WSTA secures continued use of Customs code
02 Mar 2006
Following six months of negotiations with the European Commission, the WSTA has secured the continued use of the existing 8 Digits Customs Subheadings. The Commission had considered abolishing these codes as part of its simplification of the European Combined Nomenclature. These codes allow the trade to compare year-on-year production and sales...

View issue Harpers 3rd March 2006

Delibo signs Situ
02 Mar 2006
Delibo Fine Wines has signed an agreement with Vina San Esteban to distribute its In Situ range of Chilean wines in the UK, a range developed specifically for this market. The winery, located at the eastern edge of the Aconcagua Valley, in central Chile, produces a Reserva range (Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère,...

View issue Harpers 3rd March 2006

PLB unveils new Sicilian brand
02 Mar 2006
PLB has launched a new brand from Sicily. Named Sicilano, it aims to ‘capitalise on positive consumer perception of the Italian island’. Sealed with a screwcap closure, the four wines will be available at two price points. Nero d’Avola/Shiraz and Chardonnay/Cataratto blends will sit at £3.99, with Nero d’Avola and Grillo...

View issue Harpers 3rd March 2006

Caribbean generic
02 Mar 2006
A group of Caribbean rum producers is launching a generic marketing body. The West Indian Rum Producers Association (WIRPA) includes the produce of most Caribbean rum producers (with the exception of those in Cuba, Bermuda, Venezuela and the French-speaking islands) and has been funded by the EU as a result of...

View issue Harpers 3rd March 2006

Duty stamps launched
02 Mar 2006
After several years of wrangling, arguments and counter-arguments, the Government finally unveiled its anti-fraud weapon, the Duty Stamp, this week. The duty stamps (pictured) will be required to appear on all bottles of 35cl or above containing spirits of 30% abv or more from 1 October. The Government is asking for...

View issue Harpers 3rd March 2006

Champagne pavilion at LIWSF
02 Mar 2006
Six Champagne producers have joined together to create Champagne’s first regional generic pavilion at the London International Wine and Spirits Fair (LIWSF). Exhibiting under the collective banner of the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de l’Aisne and l’Agence d’Exportation de Picardie, the six producers are Champagne Dehu, Champagne Baron Albert, Champagne...

View issue Harpers 3rd March 2006

Castel attacks Thresher Group over Unwins shop purchase
02 Mar 2006
Castel, the owner of off-licence chain Oddbins, is considering legal action in the wake of the collapse into administration of Unwins in the week before Christmas. The French company alleges that the rapid purchase of 200 Unwins outlets for £4.5m by Threshers was anti-competitive because the deal contained a provision that...

View issue Harpers 3rd March 2006

Carmel joins Vini Italia
02 Mar 2006
Carmel Winery, Israel’s largest, has appointed Vini Italia as its importer and distributor in the UK. The two companies are setting up Carmel Winery UK, a subsidiary of Vini Italia, to distribute Carmel wines and Handcrafted Wines of Israel, a collection of Israel’s boutique wineries. Carmel is the first non-Italian member...

View issue Harpers 3rd March 2006

Scotch Sherry winners
02 Mar 2006
Chef-and-wine-waiter duo Craig Sandle and James O’Donnell, from the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, won the Copa Jerez on 20 February – the live cook-off and Sherry-pairing contest. They will now go forward to the ‘Sherry World Cup’, or International Copa Jerez, to compete against teams from other key Sherry markets, including...

View issue Harpers 3rd March 2006

McIntosh goes to BDV
02 Mar 2006
Bodegas Dinastía Vivanco in Briones, La Rioja – the project launched by the Vivanco family that encompasses two wineries, the Museum of the Culture of Wine and an international Foundation – has appointed Robert McIntosh as its representative in the UK and Ireland. McIntosh had previously worked with Dinastía Vivanco’s UK...

View issue Harpers 3rd March 2006