Olly Wehring's beverage industry blog - from just-drinks.com

Murray mania?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:19:00 GMT

Apparently, we hear, there's a bit of a run on this wine in UK supermarkets this week.

Can't think why.

Bulmers Pear cider in laxative claim

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:17:00 GMT

C&C Group's new Bulmers Pear cider in Ireland has not gone down well with a handful of consumers, it seems.

A forum posting on the boards.ie website is headed: "Bulmers pear (best laxative known to man?)"

Several members of the forum then go on to describe, quite graphically in some cases, how they suffered from diarrhoea after drinking the new Bulmers.

One contributor, named 'chem', said: "The stomach was like a bubble machine gone nuts. After the 3rd pint it was like pulling the pin on a grenade."

When questioned about the complaints, a C&C Group spokesperson said in a statement to just-drinks: "Bulmers Pear contains a significant level of high quality, pear juice and like prunes, plums and grapes, pears contain naturally occurring substances which, depending on the quantity consumed and the sensitivity of the individual involved, may not agree with every individual."

It is understood that only a handful of complaints have been received relating to Bulmers Pear.

The spokesperson said that ingredients occur naturally in the pear juice and are not anything that Bulmers has added to the product.

Vinexpo 2009 - 'It could have been worse'

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:12:00 GMT

A look of palpable relief beamed from the faces of the Vinexpo press team this afternoon, the final day of Bordeaux's signature wine event.

Organisers of the fair relaxed their haunched shoulders as it became clear that visitor figures were not as bad as anticipated and that a spot of surreptitious scouting for opinions on the show floor had yielded warmer-than-expected feedback.

Estimated visitor figures for the bi-annual show are around 46-47,000 for the five days, just-drinks understands. That is down on the 50,000 visitors from 2007, but it is a mark of the economic times that the 2009 figure is considered a positive result.

It could have been worse and many of the organisers feared that it would be, they have subsequently admitted.

On the floor at Vinexpo

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:00:00 GMT

There is one undisputable thing that Vinexpo has over the London International Wine Fair, and that is the sunshine. It is scorching down here.

At least, that's what just-drinks hears. Naturally, I've spent most of today under the artificial lights of Vinexpo's vast array of stands.

Unlike two of the journalist fraternity, who were spotted snoozing away on the acrylic press office chairs mid-afternoon. Empty glasses were within an arm's reach, so draw your own conclusions.

Chatter on the floor today has focused much on the fact that the halls are noticeably quieter. As one exhibitor put it, "it's been pretty dead at times". It must also be said that there is a noticeable lack of our antipodean cousins. A novice would be forgiven for asking whether Australia and New Zealand really make wine.

But, the vast majority of exhibitors interrogated by just-drinks have been very positive about the quality of visitors and the interest that they have received.

And, Vinexpo is very keen to point out that 2009 has heralded the arrival of many new wine producing countries, including Egypt and Madagascar.

One high contender for quote of the day comes from one of the head winemakers at a large company here. "Biodynamic wines are 60% science and 40% Harry Potter," he said, requesting anonymity.

Check just-drinks.com tomorrow (25 June) for more news from the show.

Coca-Cola's approach to rubbish

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:36:00 GMT

How's this for a load of old rubbish?

Poor, I know, but on my many (alright, three) walks on the Sussex Downs in the south of England, I've often come across the odd rusting drinks can or two. Were I to head down this week, however, I'd stumble over around 200,000 of the pesky things.

Hats off to Coca-Cola GB, though, for putting these cans to good use - a 50m postcard atop the cliffs of the Sussex coastline to mark the beginning of Recycle Week this week.

Ans worry not, at the end of Recycle Week all these cans will be recycled saving enough energy to keep a television running for 70 years.

Who is The Stig? Ask Bacardi

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:00:00 GMT

Here in the UK, last night served witness to what was, in my humble opine, one of the TV moments of the year. And it was a moment that got one of our own, Bacardi, a mention on national TV.

The return of popular driving programme Top Gear last night saw the unmasking of the previously anonymous test driver The Stig. Now, I won't spoil the surprise for you, but grab your lunch and settle back for half an hour once you've clicked here and fast forwarded to the 30-minute mark.

