People & Opinion - Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Soapbox: Stop romanticising copper stills

Published: 11 August, 2022

Joff Curtoys, founder and creative director of Sloemotion Distillery, explains why copper stills are the spirit industry’s dirty little climate secret.

Profile: Jascots back with a vengeance

Published: 09 August, 2022

Against all odds, on-trade focused Jascots survived the pandemic and administration to emerge stronger than ever. Andrew Catchpole reports.

Tim Atkin MW: Women score in wine, too

Published: 05 August, 2022

You’ve come a long way, baby. Watching the final of the Euro 2022 women’s football tournament, I was reminded of this advertising slogan for Virginia Slims cigarettes, of all things, from the late 1960s. The brand tapped into the zeitgeist at a time when feminism and women’s rights were finally attracting the attention and wider support they deserved. The importance of sport should not be overstated, but England’s victory felt significant, not just as a one-off game, but in a wider social context.

Five minutes with Patrice Piveteau, Cognac Frapin

Published: 02 August, 2022

Jo Gilbert talks to cellarmaster Patrice Piveteau about the newest launch of Cognac Frapin’s Cigar Blend, made in its humid cellars in Grande Champagne.

Producer Q&A: Andrés Valero, Grupo Avinea, talks organic

Published: 26 July, 2022

Eighteen months into his role as head of sustainability for Grupo Avinea (Argento), Andrés Valero explains to Andrew Catchpole how organic provides a pathway into sustainability.

Jerry Lockspeiser: Lessons from the Tory leadership – are we heading into disaster?

Published: 21 July, 2022

Oh dear, perhaps it was always too much to hope for. The embarrassment of the country being led by a self-serving clown has finally timed out, but the opportunity for serious politics to be rehabilitated looks certain to be missed.

Profile: Following on from FMV

Published: 19 July, 2022

Two years on from the dismemberment of FMV, Bancroft Wines is focusing on initiating its new producers into the ‘family’ in a post-Covid world. Jo Gilbert reports.

Soapbox: Can the wine industry survive desertification?

Published: 14 July, 2022

Nenad Trifunovic, director of business development at Wine & More, reflects on the future of a sector that is already feeling the heat.

Guy Woodward: Next-level wine tastings are aiming to for the A-list

Published: 12 July, 2022

Drinks writer and editor @guyawoodward

Jerry Lockspeiser: Does the Bank of England know what it is doing?

Published: 06 July, 2022

Way back when I studied economics at university, I also studied sociology. It struck me then that the way economics is taught is deeply flawed. To call it a science, even a social science, doesn’t make any sense. Unlike scientific study of the cosmos or gravity discovering immutable laws, economics seeks to explain how and why humans do certain things.

Five minutes with Teresa Heuzenroeder, Petaluma Wines

Published: 28 June, 2022

Teresa Heuzenroeder, senior winemaker at Petaluma Wines, talks to Andrew Catchpole about the marked differences on dealing with the world’s most celebrated whites – Riesling and Chardonnay – as a winemaker.

Producer Q&A: Charles Perez, Mas Bécha

Published: 21 June, 2022

Charles Perez of Mas Bécha is passionate about his local Roussillon climate and soils, but talks up the human touch in the trilogy that constitutes terroir. Andrew Catchpole tunes in among his vines

Profile: Vineyard Productions grows a head for wine

Published: 14 June, 2022

Home to ‘creative and collaborative winemaking’, Liam Steevenson’s company Vineyard Productions takes a novel approach to its portfolio. Andrew Catchpole dropped by to discover more.

Tim Atkin MW: Albariño under a cloud

Published: 07 June, 2022

In English, it’s just drizzle. In Spanish, it’s more graphic. The literal translation of ‘calabobos’ is something that soaks fools. Rather than a downpour – the sort of weather that sends you scurrying for a doorway – it’s the kind of rain you barely notice, the stuff that drenches your clothes, drip by drip by drip.

Five minutes with Corinne Seely, winemaker at Exton Park

Published: 31 May, 2022

Jo Gilbert catches up with Corinne Seely at Exton Park about 60 Below – a sea-ageing project which aims to take English wine to new frontiers

Jerry Lockspeiser: Confused by the economy?

Published: 27 May, 2022

First Brexit, then Covid, and now a major war in Europe. The economic landscape has been knocked from side to side, then up and down, and is now lurching in the most unpredictable fashion. Managing business strategy in these circumstances is extremely tough. If dealing with known unknowns is hard, facing unknown unknowns is extraordinarily challenging.

Q&A: Gonzalo Entrecanales, Entrecanales Domecq e Hijos

Published: 24 May, 2022

Scion of a family that owns the world’s largest independent renewable energy company, Gonzalo Entrecanales recently stepped up as CEO at the now independently operated Entrecanales Domecq e Hijos wine group. Andrew Catchpole taps into his sustainable vision

Enotria’s golden milestone

Published: 17 May, 2022

As Enotria & Coe celebrates a whirlwind 50 years, Jo Gilbert catches up with a mixture of longstanding and fresher faces to look at how the company has kept abreast of evolving trends.

Guy Woodward: Wine's 'social experts'

Published: 10 May, 2022

“The people of this country have had enough of experts,” said Brexit cheerleader Michael Gove in the lead-up to that fateful vote. Disdaining the leaders of the US, China, India, Australia and every EU country, as well as the heads of the Bank of England, the IMF, IFS, CBI and the NHS – all of whom he branded as “distant” and “elitist” – Gove argued that fans of Brexit knew best when it came to the economy.

Five minutes with James Hocking, James Hocking Wines

Published: 03 May, 2022

Andrew Catchpole catches up with the specialist importer after the launch of The California List to discover what is driving interest in the Golden State’s wines.