Other wine trophies (excluding two exhibitor trophies) include:

To view all of Foster’s trophy and gold medal winners, please view the full media release:

Matthew Clark is showcasing 150 new wines in its 2010 wine list.

The company, which won the Wine List 2009/10 of the Year award at the International Wine Challenge, hopes its 2010/11 list will prove to be even more of a success.

The latest list — which includes 1,180 wines from across the globe — has a range of new additions, but with a particular focus on Chile and Italy; two countries that showed the most sales growth in the UK on-trade last year, according to Matthew Clark.

“Chilean wines are ex-tremely versatile and offer great value for money,” said commercial director Ian Smith. “We are delighted to introduce Luis Felipe Edwards, Concha y Toro, Maycas del Limari and Cono Sur; comprehensive wine ranges which are exclusively available to the on-trade through Matthew Clark.

“The new entry-level Lor Romeros range offers four quality varietals at a great price, while the other wineries all offer a wealth of exciting aromatic grape varietals from cool climate regions.”

The company is also introducing a leading Italian producer on to its list this year, with wines that have “great ageing potential” and also a winery that offers 100% Sangiovese wines.

New additions from France include the Rare Vineyards range from LGI, which includes regional varietals such as a Malbec and Pinot Noir by Alain Grignon.

“This year’s list was designed to reflect our 200-year heritage,” said Smith. “We also scooped the Wine Educator of the year award at the International Wine Challenge.

“So we added a ‘knowledge’ section to this year’s list, which is full of help and advice,” she added.

For the on-trade, the company recommends pubs contact their account managers to seek help in navigating the 1,180 wines in the list in order to find the right selections for their venue.

The UK Chancellor George Osbourne has delivered the Conservative/Liberal Democrat’s first budget, in which he did not increase tax on cigarettes or alcohol.

However, VAT is to rise to 20% from 17.5%, from January 4 2011.

The trade has welcomed the move not to add more tax to alcohol and cigarettes and this is the first time the Government has frozen excise duty since 2001. Former government Labour’s plan to increase duty of cider by 10% above inflation will be scrapped from July. The Scotch Whisky Association urged the government to press ahead with a review of the excise duty system, which is supposed to happen during the last quarter of 2010.

Wine and Sprit Trade Association (WSTA) chief executive Jeremy Beadles said: “Today’s announcement provides some relief for a sector that has faced substantial tax increases in recent years and I welcome the Chancellor’s decision.

“Repeated tax hikes have produced less revenue for the Treasury and punished responsible drinkers, while failing to tackle the problem of binge-drinking.”

Brigid Simmonds, British Beer & Pub Association chief executive, agreed with Beadles. She said: “We applaud the Government’s decision to freeze beer tax and deliver on its promise made in the coalition agreement to not penalise pubs, responsible drinkers and important local industries.  This is a welcome relief for struggling pubs during difficult times.

“A beer tax freeze will also help the beer and pub sector’s ability to play its part in contributing to much needed economic growth and generating valuable private sector jobs.

“The VAT rise is a price to pay for tackling the deficit and bringing Britain’s balance sheet back in order.  This tax increase is not welcome, but is understandable and applies to everybody.  We hope this will be short-term pain for long-term gain.

“Once the nation’s finances are back on a more even keel, we look forward to VAT rates returning to more favourable levels.  We also look forward to the promised review of our alcohol tax system tax as an opportunity to rebalance our tax system to one that is more fair towards community pubs and our national drink – beer.”

The Scotch Whisky Association welcomed the Chancellor’s decision to freeze the excise duty on alcohol and to press ahead with a review of the system this autumn. But it said the VAT increase would ‘increase discrimination’ faced by the whisky industry.

According to the SWA, the current alcohol duty regime discriminates against Scotch whisky – the drink carries 37% more duty than the same amount of alcohol served as beer, 19% more duty than wine and 224% more duty than cider.

The SWA said that the VAT rise in January 2011 will increase the discrimination faced.

Gavin Hewitt, chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association said: “The Chancellor has made a sensible and welcome decision to freeze excise duty. He is also right to press on with an early review of the current excise duty system.

“We encourage the Government to look closely at taxing all drinks at the same rate according to alcohol content, coupled with a ban on below tax sales. We believe this route would help the Government address its concern over the pricing of alcohol, would secure greater social responsibility and would offer increased revenue.