Thereafter, click here to understand what on earth he was blethering on about.

And, if you can't be bothered with these simple yet, I concede, time-sapping instructions, then simply click here to find out the identity of Bacardi's secret weapon.

It's worth it, though.

Duffy, Coca-Cola and the great British public

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:08:00 GMT

There is a stereotype that says the British are too fond of rules. Rules, like queuing, help everybody to know where they are and what they should be doing.

One must lament the prospect of new rules, but once in place, the rules must be followed, because they are the rules.

I am from the UK and I will admit to having felt unsettled in places where chaos has appeared to be the only rule, such as the mind boggling roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Seriously, have you seen it? There are no lanes.

A series of complaints against The Coca-Cola Co and its advert featuring Welsh singer Duffy have again this week reminded the world of the British public's pedantic love affair with the rulebook.

In the ad, Duffy takes a break from a gig and, after a sip of Coca-Cola, rides her bike to the shops, before returning to the gig for an encore.

Unfortunately, Duffy did this in the dark.

"18 viewers challenged whether the ad could be seen to condone behaviour prejudicial to health and safety, because Duffy was not wearing reflective clothing and did not have lights on her bicycle," said the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) this week.

The ASA threw out the complaint, arguing that the dreamy soundtrack and bike ride through supermarket aisles "set the cycling sequence apart from reality".

It seems that some viewers also set themselves "apart from reality". Do these people really have that little to worry about?

Chris M. Dep ed.

Alcohol advertising on the internet

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:30:00 GMT

France's Senate has at last seen sense and decided to overturn a bizarre attempt to ban alcohol publicity on the internet.

French Senators this week voted to amend France's Loi Evin, which has governed alcohol publicity since 1991, to include the internet.

The move should mark the endgame in what has been nearly 18 months of limbo for wine, beer and spirits firms operating in France.

In February 2008, the National Association for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Addiction won a court battle against Heineken, arguing that its online publicity was illegal. France's Loi Evin makes no mention of the internet, therefore internet publicity is not legal, argued the campaign group.

A Paris court judge agreed, sparking a bizarre chapter in the history of alcohol in France.

Chris M.

Belly's gonna get you

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:21:00 GMT

It turns out that all the UK Government and industry campaigning to get consumers to wise up to their daily alcohol unit intake may be off the mark.

At least, it may be for men.

Instead, a new survey out today shows that a third of men worry that their drinking will lead to bigger bellies and "man boobs".

Euro's sterling effort sinks the booze cruise

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:17:00 GMT

After going to the effort of building a tunnel to France, under the auspices of European unity, the euro's recent strength against sterling has negated one of said construction's main attractions - the ability to get cheaper booze more quickly.

Not only has the euro's recent strength against sterling played havoc with French wine exporters, it's also stopped everybody in the UK from traversing the moat to buy wine en France and cart it back.

Wine retailer Majestic said today that a slowdown in "booze cruises" to northern France has forced it to take a GBP5m write-down charge on its business over there. It has also shut a warehouse in Calais. Apparently, euro's strength has made French wine too expensive for it to be worth the effort.

Whoever pulls the strings up above clearly has an apt sense of timing, for, as Majestic announced the news, euro slipped to its lowest level against sterling this year - at GBP0.84.

At various points earlier this year, however, the two currencies have been near parity.

According to Majestic, even a 17% rise in duty tax on wine last year in the UK has failed to prop up the booze cruise to France, which for several years has been as close as much of the UK gets to an annual pilgrimage.

Naturally, there will be many others in the UK drinks trade, and also the bean counters in Her Majesty's Treasury, counting their blessings at this turn of events.

Chris M, dep ed.

Get this party started

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:41:00 GMT

Diageo has launched a J&B Scotch whisky-branded mirrorball into the skies, claiming it is the "first ever mirrorball into the stratosphere".

Diageo worked with the University of Cambridge Space Flight team to attach a mirrorball to a helium weather balloon, said Diageo in a release sent out today (11 June).

It's all part of J&B's 'Start a Party' promotion campaign.

"Launched from the English countryside, the mirrorball and helium balloon took four hours and twenty-seven minutes to travel up the jet stream, making it the world's highest mirrorball."

