Golden Vines Diversity Scholarship announces Taylor’s Port as major sponsor
Taylor's Port house has been awarded naming rights to the new Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Diversity Scholarships.
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Wine News Archive
The best ways to save money when buying wine duty free from France
Brexit Britain has been under new duty-free rules since January, but with lockdowns and bans on travel, many Brits don’t know what the new allowances mean and how to benefit the most.
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Is infused wine another crime to add to 19 Crimes?
Australian wine company Treasury Wine Estates is launching a Red wine infused with coffee. Could this be a shot to enlighten innovation or a crime against wine?
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2020 a tough year for Australia, but 2021 show opportunities
2020 was a year of bush fires, drought, COVID and then the Chinese slapped a horrendous duty on Australian wine.
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The Golden Vines Awards to fund Gerard Basset Wine Education Charitable Foundation
The Golden Vines Awards to fund Gerard Basset Wine Education Charitable Foundation, promotes greater diversity and inclusion within the wine trade.
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UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak budget to help the wine business
The UK government's budget this week was good for the wine trade, no duty rises, extensions on VAT, and grants to help business to re-open.
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Scotland Deposit Return Scheme, momentum grows for the delayed scheme
Scotland will be the first country in the UK to implement a Deposit Return Scheme on the 1st July 2022. The delayed scheme will offer a 20p payment for wine bottles and cans returned.
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UK road map out of Covid-19 published
The UK government published its long-awaited path out of Covid lockdown this week. The long slow release of the lockdown is hoped, alongside vaccinations, to ensure that the UK does not require another full lockdown.
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Debt the big headache for hospitality
The UK government's £50k bounce back loan scheme may have saved many businesses but will restrict bounce back recovery.
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Virgin Wines announce stock market flotation on the back of Covid-19 fuelled home delivery boom
Virgin Wines is planning to list on the AIM stock market on the 2nd March after selling 1 million cases in 2020.
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Treasury Wine Estates announces restructure amid claims it will try and stay meaningful in China
Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), one of Australia's leading wine companies with wineries in Australia and the US, announced its new company structure, while claiming that it hopes to keep a “meaningful presence” in China.
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The beginning of the end for Lockdown Britain as Government publishes road map out of Covid crisis
The government will announce on February 22nd its plans for the UK to leave lockdown and for ending all Covid-19 restrictions.
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Sutton Coldfield shop loses licence to sell alcohol after counterfeit wines found on the premises
KVK Supermarket in Sutton Coldfield lost its licence to sell alcohol after trading standards were called in when shoppers complained of strange tasting wines from Casella Brands, the people behind Yellow tail.
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Chapel Down puts Curious Brew pub business into administration
Leading UK wine producer Chapel Down has put its award winning beer business into administration to allow RCP (Risk Capital Partners) to buy the business clear of debt.
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French wine sales to the US fell by 14% in 2020
French wine sales to the US fell by 14% in 2020, due to import tariffs placed on them by the Trump presidency over US claims of subsidies to EU plane maker Airbus.
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UK Wine Merchants boom in online sales has led to a shortage of cardboard
Beige Gold is how some merchants have described cardboard. The essential packaging material for shipping bottles is in short supply.
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China continues crackdown on Australian wine with sales falling 98%
China’s crackdown on Australian wine exports has been heavy handed and dramatic with sales falling of a cliff edge. Down 98% from US$158 million in October 2020 to just US$4 million in December.
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WSET forced to stop running courses in China
The WSET has had to shut down all courses in China with immediate effect. Students who were about to take exams have been stopped mid-course.
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The London Wine Fair is going digital for 2021
The May exhibition was hoped to be a live/hybrid event, but organisers this week changed track to an online only event.
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Six new Bordeaux varieties receive final approval for planting this spring
Bordeaux will see the introduction of six new grape varieties going into the ground this spring, including Touriga Nacional and Albariño in their Bordeaux AOC and Bordeaux Superieur AOC wines.
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UK hospitality turnover drops by over 50% in 2020
The hard hit sector in 2019 was worth £133.5bn but in 2020 this had shrunk to £61.7bn
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ThirtyFifty launches new materials to help students pass the WSET course in wine L1 & L3
The L1 Flash Cards and L3 mock exam questions complete the suite of student support materials to help students excel in exams.
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Wine sales online is now a thing but delivery is a problem for some
US wine retailer wine.com saw sales rise to over $329M last year, up 119%, while sales jumped by a third for Waitrose in January, but getting deliveries is now a significant problem in lockdown Britain.
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UK drinks scene in 2020 was different but some wines and countries did very well
Over an additional £1 billion was spent on wine in retail stores in 2020, replacing the sales that normally would be in pubs and restaurants.
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Whatever happens with Brexit, European wines will become more expensive
With Brexit negotiations still ongoing, having missed a number of deadlines, some things are certain - the new paperwork for importing wines from Europe will increase costs, limit choice and hit the fine wine market hard.
