Casillero del Diablo renews Sky Movies

Concha y Toro has announced the renewal of the Casillero del Diablo sponsorship of Sky Movies.

Sogrape appoints new MD for UK

The Sogrape Group has announced the appointment of Gonçalo Sousa Machado as its new Sogrape UK managing director.

Conviviality sales up despite restructuring

Conviviality has announced revenues were up 38% to £252m for the half-year ending November 1, despite a company restructuing following the acquisition of Matthew Clark.

Sherry Wines announces Hines retirement

The Consejo Regulador Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda, has announced the retirement of its Sherry Wines UK director, Graham Hines.

Unearth Wines Unearthed

Organisers of the Wines Unearthed initiative is calling for participants at this year’s London Wine Fair.

Cape Wine Auction: lots of lots

The AfrAsia Bank Cape Wine Auction organisers say there are 40 extraordinary once-off lots, the selling of which will benefit youth education in the South African winelands.

Cape Wine Auction dates

The organisers of the Cape Wine Auction, described as South Africa’s most successful charity fundraiser, has announced that it will take place on February 12 and 13 at Klein Constantia.

New Zealand wine exports reach record $1.5 billion high

New Zealand wine exports have reached a new record high of $1.54 billion for the 2015 year, up 14% on 2014, according to New Zealand Winegrowers.

Brand Australia posts exports jump

Wine Australia has announced that its exports have jumped 14% to AUS$2.1 billion in 2015, the highest growth in value since October 2007.

Napa wineries drop port

Three winery members of the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) have announced that they are giving up voluntarily the use of port on their fortified dessert wine labels.

BVIB goes for sustainable growth

The Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) has approved unanimously its Plan Bourgogne 2020 for managing sustainably the wine region’s production potential.

Chardonnay and Sparkling Wine Symposium

New Zealand Winegrowers has announced that Gisborne will play host to New Zealand’s first Chardonnay and Sparkling Wine Symposium next month.

WSET Educator of the Year

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust’s Educator of the Year is Chris Powell of the Local Wine School network of 23 wine schools dotted around the UK.

Napa announces exclusive online auction

The Napa Valley Vintners has announced that 25 of the lots featured in this year's Premiere Napa Valley Barrel tasting and futures auction will be offered exclusively online.

Jascots' off-line, on-trade plan boosts sales

Jascots Wine Merchants saw calendar-year turnover rise 8.5% in 2015, after closing its online consumer operation to focus on the UK on-trade.

Hambledon announces expansion

Managing director of English sparkling wine vineyard, Hambledon, Ian Kellett has announced plans to expand the estate’s facilities in response to growing demand.

Craft is not yet taking share from US Millennial wine drinkers

There is no clear evidence that craft beer and spirits are taking share from US Millennial wine drinkers, according to Christian Miller of Full Glass Research.

Producers to shape ‘untapped’ fruit wine category

The fruit wine category is a virtually untapped opportunity and producers have a hand in shaping the industry from the ground up, a winemaker tells Wine Vision 2015. 

Wine industry needs to pool knowledge to reach potential

The potential that is pent up in the wine industry can be released in the pooling of knowledge and resources between competitors, according to Adrian Bridge of Fladgate Partnership.

Wine needs to learn the language of Millennials

Targeting Millennials and speaking their language is an essential, long overdue strategy for the wine industry, according to a senior drinks analyst at Wine Vision 2015.

Champagne stirring but not yet awake to threat

Champagne is waking from its slumber in the vineyards of complacency but more needs to be done to claw back sales from other sparkling wines, according to Spiros Malandrakis of Euromonitor International. 

Kumala sponsors Botham’s charity walk in South Africa

Kumala, the leading South African wine brand is the official wine sponsor of Sir Ian Botham’s eight day charity walk across South Africa, dubbed ‘Beefy Walking the Rainbow Nation’.

Cava is optimistic about Christmas

The Consejor Regulador DO Cava, the regulatory board for Spain’s famous sparkling wine, says worldwide sales were up a 1.7% to more than 158 million in the first nine months of the year, compared with the same period in 2014.

Napa Valley wins certification mark– the first of its kind in U.S.

The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) has announced that it has obtained a Certification Mark from the US Patent and Trademark Office for the name ’Napa Valley’.

Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships 2016 opens for entries

The Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships (CSWWC) is now officially open for 2016 entries.

Accolade unveils Anakena

Accolade Wines launched its new Chilean wine brand, Anakena, at the British Tennis Champions Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall on December 4.

Treasury to give calorific values

Treasury Wine Estates has announced that it is to provide calorific values for its wines online.

Ridgeview gets Wine Guild award

Ridgeview Wine Estate’s Roberts family has been awarded the Wine Guild of the United Kingdom’s highest achievement award.

Wine Vision 2015 to challenge 'old thinking'

Wine Vision 2015 will challenge ‘old thinking’ with its focus on innovation, new routes to market and sustainability with commercial rewards, organisers said. 

ProWine China sees 25% visitor increase

Messe Düsseldorf has announced ProWine China 2015 attracted over 10,000 visitors, a 25% increase on last year.

Frizzenti extends still wines in keg range

Sparkling wine supplier Frizzenti has announced it will add nine new reds, whites and rosés to its range of still wines in keg. 

Chapel Down launches first orange wine

Chapel Down has announced the release of ‘England’s first orange wine’, Chapel Down Orange Bacchus 2014.

Domaine Zind Humbrecht moves to Gonzalez Byass UK

Domaine Zind Humbrecht has announced a change in its UK distribution by appointing Gonzalez Byass UK. 

Rhône Valley experiences 'one of the best harvests in recent years'

The Rhône Valley has experienced “one of the best harvests in recent years” and the “red wines are showing an incredible level of potential”, according to Côtes du Rhône Wines. 

Champagne tourist figures up 15% following UNESCO listing

Tourist figures in Champagne are up 15% on last year as a result of the ‘UNESCO World Heritage effect’, according to the president of the Associations Paysages du Champagne. 

Diageo sells its US wine brands and Percy Fox to Treasury

Diageo has sold its major US wine interests, plus Percy Fox in the UK, to Treasury Wine Estates.

Chapel Down sales up a third

English wine and beer producer Chapel Down Group saw sales climb 33% to £3.25m, with gross profit up 31% to £1.17m.

New sherry website

The Consejo Regulador of the Denominación de Origen Jerez- Xeres-Sherry, the regulatory body for sherry, has marked its 80th anniversary by launching a new website.

Armand de Brignac makes Bernadette Knight its CMO

Armand de Brignac Champagne has announced that Bernadette Knight is its new chief marketing officer.

Prosecco harvest report

Follador, the major premium prosecco producer, is predicting an incredibly satisfying 2015 harvest.

Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships 2015

Champagne Roederer’s Cristal Rosé 2004 is the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships’ 2015 Supreme World Champion.

Burgundy harvest is under way

The Bureau Interprofessionel des Vins de Bourgogne reports the harvest is under way and its winemakers are smiling.

Austrian wine harvest: growers relieved

The Austrian Wine Marketing Board reports that the quality of grapes for the 2015 vintage is high but yields will be average.

German journalist is Great Wine Capitals’ best blogger

Gisela Kirschstein, a journalist based in Mainz, Germany was the winner of the third annual Great Wine Capitals Guest Bloggers’ competition.

Baltics’ best sommelier is Latvia’s Raimonds Tomsons

The title of the best sommelier in the Baltic States was won last week by Raimonds Tomsons, the head sommelier Vincents restaurant in Latvia.

McKinley Vintners is UK Agent for Champagne Janisson

McKinley Vintners has become UK Agent for Champagne Janisson et Fils.

Krug – once in a lifetime experience

The champagne house Krug has announced a two-day tasting experience– including one rare bottle of Krug Private Cuvée 1915 – to be auctioned as one lot at Sotheby’s New York on September 25.

Ramón Bilbao buys high Riojan vineyard

Rioja producer Ramón Bilbao has bought what it describes as a “dream parcel” of vines in the region, and the winery’s highest altitude owned vineyard to date.

US now largest export market for New Zealand wine

The US has overtaken Australia to become New Zealand wine’s largest export market by value, according to the 2015 annual report of New Zealand Winegrowers.

Champagne versus English sparkling wine - at cricket

Champagne Pol Roger has arranged a cricket match between Champagne and  English sparkling wine.