Which leaves us with one question. Why?

According to Diageo, "sending a mirrorball into the stratosphere for the first time shows the world and rest of the universe we know how to start a party anywhere, anytime".

If you say so.

Look at you, you're ugly!

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:40:00 GMT

Take a look at this, the new advert released by the Home Office in the UK this week, designed to educate our proud nation of binge drinkers.

"Oi, did you know...?"

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:51:00 GMT

We all like facts. Facts are good. Facts are our friends. You won't go far wrong with facts.

So, what better way to idle away the last few hours of the working week than by learning some facts to dazzle your pals with when you get to the pub later?

Well, just-drinks is always here to help.

Alcohol charity Drinkaware has this week released a raft of alcohol-related facts, designed to "help dispel myths and present the honest facts about alcohol".

So, get your pens out:

A bottle of wine contains an average of 600 grapes.
A GBP105,000 bottle of 1787 Chateau Lafitte Claret engraved with the initials of Thomas Jefferson is the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold.
The gas inside a bottle of Champagne exerts three times the amount of air pressure in a car tyre.
Between 2% and 5% of consumed alcohol leaves the body through breath and sweat.
The medical term for a hangover is 'veisalgia'.
There are between 44m and 57m bubbles in a standard 750ml bottle of Champagne, once opened.
For a whisky to be a 'Scotch', it should be distilled in Scotland and aged three years and one day.
The first health warning to appear on a bottle of alcohol was in 1751.

Have a relaxing weekend.

Tom Cruise IS PepsiCo

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:19:00 GMT

I trust many of you, like myself, are enjoying the push-me pull-you between PepsiCo and the bottlers PepsiAmericas and Pepsi Bottling Group.

The latest development, yesterday (3 June), saw PepsiCo claim that it has "a track record of being a disciplined buyer and will maintain that disciplined approach in this transaction". To me, that looks clearly like a warning that it will not up its bid for the two companies.

Do you believe them? I don't. The number of protracted takeover bids that have followed this saga-like process and have still completed outnumbers those that haven't rather considerably.

Either way, I wouldn't be surprised that this sort of conversation will soon be had between the two sides, if it hasn't already.

Mr (Wine) Writer? Why don't you tell it like it really is?

Fri, 29 May 2009 16:50:00 GMT

An interesting story in wine magazine Decanter this week suggests that wine drinkers in Asia are struggling to understand the kind of language used in Western wine descriptions.

The magazine carries a piece by a master of wine from the region, claiming that consumers in Asia can't get their heads round tasting notes used by wine writers in the west.

That makes two of us, then.

On my trips away, I've met a wealth of wine writers, all from Europe or the US. The vast majority of them are lovely, lovely folk: knowledgeable, informed, educated, GSOH.

But try as I might to read their musings, I've regularly found my eyes glaze over. In the recent TV series Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, wine philistine James May summed up the level of knowledge of millions of wine drinkers. "It tastes a bit wine-y," he said after one of his first tastings.

Describing a wine as having notes of bitter chocolate and fresh tobacco is all well and good in an artistic sense, but do we - never mind the drinkers of Asia - really understand what this wine is like?

There remains a gulf between the wine writer and the man in the street - the man who shops at Tesco or Asda, or Waitrose, if he's feeling flush.

I fear this flowery use of language might be the very definition of that gulf.

Question a journalist's integrity? Careful, now!

Wed, 27 May 2009 16:50:00 GMT

A most colourful debate has been provoked by an article in the Wall Street Journal this week. The piece looks at the ethics of wine writers accepting invitations from wine trade bodies, using wine-writer extraordinaire Robert Parker's belief that "It is imperative for a wine critic to pay his own way" as a barometer.

Two of Parker's colleagues have been rumbled as having accepted press trips, and the piece has provoked claims that this would compromise their impartiality.

I find this a fascinating discussion point - look here to see that I'm not the only one.

Now, it's fair enough to say that just-drinks has had its fair share of invitations to far-off places, so the same accusation could squarely be placed at our door.

