In place of strife
21 Jun 2005
The French Minister of Agriculture, Dominique Bussereau, must wonder what he did to upset his boss, Jacques Chirac. After all, it was Chirac who handed him what must be the least enviable portfolio of any minister in Europe since Barbara Castle...

View issue Harpers, 24 June 2005

Eunuch propositions
20 Jun 2005
The following matter is so trivial when compared to the pressing problems the globe faces that it will hardly send shock waves through the nation; but it might – and such is my vague hope – cause some of the editors...

View issue Harpers, 24 June 2005

The City
20 Jun 2005
What consumer spending slowdown? That might well be the question posed by Majestic Wine’s latest annual figures. ...

View issue Harpers, 24 June 2005

Uncorked: Majestic results
20 Jun 2005
The remaining results and the National Trophy shortlist will be released at the IWSC’s Showcase Tasting Day, taking place on Wednesday 20 July 2005 at the Watermen’s Hall in the City of London. ...

View issue 17 June 2005

Chianti chiaroscuro
16 Jun 2005
We toured the Chianti Classico zone a couple of weeks ago and were treated to some pretty vehement opinions on the subject of the recently announced merger of the two Chianti Classico consortia (see ‘Chianti Classico Consortia back together again’, Harpers,...

View issue 10 June 2005

Loose lips sink shops
16 Jun 2005
Have you been wondering where Grant Ramage, former senior wine buyer for Oddbins, has been hiding over the past few months? Well let me enlighten you: he’s alive and well and living in Melbourne, where he’s been hired as a key...

View issue 17 June 2005

The City
14 Jun 2005
While Brussels and its Eurocrats are decrying the French and Dutch rejections of the European constitution, a measure of relief is being felt in the boardrooms of Europe’s major drinks producers. ...

View issue 17 June 2005

Hanging in there
09 Jun 2005
It has been confirmed. Wine, as we know it, is finished. By ‘we’, I mean those of us who believe wine should be an elegant, complex liquid composed of subtle flavours, balanced on a knife’s edge of nuance and style. Oh,...

Uncorked - Pernod and Diageo – again
09 Jun 2005
Well, well, well. Pernod and Diageo are at it again, carving up the drinks industry. We’ve all been wondering what Diageo was going to do regarding the carve-up of Allied Domecq. A lot of the smart money was on getting behind...

View issue 10 June 2005

Everyday big headaches
09 Jun 2005
The fact that Allied Domecq has been a relatively big player in the UK Scotch whisky market with Teacher’s Highland Cream and Laphroaig single malt was clearly not its main attraction for Pernod Ricard. Quite the contrary, one imagines. ...

View issue 10 June 2005