With results season fast approaching, we would normally expect to be in the middle of the calm before the storm right now on just-drinks. It would appear, however, that, judging from last week, some drinks companies hadn't read the script.

Among last week's stories which did the rounds were William Grant & Sons confirming that it will consider building a Tullamore Dew distillery in the coming months, Constellation Brands completing its Australian and UK wine operations sale to CHAMP Private Equity, and the somewhat outlandish suggestion from an analyst that Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller are ripe for a merger.

Speaking of A-B InBev, last week saw a curious development from the brewer here in the UK, with its launch of Stella Artois Cidre. The extension of the Stella Artois brand beyond the beer category and into cider is a brave move, but it's one that A-B InBev UK president Stuart MacFarlane believes is a bold step in a new direction. We watch with interest.

As for all you wine folk, Chris Losh did you the favour last week of dissecting Vinexpo's recent report on the global wine industry. While his conclusions may not tally exactly with those arrived at by Vinexpo, his at least include putting make-up on a pig. Which is nice.

This week, meanwhile, sees Diageo release their FY results – we'll be with the company's exec team on Thursday (10 February), so if you have any questions for them, then drop us a line. And, while we're throwing heads-ups your way, we're scheduled to head over to France later this month, to speak to Pernod Ricard's CEO, Pierre Pringuet. Again, we'll take your requests, so email us at news@just-drinks.com.

Until next time...

Olly Wehring
Managing Editor
Web: http://www.just-drinks.com
Email: editor@just-drinks.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/just_drinks