“Today’s announcement on corporation tax will also help Scotch Whisky play its part in growing the UK’s manufacturing and export sector.”

Chamarré was placed into receivership on Friday (11 June), according to an announcement to the Paris Stock Exchange.

The group’s shares ceased trading last month, following a series of sharp declines stretching back to November last year.

Chamarré was set up at the end of 2005 as a marketing vehicle for French wines and news of its demise will be a blow to the industry.

Blossom Hill is injecting £1m in to a summer campaign hinged around its sponsorship of Wimbledon.

The marketing initiative is designed to position Blossom Hill Rosé as the wine choice for alfresco summer drinking and dining, according to the company.

The campaign, which runs under the umbrella of “Summer Perfectly Served”, will tie in-outlet activities with a combination of print, broadcast and digital advertising, with a Wimbledon ticket giveaway as a key feature.

A limited edition “tennis ball” label design will also appear on White Zinfandel and White Grenache single varietals. These will be available from early June.

Earlier this year Blossom Hill signed up to be Official Wine of Wimbledon 2010 — its fourth year in this role.

“The sponsorship was confirmed on the back of impressive growth during the 2009 Championships, which saw sales uplifts of 56%, firmly securing Blossom Hill as the UK’s number one rosé brand,” said marketing manager, Liz Ashdown. “As a result of the success, the campaign investment has been up-weighted and extended beyond Wimbledon.”

Print advertising will concentrate on London free paper Metro, which will run a branded limited edition one-off Metro for the first time, with an exclusive 100,000 print run and Wimbledon theme. Blossom Hill will also run billboard advertising opposite Wimbledon train station, and a broadcast campaign will run over a two-week period with Heart FM. A digital campaign will run on Yahoo, Google, Hotmail, MSN and Facebook.

TV presenter Georgie Thompson has teamed up with Gallo rosé to “make football fabulous for women” this summer.

As part of the campaign Thompson will share tips on how to embrace the World Cup, as well as beauty and style secrets. She has also posed for a series of photographs wearing a gown made from over 100 football shirts.

“We are delighted to have Georgie partnering with Gallo rosé this summer,” said spokeswoman Susanne Buchmann. “Her background in football and fabulous style make her the perfect choice. The summer of football is a time when people get together with friends and celebrate in the warmer weather, making it a natural choice for a glass of Gallo rosé.”

The company will use the campaign to push its Gallo Rosito serve, which it launched back in March, a blend of wine, ginger ale, fruit and ice.

Moët Hennessy’s has launched a pink grapefruit maceration of its Belvedere vodka.

Belvedere Pink Grapefruit is distilled from whole pink grapefruits from Argentina and combined with fresh ginger and lemons, No sugars, glycerine or artificial additives are used in the production.

The launch of Belvedere Pink Grapefruit is coupled with a collaboration between Belvedere and designer Matthew Williamson, who has designed a limited edition summer kaftan.  Inspired by the pink grapefruit flavour, Williamson has created the kaftan from a sheer pink fabric and it will go on sale in his boutiques in London on 26 May.

The 40%abv product is to retail for £29.99.  It is also available in 70cl and 1L bottles for Duty Free only.

The organisers of Vinexpo Asia-Pacific, which claims to be the region’s largest international wine and spirits exhibition, is claiming a 40% increase in visitors to the show which closed yesterday (May 27).

Held at the the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), approximately 12,000 people are said to have visited over the three days.

Occupying more than 8,500 square metres of the HKCEC, there were more than 880 exhibitors from 32 countries around the world, including China, Australia, US, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, South Korea, New Zealand, Romania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Chile and Greece. A number of countries were making their first appearance at exhibition that is in its fourth year.

Fifty-eight percent of visitors were from 25 Asian countries, led by China and followed by Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Singapore. 42% of visitors were from Hong Kong and Macau.

The next Vinexpo exhibition will take place in Bordeaux, France from June 19 to 23^, 2011.

More info

Concha y Toro, South America’s leading wine producer, has become the official wine partner of Manchester United Football Club.

The company says the agreement aims to raise awareness of Concha y Toro and its brands worldwide, with particular focus on the key markets of Asia, Latin America, Eastern and Northern Europe.

The partnership gives Concha y Toro the opportunity to align itself globally with probably the best known football team in the world.

