it might appear.
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