The week that was

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 25 January, 2019

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: The trade lost one of its brightest lights last week. As his long list of accomplishments attest, Gerard Basset was not only an inspiration, but a friend and mentor to many – a fact which was reflected in a fundraising initiative to publish his memoirs this week.

The fund reached its target within days.

Education continued to have a strong presence in this week’s stories emerging from the trade.

The WSET is celebrating 50 years of excellence and also reported a record number of Diploma graduates passing successfully through the rigorous exams.

Harpers also immersed itself in Australian wine, with several reports emerging from the annual Australia Trade Tasting.

Analysis and Insights: We all heard ‘experience’, ‘influencer’ and ‘uncertainty’ crop up again and again in 2018. This week we revisited these buzzwords to debunk them for 2019 and highlight the trends to look out for in the year ahead.

Elsewhere, we caught up with WSET head honcho Ian Harris to talk 50 years of pioneering wine and spirit education that has now become a global business.

Last but not least, three leading lights in the bar trade gave us the lowdown on the present and future of rum.

People and Opinion: Traveling 300 days a year for writing and judging makes Jamie Goode a difficult man to pin down. We managed to catch up with the Goode doctor to find out what makes his critical faculties tick.

Then it was on to the Sussex Downs to meet with inimitable English winemaker Peter Hall and his vines (and ewes).

And Joe Fattorini us through how to spot and cater to consumer mind-sets.

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