Wine brand Blue Nun is launching two major consumer sampling campaigns - with lingerie store Ann Summers and fashion retailer Dorothy Perkins. Both campaigns are targetted to reach 18- to 25-year-old females.
Read more...The decision to focus on top-of-the-market wines and increase its prices is paying off for Laurent-Perrier. The Champagne group enjoyed strong growth in the 12 months to 31 March, with operating profits up 21% to 41.3 million, and group net profit 38% ahead to 22.5 million.
Read more...Australian producer McGuigan Simeon revealed last week that it will write down the value of its wine stocks by up to AUS$20 million.
Read more...The 6 to 7 price band is booming in the UK's multiple grocers - with sales by volume up 27% in the last year.
Read more...By Jack Hibberd
The 2006 edition of The Wine Show London - which with its first event established itself as the most important consumer event in the wine trade calendar - will be 30% larger than last year, with a host of new exhibitors signed up for the four-day event (26-29 October).
By Tony Keys
We have a dream' appears to be the mantra coming out of the wine industry of the southern Australian state of Victoria. The dream, for once, is not all theoretical hyperbole; goals and aspirations, including real figures, have been included. The strategic plan for the Victorian wine industry 2006-2010 aims to:
The 2006 New Zealand harvest is the largest ever, with the figure of 185,000 tonnes beating the previous record, set in 2004, by 11%. Sauvignon Blanc accounted for around half the total, at 96,000 tonnes.
Read more...As reported in Harpers last month, South African producer KWV has bought a stake in NMK Schulz, a distributor in the Cape that handles wines such as Simonsig and Warwick, and also Stella Artois and Grolsch.
Read more...A report by action group Greenpeace claims that Champagne vineyards could be at risk following the reopening of a radioactive waste dump in the region.
Read more...A decade ago, cider had hit rock bottom. A new drinks category had emerged: the alcopop. Brands like Two Dogs and Hooch quickly made inroads into the market, and cider was the main casualty. By the turn of the millennium, alcopop sales had overtaken cider for the first time.
Read more...Port producer Symington Family Estates is currently in discussion with Beam Global Spirits & Wine regarding taking over production from rival house Cockburn's.
Read more...Constellation Brands has finally completed its C$1.22 billion (590 million) acquisition of Canadian company Vincor - with both shareholder and court approval now given.
Read more...An Australian grape grower representative has asked the federal government for a AUS$60 million bailout to prevent up to 40% of growers going out of business in the next two years.
Read more...Tuscan promise from Richards Walford
The highlight from the Richards Walford table will be the latest releases from Monte Bernardi, Panzano-in-Chianti in Tuscany. The estate was taken over two years ago by brother and sister team, Michael and Jennifer Schmelzer. Jennifer will be in London to present their 2004 Chianti Classico, 2003 Sa'etta IGT (100% Sangiovese) and 2003 Tzingana IGT (45% Merlot 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and 13% Petit Verdot. Richards Walford's range is primarily from northern Italy and its selection will also include new wines and vintages from Lombardy, Tuscany, Piedmont and Veneto.
Tables 53 and 54
France and South Africa are the big losers at Threshers since the introduction of its buy-two-get-one-free' offer.
8 May-19 June
Sotheby's - Regional Wine Course Spring Term - 34 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA. Contact Sotheby's Wine Department on 020 7293 6423.
By Jack Hibberd
Christian Delpeuch has controversially stepped down from his position as president of the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) in protest against the inertia shown by various groups in dealing with Bordeaux's problems.
There must be some Alan Sugar-type management byword that nice men (or women) don't make it to the top. At the risk of sounding like a Martyn Lewis acolyte (he was the BBC News presenter who complained that there were not enough nice' stories in the news), Peter Jackson, the new boss at FGL Wine Estates Europe, the merged business of Foster's Beringer Blass and the Southcorp portfolio, defies many people's belief that you have to be nasty and Machiavellian to succeed corporately.
Read more...Five-and-a-half months after the Buncefield Depot explosion on 11 December, WaverleyTBS has moved back to Hemel Hempstead.
Read more...Oddbins' managing director, Jacques Duley, is leaving the high street retailer with immediate effect.
