Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Strong support for return of physical tastings

Published: 13 July, 2020

Some 85% of wine professionals have said “yes” to wine tastings in response to a survey organised by leading UK wine PR agencies and generic bodies.

Economics of on-trade supply have “hit a brick wall”

Published: 10 July, 2020

The Covid-19 crisis has stripped bare the precarious economic situation of the on-trade and its supply-side, with a correction in the market necessary to improve profitability.

Wines from Spain London tasting postponed again

Published: 09 July, 2020

London’s annual Wines from Spain trade tasting has been pushed back once again, with its revised September date now pulled in the face of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

Jerry Lockspieser: looking in the rear view mirror at 30 years in wine (part 1)

Published: 30 June, 2020

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.

Waking up to the whiteness of the trade

Published: 25 June, 2020

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.

AI proving ‘most exciting catalyser’ of wine innovation

Published: 18 June, 2020

The advance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) software is by far the most exciting catalyser of innovation in the wine industry, according to speakers at an Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) webinar held yesterday (17 June).

European neighbours offer UK trade signs of post-lockdown optimism

Published: 11 June, 2020

Wine consumption in some of the UK’s nearest neighbouring markets looks to be steady, with consumers maintaining overall wine consumption as lockdowns ease.

Nick Juby passes away

Published: 19 May, 2020

Popular trade figure Nick Juby has passed away, losing his battle with cancer.

Lack of global sustainability standard impeding consumer buy-in

Published: 18 May, 2020

The absence of a coherent, joined-up global standard to measure producers’ progress on sustainability risks undermining communication on the good progress being made by the wine industry.

Pierre Mansour, The Wine Society, on trade as the crisis escalates

Published: 19 March, 2020

Pierre Mansour, head buyer at The Wine Society, speaks to Andrew Catchpole on the immediate impact of the crisis, managing the spike in sales, supply and virtual initiatives to keep members engaged.

WSTA in pan UK-EU talks to ensure GIs protected post Brexit

Published: 13 March, 2020

By January 2021, when Brexit comes into force, WSTA, the UK’s drinks lobby group, will no longer be a member of the pan-European wine trade body, CEEV. But ahead of further UK-EU trade talks, the two bodies are uniting once more to lobby for the continued smooth trade of wine across the English Channel.

Soapbox: Nik Darlington on Brexit hubris

Published: 19 February, 2020

Our second entry in a series of topical viewpoints from the trade finds Graft Wines co-owner Nik Darlington cautioning British producers against talking up the alleged benefits of exiting the EU

Southern hemisphere wines to receive post-Brexit boost

Published: 10 February, 2020

Wines from the southern hemisphere will thrive most in post-Brexit Britain, according to the latest Wine Trade Monitor from food-and-drink communications agency Sopexa.

Spotlight on 2020: Hugh Sturges, Jeroboams

Published: 19 December, 2019

As we prepare for the new decade, Harpers will be taking the month of December to look back over 2019 and ahead to what the coming year will bring – hopefully full of revived optimism for both politics and the trade.

Spotlight on 2020: Mark Roberts, Lanchester Wines

Published: 16 December, 2019

At the 11th hour, how will a no-deal Brexit affect the wine trade?

Published: 16 October, 2019

As the UK fruit and vegetable harvest gets into full swing in the looming shadow of Brexit, headlines such as The Guardian’s ‘Tonnes of crops left to rot as farms struggle to recruit EU workers’ are becoming commonplace.

Run Bacchus fundraiser needs your support, The Benevolent says

Published: 10 July, 2019

Wine-trade charity The Benevolent is calling for more support for the runners taking part in this year’s Run Bacchus fundraising event.

CIVB brings pop-up bar to Bristol

Published: 14 May, 2019

The Conseil Interprofessionnel Du Vin De Bordeaux (CIVB) is to open its pop-up Bar Bordeaux in Bristol at the end of May – the first to be held outside London.

Looking ahead: Liam Steevenson MW, Global Wine Solutions

Published: 28 December, 2018

Once again we are catching up with the trade over the next few weeks to find out how businesses are making the most of the all-important Christmas trading period, while also looking ahead to the challenges and opportunities 2019 may bring.