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South Africa chronic oversupply could be golden news for UK drinkers
South Africa’s wine industry has had a bad Covid-19 pandemic, temporary export bans and on again, off again prohibition has resulted in a 300m litre wine lake, but who is going to drink it up?
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London enters Tier 3 as restaurants and bars close
London's new Tier 3 scheme will see bars and restaurants closed and schools closing for an extended period over the Christmas break.
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China continues to escalate trade dispute with Australia
China adds another 6.3-6.4% duty to Australian wine as it continues to complain about the dumping of Australian wine. The small increase in duty is not thought to be material considering the 107.1-212.1% duty already levied on Australian wines.
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Scotland comes out of Level 4, but restaurants and related business are starting to fail
Scotland comes out of tier 4 but the damage is already done and we are months away from any sort of normal.
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UK vineyards are in a prime position to take on apprentices, but will they?
Plumpton College has offered up to 10 spaces for their new wine apprenticeship scheme, with 95% of costs paid for by the UK government.
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China gets nasty with Australian wine imports
China has effectively banned Australian wine, coal and beef after relations between the two countries soured due to Australian calls for a full investigations into the cause of Covid-19.
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British Airways sell all, including the family silver
British Airways has been decommissioning its 747 aircraft and has been selling of the family silver, or at least the first-class glasses and crockery and drinks trolley!
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International Wine Challenge releases its awards
Supermarkets show their value in the UK, but the winners of the top trophies for each variety are not obvious and show the development of many country’s wines.
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England leaves lockdown on Wednesday, with tighter restrictions
England left lockdown on Wednesday, but tighter restrictions for half the country is no festive cheer.
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China flexes muscle to put Australian wine producers under pressure
Importers of Australian wine are cancelling orders over confusion on whether Australian wine is banned in the country.
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English Nouveau compètes with Beaujolais Nouveau
English Nouveau is being released by Sixteen Ridges Vineyard in Herefordshire and Hush Heath Estate in Kent at the same time as this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau.
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Pink Prosecco - it’s official and arriving now!
Pink Prosecco could be this Christmas's must have new drink as Aldi, Sainsbury and Freixenet all launch new wines this month.
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UK enters four-week lockdown
The pubs and restaurants shut their doors on Wednesday as England went into lockdown lite for four weeks.
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Sexual assault charges lead to resignations in the American Court of Master Sommeliers
The American Court of Master Sommeliers is in uproar after Geoff Kruth president of GuildSomm resigned over sexual assault allegations. Co-founder Fred Dame, along with 7 others, were all suspended.
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UK's 2020 grape harvest small but perfectly formed
In a year where cellar doors have been closed, a small but high-quality year could be just the thing for the UK wine industry.
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Time to get your wines for Christmas with 25% off at Tesco, follow our 6 top tips to bag a bargain
The supermarkets regularly offer 25% off all wines at this time of the year. Sainsburys has just completed its offer, while Tesco has 25% off until 5th November.
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Are we all about to enjoy the delights of South Africa?
A weak currency, a local market banned from drinking and a harvest that is both good quality and decent quantity. Is South African wine is set to over deliver on value?
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Sales results from this week show the impact on the three tier covid control plan
How badly are restaurants, pubs and bars in England being affected by the new three tier lockdown? A report compares last weeks sales with a year ago.
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UK plays whack-a-mole with Covid lockdown
The UK government's plan to avoid a second national lockdown by creating a three-tier system is lambasted as not enough by the government's own scientific advisors, while some in the hospitality industry say it goes too far.
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Liv-ex reports that investing in fine wine 10 years ago would show no return
Liv-ex, the wine investment index, announced this week that investing in wine 10 years ago would have resulted in no profit. At the same time those who invested in the 2018 vintage were most likely to have made a loss.
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Sassicaia fraudster caught with counterfeit wine worth €2 million
Fraudsters in Milan have been arrested after an investigation showing that cheap Sicilian wine was being bottled as the famous Super Tuscan Sassicaia.
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Smoke from California and Oregon fires means many grapes will go unpicked.
The Glass Fire that has destroyed 18 wineries so far is the tip of the iceberg, with many producers planning to not pick grapes because of smoke taint.
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EU set to slap $4 billion in tariffs on US wines and spirits
The WTO has granted the EU the right to put additional tariffs on the US over illegal subsidies given by the US government to Boeing.
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Scotland shuts bars and restaurants in response to rising COVID-19 cases
On Wednesday the Scottish government shut down bars and restaurants in a desperate bid to curb the rise in Covid 1-9 cases and deaths.
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California's Glass Fire claims wineries and restaurants
Wineries in Napa have been burnt by the latest wild fire to threaten the region. The fires were sparked on Sunday and fanned by flames early in the week.
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