Janet Harrison, Author at The Buyer

By Richard Siddle on July 15, 2019

Bibendum Debate: the opportunities and challenges for English wine

Can the English wine industry do no wrong? The growth figures for the last few years have been staggering with 3m extra vines expected be planted in 2019, on top of the 1.6m in 2018 and 1m in 2017. This is on top of the boom in the number of bottles of English wine being sold, with a record 15.6m in 2018. But as well as the huge opportunities there are also a number of challenges for the industry as well. All of which came up for discussion at a recent trade panel debate organised by Bibendum. Richard Siddle was there to report on a discussion between major English industry wine figures that looked at what steps are being taken to widen the category to bring in the scale of customer the sector will need if it is to have a market for all the wine being produced.

Posted In: bibendum, Denbies, english wine, Ridgeview, slider, wine, wine gb, wine producers, winemakers

Tasting: Wine

By Chris Wilson on July 14, 2019

10 Best wines from Chile: Chris Wilson’s tips for the on-trade

Chile is now one of the two most innovative winemaking countries in the world, reckons Alistair Cooper MW, who delivered a perceptive, focussed masterclass at a recent Wines of Chile tasting – backed up by a tasting of 45 wines that Cooper picked to reflect Chile’s movement towards sommelier-driven styles. It is innovation, risk-taking, old vines and the resurgence of traditional varieties (made with a modern twist) that are working so well and Chris Wilson was there for The Buyer to further whittle these down to 10 that every sommelier should have on their radar.

Posted In: chile, Chris Wilson, slider, wines of chile

Opinion

By Richard Siddle on July 12, 2019

To help make the PR story a success the trick was to keep the secret of this Anglo/French partnership a secret for as long as possible

Buyer Rewind: Roza Barton’s Best Campaign & one I wish I’d done…

If you have a good idea once, then there’s no harm in repeating it. Which is why we are pleased to take this week’s trip down memory lane to when we asked different leading figures in the wine PR industry to name the campaign they were most of, and the PR campaign they wish they had done. Here Rosamund (known as ‘Roza’ to one and all) Barton of R&R Teamwork looked back on the launch of Champagne Taittinger’s first foray into English wine and the announcement it has bought a vineyard in Kent and was going to make its own English sparkling wine. It ended up being a PR triumph. She also singled out Hazel Murphy for her groundbreaking Australian UK trade trip as the campaign she wished she’d done.

Posted In: champagne, Champagne Taittinger, english wine, hatch mansfield, R&R teamwork, sparkling wine, wine

Tasting: Wine

By Stephen Vey on July 12, 2019

Buyer Rewind: Castelnau’s Hors Catégorie Tour de France cuvée

As the great carnival that is the Tour de France continues its trundle around Belgium and France so we turn back the clock to reprise a feature that shows how for the past six years Castelnau has been the official Champagne for the Tour de France, and why it decided to launch a new range of fizz called Hors Catégorie – that celebrates almost impossible mountain climbs that literally makes you reach for the skies. The second of the HC Champagnes is called CCF 2067 after the 2067 metre high Col de la Croix de Fer, so who better to review it and attend the launch than Stephen Vey a member of the Buyer team who has actually cycled the mountain and lived to tell the tale.

Posted In: Castelnau, champagne, Col de la Croix de Fer, Hors Catégorie, Stephen Vey

Opinion

By Richard Siddle on July 11, 2019

Nicole Soames: 5 storytelling ways to win over your customers

It’s the way they tell ’em! You don’t need to be a stand up comedian to tell a good story about your business, but you need to learn how to capture your audience and talk to them in ways they are going to respond to on emotional and personal basis if they are going to remember you beyond the time you spend together. Here business coach and executive training expert, Nicole Soames, chief executive of Diadem Performance gives her top five tips on storytelling.

Posted In: diadem performance, drinks marketing, nicole soames, storytelling, wine

People: Producer

By Peter Dean on July 11, 2019

Why Chemin de Moscou shows how serious Gayda is about Syrah

When the Languedoc’s Domaine Gayda got some of the world’s top wine critics to blind-taste Syrah matured in 9 different vessels in London last month, it was a ground-breaking exercise in sharing a key facet of the winemaker’s craft – how does elevage in completely different vessels alter the wine? And which is more palatable? The results were as surprising as they were useful to winemaker Vincent Chansault and winery chief Tim Ford. So what effect will the learnings have on how they are going to blend future vintages of their flagship wine, the Syrah-based Chemin de Moscou, and how will it affect sales?

Posted In: 9 vessels, Chemin de Moscou, Domaine Gayda, Languedoc, Roussillon, slider, syrah, Tim Ford, Vincent Chansault

Insight

By Richard Siddle on July 10, 2019

MUST 2019: are natural wines the most ethical & sustainable?

Considering how much of the wine market natural wines actually account for then they arguably get more than their fair share of air time. But for those that make, support and promote natural wine that is well, only, natural as these are the wines that allow winemakers to make wine in the most responsible, environmentally-friendly way possible. Factors that now mean so much more to consumers. At least that was the argument made at the recent MUST Fermenting Wine conference in Portugal, as Richard Siddle reports.

Posted In: biodynamics, isabelle legeron, must fermenting ideas, natural wine, organic wine, simon woolf, slider, wine

People: On-Trade

By Roger Jones on July 9, 2019

Vineyard’s Romain Bourger is UK Sommelier of the Year 2019

A man of many hats, The Buyer contributing editor and chef at large, Roger Jones was once again a judge at the Champagne Taittinger UK Sommelier of the Year 2019 finals. Jones was sitting on a panel that included previous winners of the award such as Clement Robert MS, Kathrine Larsen, Laura Rhys MS, Xavier Rousset MS and Ronan Rayburn MS, and saw Vineyard Hotel head sommelier Romain Bourger deliver a faultless display to land himself the crown of Champagne Taittinger UK Sommelier of the Year award on his sixth time of asking. For the Vineyard Hotel this is the fourth winner that they have nurtured.

Posted In: roger jones, Romain Bourger, Sommelier of the Year, Taittinger, the vineyard

People People: Supplier

By Richard Siddle on July 9, 2019

Christelle Guibert on re-inventing the IWSC for producers & judges

With so many wine competitions and award initiatives around the world it can be hard for any event to stand out even if, like the International Wine & Spirit Competition, you are celebrating your 50th anniversary. Christelle Guibert, the new chief executive of for fine wines and spirits at The Conversion Group, owners of the IWSC, explains some of the radical steps she has taken to shake up the event and make it as relevant as possible to wine producers around the world and buyers in different channels of the professional wine industry.

Posted In: iwsc, wine, wine competition, wine event, wine producers, wine tasting

Tasting: Wine

By David Kermode on July 9, 2019

Fresh thinking: Paula Fandiño the innovator of Mar de Frades

If you thought that all Albariño is pretty much the same and that nothing much changes in Rias Baixas then you haven’t met Paula Fandiño, chief winemaker at Mar de Frades. Her innovations include the region’s first sparkling Albariño, a successful three vintages of Godello, not forgetting the estate’s blue bottles with temperature-sensitive labels. While tasting through the new range, David Kermode also hears about a granite tank and a new scheme to pay grape growers according to the level of acidity in the grapes – all to keep things nice and fresh.

Posted In: albarino, David Kermode, Godello, Mar de Frades, Paula Fandiño, Rias Baixas, Spain, spanish wine

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