Among the benefits for Concha y Toro will be digital board advertising at Old Trafford stadium during home games which are televised around the world, advertising space in the club’s own communications media and co-branded marketing communications. The alliance also allows Concha y Toro to have presence with its wines in the stadium’s lounges, boxes, bars as well as the possibility to invite its VIP customers to team games.

The official announcement of the partnership will take place in August 2010 at a press conference at Old Trafford at which the top executives from Concha y Toro will be joined by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and members of the team.

Giancarlo Bianchetti, marketing director of Global Brands said: “Our new partnership with Manchester United is absolutely aligned with Concha y Toro’s long-term strategy to increase awareness and penetration of our brands worldwide. We wanted to find a partner who shared our commitment to excellence and Manchester United Football Club has developed an immensely powerful global brand. We intend to activate the partnership in a variety of ways around the world, using strategies and tactics which best suit each market.”

Eduardo Guilisasti, CEO of Viña Concha y Toro said: “We are very proud to be the wine partner of Manchester United, a football club which shares many of our values. We are looking forward to making the most of our new alliance all around the world.”

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manager of Manchester United is quoted as saying: “I’m delighted to be working with Concha y Toro. Like United, it’s a company with a lot of history that, while never afraid to change, has always kept hold of its roots. This is a partnership that unites the two great passions in Latin America: football and wine. I’m looking forward to it.”

Richard Arnold, United commercial director said: “We are proud to welcome Concha y Toro to our family of sponsors.  The quality of their products and the synergy of the brands, particularly Casillero del Diablo – mean that they are a natural partner for us to seek.  We are particularly excited to work with them to bring the partnership to life for our millions of fans around the world.”

Two English wines were awarded gold medals at the International Wine Challenge (IWC).

Camel Valley’s 2008 Pinot Noir Rosé Brut (£24.95) and Nyetimber’s 2001 Blanc de Blancs (£28.99) both scooped gold medals.

With 46 countries entering the competition, there was a 15% increase in the number of wines judged.

But the top three gold-winning countries remained the same as 2009 with France in first place with 75 gold medals, then Australia with 65 and Portugal with 35.

“Wines carrying the IWC logo and medal recognition enjoy significant commercial advantages,” said event director Chris Ashton.

“IWC award winners feature in the global media coverage generated by the competition, which enhances the wine’s credibility among consumers internationally and drives up sales.”

The medal winners will feature on the second version of IWC’s iPhone App.

The IWC’s trophy winners, selected from the gold medal winners, will be announced in June.

The Wemyss family has launched a small batch gin called Darnley’s View. Darnley’s View celebrates the meeting of Mary Queen of Scots and her husband Lord Darnley at the Wemyss family home, Wemyss Castle in Fife, in 1565.

Darnley’s View sits alongside the family’s spirits portfolio, centred around their range of malt whiskies, called Wemyss Malts.

The gin is distilled five times and contains six botanicals, including elderflower.

William Wemyss, managing director of Wemyss Malts & Darnley’s View said: “After a year of working on the concept of Darnley’s View, we are delighted to have successfully launched the brand last month at Prowein and subsequently have had high levels of interest from potential importers. We now look forward with confidence to developing the UK market for our gin.”

The Wemyss family also owns the wine estates of Domaine de Rimauresq Cru Classé in Cotes de Provence and Fonty’s Pool from Pemberton, Western Australia, as well as independent malt whisky bottler Wemyss Malts.

Australian wine brand Wolf Blass is to launch a sparkling rosé wine at the London International Wine Fair.

The launch is initially UK-focused and Wolf Blass Yellow Label sparkling rosé aims to capitalise on the growing popularity of sparkling and rosé wines.

The wine will retail for £9.99 and will partner Wolf Blass Yellow Label sparkling brut, which is already available.

Neil Barker, UK commercial director for Foster’s EMEA said: “We have crafted Wolf Blass sparkling rosé to meet all the current consumer trends to ensure that it drives sales and profitability across all retail channels. Branded sparkling wine is now a must stock for all retailers but especially during the key summer sales period.”

