Blogs

Great design can transform wines’ fortunes – so why do so many ignore its potential?

Published: 19 August, 2019

Advertising spend in the wine sector is a fraction of that for beer, so brand and packaging identity have to work especially hard to influence consumer decision-making, says Rowena Curlewis, CEO of drinks design specialist Denomination

Ines Salpico: Portugal’s quiet wine revolution

Published: 30 May, 2019

London once again became the epicentre of the natural wine scene during the 2019 edition of the Real Wine Fair (RWF) earlier this month.

Teetotal for a year: why waking up to low and no is the trade's biggest challenge

Published: 30 January, 2019

The driest month of the year is almost over. But as the trend for drinking less but better – or not at all – continues into 2019, many consumers will be planning to moderate well into February and beyond. Changing drinking habits is something we can no longer ignore, says Hugh Jones, former prestige sale manager at Mentzendorff and now head of sales at Lucky Saint, which produces a 0.5% beer. Reporting for Harpers, Jones explains why he has vowed to go teetotal for a year with the aim of exploring what trade needs to do to stay relevant – while also making the most of the opportunities in the ever-evolving drinks industry.

Neil Anderson's Key Trends for 2019

Published: 28 January, 2019

Kingsland Drinks’ marketing director Neil Anderson gives his view on eight trends that will impact the wine industry through the coming year

Will UK ‘bottle-ists’ ever accept wine in a can?

Published: 02 January, 2019

Rowena Curlewis, CEO of drinks design specialist Denomination, urges winemakers to stop bottling it and embrace new packaging formats and sizes

Madeira: Bringing it all back home with Archie McDiarmid

Published: 20 August, 2018

Barbeito Madeira through their UK importer, Raymond Reynolds, run the hugely successful #MadeiraDay competition in December each year, bringing together independent retailers from all over the UK in celebration of this outstanding fortified wine. Luvians won the 2017 edition and after being presented with our certificate at the Big Fortified Tasting earlier this year, I got the chance to fly out to the island (this Portuguese colony lies some 280 miles off the coast of Africa) to get a personal perspective on how this bewitching wine is made.

Romania's Restituted Wineries show the way

Published: 26 July, 2018

The American writer Thomas Wolfe famously warned “You can't go home again”.

Sake is not just for sushi. Master of Sake John Gauntner talks pairing possibilities from cheese to calamari

Published: 10 May, 2018

The next time you order oysters in a restaurant, why not ask for a glass of sake?

Following immersion in Riesling Downunder, Sarah Ahmed explores the variety’s potential in the UK

Published: 19 February, 2018

If the recent Riesling Riot was a litmus test, then Riesling is clearly starting to attract the cool crowd in Australia.

Hamish Gillespie: Dealing with currency in the pre-Brexit world

Published: 06 December, 2017

The impact of Brexit on sterling has been a major factor in 2017 trade. Industry insider Hamish Gillespie, finance director at North South Wines, explores how best to mitigate the downsides.