Subscriber login Close [x]
remember me
You are not logged in.

The week that was

Published:  13 July, 2018

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, here’s a review of the top online news, analysis, opinions and features.



Top stories: This week saw the annual International Wine Challenge Awards dinner touch down in London’s Grosvenor Park Hotel to toast the great and the good of the UK wine industry.

Harpers was in attendance to present the winners of our magazine-sponsored Large Agent medal, which went to the very deserving Liberty Wines.

Harpers was also present at a major Climate Change Leadership Summit in Oporto on 6 July to discover the launch of the Porto Protocol, a far reaching initiative designed to enable the wine trade to minimise the impact of global warming – with former US president Barack Obama sitting on the panel. 

Elsewhere, we reported on the unfortunate business of yet another large-scale fraud in France – much of it believed to have been uncovered in the east of France in Provence.

This is the second to rock the region following the arrest of Guillaume Ryckwaert, CEO of France’s formerly largest bulk wine negociant Raphaël Michel.

While Ryckwaert stands accused of passing off cheap wine from outside the Rhône Valley as Côtes du Rhône AOC as well as wine from as Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the latest scandal involves passing off Spanish and EU wine as French, much of it rosé.

And for better or worse, Tim Atkin MW proved the influence Robert Parker is still alive and well.

The Harpers’ columnist’s latest piece stirred up plenty debate online following its publication, with readers debating the legacy of the US wine critics’ 25 year career.

Analysis and Insights: The Hot 50 is the much-anticipated annual list from Harpers on the hospitality industry’s movers and shakers, dubbed ‘on-trade heroes’ on the front page of this month’s magazine.

While there are countless numbers in the on-trade who work tirelessly to champion the drinks list in our nation’s bars and restaurants, this list represents what we believe are the key influencers who have done most to raise the bar and deliver an outstanding combination of quality, service and leadership.

Not to be our outshone by our starry list of on-trade influnencers, Lisa Riley examined the equally important issue of equal pay in the wine trade, while looking at best practice and how not to discriminate.

People and Opinion: This week, we looked at the divisive Measure C, currently stirring up debate in Napa.

Columnist Guy Woodward looked at the shifting local views to winemaking in the area and asked whether the region, which once saw viticulture as the “highest and best use” of the land, is now in need of protection from viticulture.

And following an impassioned defence of Robert Parker by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, editor-in-chief of Robert Parker Wine Advocate, Tim Atkin MW looked at the legacy of a critic who still manages ignite heated discussions, 25 years or more since he started out.