by Robert Joseph

In our last issue, Dan Jago, wine supremo of the British giant Tesco asked his suppliers to give his customers three reasons to spend more money on a bottle of wine. That call, from the largest wine retailer in the world, reminded me of a couple of...

by Robert Joseph

“Wine is part of civilization”. “Wine offers an unequalled link with a specific piece of soil or region”. “Wine is a necessary accompaniment to food…” Such comments are almost guaranteed to get a small nod of appreciation...

by Luis Antunes

In times of crisis some people rise to their best, turning dire straits into great opportunities. The Portuguese wine industry seems to be at such a moment. Paulo Amorim, president of the G7, the association of the seven largest domestic wine...

by Robert Joseph

Although there was little cause for celebration among Old World vineyards, the Fourth of July 2007 was an undeniably memorable day for European wine. On the one hand, there was the revelation of the long-awaited reform plan by...

by Robert Joseph

Over the past weeks the British press has been full of stories about the £40m collapse of Farepak. That firm´s business model was simple: it gave commissions to some 25,000 agents who in turn encouraged 150,000 low income families to hand over a few pounds per week...

by Michael Fridjhon

South Africa recently witnessed the sale of its most successful international brand – Kumala – to Constellation. This news, though, did not even make page seven of the business section in South Africa. This is principally because the brand has never had a local owner, nor...

by James Halliday

The sudden death of Len Evans on 17 August 2006 marked the end of an era of unimaginable change in the Australian wine industry. There were numerous catalysts for that change, but none more important than that provided by Evans. When in 1965...