Indeed, one recent trip had a competitor of the company that took me away suggesting that I should clearly inform you, dear reader, who it was that was taking me away. We've also had one instance when the firm that entertained us - at great expense, of course - voiced its concern that our subsequent coverage of them was not as positive as they'd hope.

My two penn'orth on the matter? Here it is.

There is no way that I could afford to pay to visit some of the places I've been to in my time at just-drinks. At the same time, if our writing had any kind of slant to it, I'd expect you, dear reader, to vote if not with your vocal disagreement, then certainly with your feet.

I won't insult your intelligence, then, if you won't insult mine.

Britain on the brink

Thu, 21 May 2009 16:58:00 GMT

The UK is within a whisker of Chancellor Alistair Darling's eyebrow hair of losing its AAA credit rating, a move that could seriously jeopardise the country's future economic health.

Investment house Standard & Poor's today (21 May) downgraded the UK economy from stable to negative. It warned that the country's bulging budget deficit means that there is now a one-in-three chance of the UK losing its premier AAA credit rating.

If that happens, and it hasn't since 1978, the UK government will find that it becomes more expensive to borrow money. In turn, that would jeopardise the current Government's policy of spending its way out of recession.

Standard & Poor's warned that Government spending must be reined in. The new Government to emerge from next year's general election, whoever that may be, will almost certainly have to make tough cuts - and not just to MPs expenses.

Chancellor Darling said in his Budget speech last month that UK debt is set to reach 59% of gross domestic product this year and is expected to rise to 79% by 2013/14.

Considering that the rate was less than 40% only a year or so ago, this is pretty seismic stuff and is largely what prompted today's warning from Standard & Poor's.

Out of recession by Christmas? Perhaps, but the road out looks like a long one.

Anarchy in the UK?

Tue, 19 May 2009 15:31:00 GMT

While it was only last month that the British Beer and Pubs Association highlighted the plight of brewers in the UK, today's announcement that the MD of Heineken's business in the country is stepping down can only confirm just how tough it is in the country right now.

Bear in mind, of course, similar announcements in the last 15 months from InBev and Carlsberg.

That means that three of the country's biggest brewers have lost their head people in the space of little more than a year.

While the exact circumstances of each undoubtedly vary, all three departures have been set against a backdrop of a beer sector in turmoil.

British Beer & Pub Association figures show that beer sales by volume in the UK fell by more than 5% in 2008. Sales fell 8% in the first three months of this year, with declines in both the off- and on-trade making it the industry's worst quarterly performance since 1997.

As Lenin famously once asked, what is to be done?

Any thoughts, people?

LIWF & Distil 2009 - The curtain closes

Tue, 19 May 2009 09:54:00 GMT

The 2009 London International Wine Fair & Distil 2009 flew by in what felt like seconds last week.

Given the dire state of national economies around the world, it was no surprise to find a slightly more subdued atmosphere at this year's show. Visitor numbers were down slightly on 2008, according to initial estimates from organising body, Brintex. But, there was still plenty to report on and talk about, not to mention the odd after-show drinks bash.

Among the highlights was just-drinks' own Chris Brook-Carter, who detailed the results of a survey of 50 top executives on the UK wine market.

Nearly a third of respondents said that they were pessimistic about the prospects for the sector over the next year. There is widespread concern among wine merchants that the UK is becoming a less attractive place to do business amid tax rises, high retailer margins and recession.

After all, the argument goes, why ship your wine to the UK when you can shift volumes to other markets and, at least, make some money? It is an increasingly pressing issue for those involved in the UK wine business.

LIWF & Distil - A Whole New World. The global market for wine - what next?

Fri, 08 May 2009 10:50:00 GMT

At this year's London International Wine Fair, just-drinks has teamed up with wine and spirits data experts The IWSR to present a seminar on the latest trends within the global wine market.

The seminar, which takes place in the South Gallery Rooms 11 & 12 on the Wednesday (13 May) at 1530, will include presentations by Val Smith, the chairman of The IWSR and our very own Chris Brook-Carter.

If you want to find out what's next for the global wine market and how to take advantage of these opportunities then book your seat now by contacting Agata via email: agata@iwsr.co.uk

Alternatively, drop by the just-drinks stand (G18) at the exhibition and we will be happy to discuss the research on which this seminar is based.