• Make regular sales calls to designated accounts to cultivate customer relations and satisfaction with service provided.
• Demonstrate consultative sales abilities through successful presentations of product, the promotion of new and existing portfolio items and the expansion of business.
• Exhibit discipline and resourcefulness to meet/exceed assigned monthly quotas and placement objectives.
• Participate in sales meetings, on-site training to remain educated in company policy and industry trends/developments.
• Research, organize and present sales reports/quota attainment results as required by District Manager in team or division meeting environment.
• Review customers’ credit status, collect monies owed for product and partner with Customer Assistance Department on a weekly basis to ensure accounts remain in good standing.
• Assist customers with inventory management responsibilities (product availability/new product placement and rotation of stock).
• Merchandise off-sale/retail accounts and reset shelf space, cold box and build displays to correspond with supplier promotions and incentive programs.
• Present self with integrity, professionalism and commitment to Southern Wine & Spirits salesperson responsibilities and policies.
• Work flexible hours which include early morning, evenings, and/or weekends. Additional hours required during the peak season of October, November and December.
• Perform other work related duties and special projects as assigned.

More info here

Berrys’ Fine Wine Reserve forms part of the exclusive range of services at the Hong Kong home of Alfred Dunhill.

Nicholas Pegna, managing director of BBR in Hong Kong, said he had been looking to open a second store and this collaboration offered the perfect opportunity.

Berrys’ Fine Wine Reserve presents a selection of the world’s most revered wines for sale as well as hosting a tasting area and 32 individual wine bins which will be offered to customers by invitation only.

Berrys’ will also provide range of wine related services including: fine wine investment advice; corporate wine tastings; fine wine sourcing; en primeur; a fine wine brokerage service; cellar plans; wedding lists and vineyard visits.

Berry Bros. & Rudd claimed to be Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchant having traded from the same shop in London for more than 310 years. Today members of the Berry and Rudd families continue to own and manage the family-run wine merchant.

In 1999 Berrys’ launched a business that brought to Hong Kong the advantages of buying from its London office, and in 2003 opened its shop in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay’s The Lee Gardens.

The Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) has urged the Obama Administration to mark Alcohol Awareness Month by passing new alcohol labelling requirements to include basic dietary information on the labels of all beverage alcohol products.

Public health and consumer groups – including the Consumer Federation of America, the American Medical Women’s Association, and the National Consumers League – have been calling for the Federal Government’s Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to require a standardised serving facts label on all beer, wine and distilled spirits products that lists the serving size, calories per serving, alcohol content per serving, and the definition of a “standard drink.”

Peter Cressy, president of the Distilled Spirits Council, said: “The existing labelling rules for beer, wine and spirits are inconsistent and do not include basic information on all labels that would assist consumers in measuring and moderating their drinking.

“Any final label should serve consumer and public health objectives. The federal government’s current proposal fails this test.”

Cressy pointed out that under TTB’s current proposed serving facts label, companies would not be required to disclose the amount of alcohol per serving. The proposal would also prohibit a company from including on the label how much alcohol is in a standard drink, as defined by the US Government’s dietary guidelines for Americans, the basis for nutrition policy in the United States.

This standard drink information is used by federal and state agencies, including the Office of the Surgeon General, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and in state driver’s manuals.

According to Multi-Sponsor Surveys, a majority of adults polled agree that adding standard drink information and the amount of alcohol per serving on all beer, wine and spirits labels will help them follow the dietary guidelines on alcohol.

The Council joined the public health community in urging TTB to revise its current proposal so that: 

1.)  Serving sizes are 1.5 fluid ounces for 80-proof distilled spirits, 12 fluid ounces for regular beer, 5 fluid ounces of wine

2.) The amount of alcohol per serving is required to be disclosed in the “Serving Facts” panel; and

3.) The text in the panel states “a standard drink contains 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol.”

Sales of New Zealand wine in the UK off-trade have now overtaken Germany when expressed as a ‘country of origin’ percentage share.

In the latest Nielsen data (MAT end March 2010) New Zealand now has a 3.3% share of the UK off-trade market and has overtaken Germany for the first time.  The value share of New Zealand continues to grow – the latest MAT growth registered 4.6% country of origin share; a growth of over one percentage point since December 2009.

In addition, New Zealand is now the fastest growing country of origin showing volume gains of +57% and this has been accomplished whilst having the highest average retail price at £6.05 per bottle.

David Cox, New Zealand Winegrowers European Director stated that these figures demonstrated the vibrant nature of the opportunities for New Zealand wineries exporting to the UK market.  “Whilst I am aware that some discount price activity has influenced some aspects of this fantastic performance, nonetheless, our continued value growth and our high average retail price, which has actually grown for red wines, confirm the fact that UK consumers are continuing their affection and loyalty to the incredibly interesting wines that are being made from New Zealand”.

