Harry Crowther, Author at The Buyer

By Peter Dean on December 6, 2019

How to start discovering wines from Savoie and the French Alps

One of the hottest tickets for a tasting this week was a relatively modest affair in Charing Cross’s Terroirs restaurant. The reason? Here was an opportunity to taste some 30 wines from the Savoie, Bugey, Isère, Hautes-Alpes and the Clairette de Die wine regions. With grapes used such as Mondeuse, Mollard, Persan and Etraire de la Dhui it was a sommeliers’ dream and a rare opportunity to taste a collection of these wines under one roof. Wink Lorch, who has just written a book on the subject called Wines of the French Alps orchestrated the event and here tells Peter Dean how you should go about discovering the wines of the region.

Posted In: Bugey, Clairette de Die, French Alps, Hautes-Alpes, Isère, Mondeuse, Peter Dean, Savoie, slider, Wink Lorch

Insight

By Richard Siddle on December 5, 2019

Bibendum predicts what will be the Top 10 Drinks Trends for 2020

The pace of change within the drinks industry is now so fast it can be hard to predict what is going to be on back bars and on wine lists next month never mind for the next 12 months. But if anyone can then it is national drinks distributor Bibendum which has been brave enough to stick its neck out and pick out the Top 10 drinks trends it believes we will all be talking about, buying and selling in 2020.

Posted In: bibendum, slider, wine, wine distributor, wine trends

People: Producer

By Geoffrey Dean on December 5, 2019

How Ed Carr is turning Tasmania’s House of Arras into a global brand

When Brut Elite Cuvee 1501 was adjudged to be Australia’s finest sparkling wine at this year’s Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships, it was yet another gong in a long list of awards that Tasmania-based winery House of Arras has racked up in the past 25 years. Arras winemaker Ed Carr could be forgiven for resting on his laurels, but far from it, as Geoffrey Dean found out when he met up with him for a one-on-one tasting in London. Since Carlyle Group’s purchase of Accolade Wines last year, the moves are being made for Arras to become a truly global brand, with production to increase by as much as 50% in the mid-term future.

Posted In: australia, bubbles, champagne, Ed Carr, House of Arras, slider, sparkling wine, Tasmania

Opinion

By Richard Siddle on December 4, 2019

Organic wines have become a key attraction for wine merchants and restaurants

Miles MacInnes: how to respond to the boom in organic wine sales

On the face of it organic wines can do no wrong. They tick all the environmental, sustainable and health boxes that we are told that consumers are looking for. Or do they? Miles MacInnes of Jascots Wine Merchants, which is committed to listing sustainable wines, believes anyone listing organic wines needs to have a clear reason and purpose for doing so and that often it is not the environmental credentials of organics that consumers are interested in. Here he explains the background to the boom in organic wines and how to make the most out of listing them.

Posted In: jascots wine merchants, miles macinnes, organic wine, organics, restaurants, slider, wine, wine buying, wine drinking, wine lists

Insight

By Richard Siddle on December 4, 2019

Joe Fattorini: why marketing only to millennials is a waste of money

If you have just commissioned some research to only look at how you can attract more and engage with millennial consumers then you might want to look away now. For, according to Joe Fattorini you’re wasting your money. Here, with highlights from his insightful and entertaining talk at last week’s wine2wine event in Verona, Richard Siddle explains why pooling consumers together just by their age is not the way to understand how they might behave, least of all what sort of wines they might want to buy.

Posted In: consumers, joe fattorini, millennials, wine, wine2wine

Opinion

By David Kermode on December 3, 2019

10 wines to challenge perceptions of US’s top 4 wine regions

We all have our views about wine from the USA – but are they accurate and are they based on a wide base of research? This was the premise of a fascinating wine tasting event sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture called From Sea to Shining Sea which was a series of three ‘seminars’ themed as ‘Journey through the regions’, ‘Uncovering value’ and ‘Sustainability’ all hosted by Victoria Stephens-Clarkson MW – accompanied by tastings encompassing the top four of the USA’s wine regions. David Kermode was our man at the event and here he sets the scene and picks 10 of the 24 wines on show as wines which may well challenge your preconceptions about American wine.

Posted In: American wine, Californian wine, David Kermode, new york, Oregon, USA, Victoria Stephens-Clarkson MW, Washington

People: Supplier

By Mike Turner on December 3, 2019

How Buckingham Schenk tasting gave us a ‘taste of the Med’

Mike Turner sat down with fellow wine writer and all round drinks industry rising star, Harry Crowther to ask him about Buckingham Schenk, which has recently acquired Crowther’s services to help launch its new look portfolio for next year. With Buckingham Schenk opting for a Taste of the Mediterranean-style tasting Turner wanted to know the inside track on which were the essential three wines from the portfolio…

Posted In: buckingham schenk, Mike Turner, sustainability

People People: Supplier

By Richard Siddle on December 2, 2019

Montrachet Fine Wine on driving sales: Bourgogne Week 2020

There may well be the vital festive trading period ahead of us, but for those in the fine wine world, there is arguably an even bigger yearly event just a few weeks away and the annual Bourgogne campaign, which comes to a head with Bourgogne Week. Over the next few weeks The Buyer will be interviewing a number of leading fine wine merchants to get their feel on how this vital region is doing and what the 2020 campaign has in store. First up is Montrachet Fine Wine Merchants.

Posted In: Bourgogne, Bourgogne Week, fine wine, montrachet fine wine merchants, wine

Insight

By Richard Siddle on November 30, 2019

Rodolphe Lameyse, Directeur Général de Vinexpo, Bordeaux, le 2 Mai 2019.

How Rodolphe Lameyse wants to re-invent Vinexpo in Paris 2020

It seems everyone you meet in the wine industry has an opinion about Vinexpo. And these opinions vary considerably – often down to the experience they have just had at one of the many other international wine fairs being held globally. Vinexpo has a legacy and an international footprint, however, its image over the last couple of years has taken a bit of a battering, particularly around last year’s show in Bordeaux. Which is around the time that its new chief executive, Rodolphe Lameyse, joined the business. Seven months on and he is more than ready to meet the challenge of turning around this global brand. Here he shares his new vision for Vinexpo with Richard Siddle, which is effectively going back to its roots by offering leading buyers the best quality, most effective trade exhibition for premium wine and spirits, with an experience they will look forward to going back to the following year.

Posted In: vinexpo, wine, wine events, wine exhibition, wine tasting

People People: Producer

By Richard Siddle on November 29, 2019

Liberty & Boutinot shine at IWSC Awards & Future 50 list

As well as celebrating some of the world’s current leading players in wine and spirits at last night’s International Wine & Spirit Competition awards night it was also an opportunity to look to the next generation of business talent with the announcement of the IWSC’s first Future 50 Awards list, in partnership with the WSET, to recognise those individuals around the world that they believe will be helping to shape the drinks industry in the years to come. Here are the highlights from both the IWSC awards and the Future 50 list.

Posted In: Future 50, iwsc, spirits, wine, wine awards, WSET

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