With hospitality one of the hardest hit sectors in the wake of the pandemic, the head of the leading trade organisation has no end of crucial issues to deal with. Kate Nicholls talks strategy to Lisa Riley
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Our lives are going to be harder. Whatever it took to sell wine, bring in cash, pay bills, keep the door open will change once we open that door again. On-trade wine sales have changed and we must change with that. But where to begin?
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From Barca Velha to small-batch single varietal Douro wines by way of Clink cocktails, Luís Sottomayor gives Andrew Catchpole the lowdown on life at the helm
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One of the many reasons people like working in the wine trade is the sense of common bond. Trade outsiders may doubt how friendly people who are direct competitors can really be. But they often are. People can’t help liking and respecting each other. The bonhomie that wine engenders helps, as does admiration for the labour, love, and sheer dedication of those who make the stuff. From producers to distributors, retailers, and communicators, an unstated feeling of shared mission is in the air. Now, too, the trenches spirit that comes with having backs against the wall.
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With his iconoclastic and straight-talking approach, Sam Owens walks Andrew Catchpole through life as a moreishly modern indie
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The youngest scion of the Roux clan talks to Jo Gilbert about family expectations, restaurant no-shows and how to avoid divorce when working (and living) with your significant other during a pandemic
Insight and innovation are threaded through Quintessential Brands’ DNA. Andrew Catchpole catches up with James Lousada and Neil Anderson to find out more
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I had called a meeting – I think it was to discuss innovation. We were maybe eight people, all key players in their roles, and me, the boss. The meeting was due to start at 11am, but I was finishing another important task and I did not make it until 11.15, maybe 11.20. I made my apologies and we got underway.
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Black wine professional Magnavai Janjo urges the trade to swap discomfort for progressive conversation and sustainable steps towards greater inclusivity.
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As La Rioja Alta celebrates its 130th anniversary, and with the release of its second ever Viña Arana Gran Reserva (2014) in August, Andrew Catchpole catches up with Julio Sáenz for taste and talk over his most recent trio of Gran Reserva wines.
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The WSTA’s Miles Beale talks Andrew Catchpole through life at the trade’s lobbying body during extraordinary times
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After months of lockdown and the return to a palimpsest of normality – who would have guessed six months ago that weekend supplements would run features on how to choose the most flattering face masks for summer? – it’s understandable that the so-called Oxford vaccine has been greeted with such enthusiasm. AZD1222, developed by the university’s Jenner Institute and the drug giant AstraZeneca, certainly looks promising, even if it produces mild side effects in some users.
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Andrew Catchpole speaks with CyT’s technical director about climate change, driving Chile forward and balancing innovation with commercial reality
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In my last post I reflected on the big societal trends that created the context I worked in as a wine entrepreneur over the last 30 years. I continue here with the big trends within the world of wine itself.
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In part one of Jerry Lockspieser’s latest two-part column, our ever-insightful columnist looks at how the ‘world outside wine’ has changed and the ramifications this has had over time on the business of wine.
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Aristotle would have been great on a Zoom call. And he’d have spent the last few months bickering his wine merchant for old wooden cases too.
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I was invited to write this blog following an email I sent Harper’s editor Andrew Catchpole expressing my disappointment over the magazine’s silence on race and diversity in the UK wine industry in light of the global Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd.
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After bumping up its US expansion via a new 11,000 sq ft bar, restaurant and cafe concept in New York’s new Hudson Yards shopping mall, hospitality group D&D has had much to keep it on its toes over the past 18 months. Jo Gilbert catches up with its chairman and chief executive about fighting Covid-19 on either side of the Atlantic.
“Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle” is one of the great maxims of copywriting, but it leaves a bitter taste today for those of us involved in the on-trade. We’re not selling steaks, or sizzle.
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Asking for rational trade-offs, Vagabond’s Stephen Finch voices the on-trade’s concern over the economic impact of shut-down and the 2 metre distancing rule.
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