Foster’s has appointed a former police officer to its board of directors.

Christine Nixon joined Foster’s Group as a non-executive director at the beginning of April.

Foster’s Chairman, David Crawford said: “On behalf of shareholders I am very pleased to welcome Christine to the Foster’s Board.

“Christine’s leadership, management experience and her strong community focus will be an asset at the Foster’s Board table.”

After a career in the NSW and Victorian Police force, Nixon became Victoria’s first female chief commissioner, leading a team of 14,000 staff and managing a $1.7 billion budget for eight years before her retirement in February 2009.

Nixon is a recipient of the Committee for Melbourne’s 2009 Citizens Award, the Save the Children’s 2009 White Flame award and was previously voted amongst BRW’s 10 most innovative leaders and included in AFR Boss Magazine’s True Leaders survey.

Angela Mount is to be announced as the new head of Gondola Wine, the new online wine retail site from Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Peter Jones.

Mount, former head wine buyer at Somerfield, has been working with Jones and the Gondola team for a number of months initially on the development and concept of the site, through to its launch and beyond.

Harpers.co.uk understands that Mount has now been asked by Jones to head up the operation as it looks to fast track its development and build up more contacts with suppliers and expand its range.

The site was devised as the first pure branded wine website offering exclusive deals for many supermarket best selling wines. Although recieved with some scepticism by many in the trade it is building strong support from branded wine companies faced with shrinking ranges within the supermarkets.

The site is reported to be taking between 800 and 1,000 orders a day thanks to its innovative use of internet search tracking and links with affiliated sites.

Deals at gondola.co.uk include Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc at £17.99, Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut Champagne at £24.99 and a case of Beringer wines for £34.99.

Mount is also expected to carry on with her other non-competitive wine consultancy work.

The South African wine industry claims to have launched the world’s first sustainability seal that guarantees eco-friendly production and bottle provenance.

Intended for bottled wines only, the seal which is issued by the Wine and Spirit Board has a tracking system that can now trace bottle contents back to source at every stage of the supply chain.

The seal is a continuation of the local wine industry’s pioneering approach to sustainable wine growing and winemaking and further aims to confirm the integrity of production by giving each seal a unique number, through which the wine’s provenance can be tracked from vine to bottle.
The seal is the result of collaboration between the Wine & Spirits Board, IPW, as well as the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative (BWI) and Wines of South Africa (WOSA) with the generic marketing body responsible for the worldwide launch of the concept as part of its Brand South Africa campaign.
Effective from 2010, the voluntary system is available to those wineries to have passed the accreditation of the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) set of sustainable principles, at farm, winery and bottling levels.

Wines of South Africa, chief executive officer, Sue Birch said it is expected to give another boost to the country’s already widely recognised international lead in the production integrity of wine. “Although other countries are introducing similar initiatives on a limited scale, at this stage South Africa is the only country to have the means to implement and certify the concept across the entire wine industry.
Regular spot-checks by independent auditors will be conducted to ensure guidelines are complied with at all levels.

Is it a wine or is it a cider? New brand Carnaby Brown aims to bridge the two categories, plugging a gap in the market for a drink that has the refreshment and low ABV of ciders and perries, but with the sophisticated image of wine.

The new 5.5% ABV drink is made from perry blended with white and Muscat grapes and is badged as a “lightly sparkling fruit wine”.

It will initially come in two variants – white and rosé – in 75cl Bordeaux-style wine bottles and will target 20 to 30-year-old women who want a sociable drink they can share with friends.

“By talking to women all over the country we identified what they wanted,” said creator Aisling Young. “A drink that was fruity, refreshing and slightly sparkling with an ABV that offers the drinkability of premium cider with the sophistication and sociability of wine.”

A £500,000 investment in marketing the brand will include 10 brand ambassadors who will tour the country and implement bespoke in-outlet promotions and sampling events, and an online campaign via social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as a dedicated website.

Branded PoS and kits containing ice buckets, tent cards and posters will also be available to target on-trade venues such as high-street bars and food-led pubs.

The company recommends it is priced about 20% to 30% below the house wine and Young said she aims to reach sales of 150,000 nine-litre cases by the end of the year.

Future plans for the brand include a raft of new flavours and work around food and drink matching.

“Young women are a huge driver for growth, yet there was nothing out there that fulfilled what they really wanted,” said Young.