Gentler responsible drinking messages – such as a series of ads by Carling encouraging drinkers to “take it easy” – were praised. But Jon Collins, of licensed trade research consultancy CGA Strategy, criticised the Home Office’s Invincible ad, which has sparked a number of viewer complaints about its graphic depiction of a drunken teenager falling to his death. “They always resort to scare tactics. The…

After two years pulling pints at the family pub in Perthshire, Fred Wilde decided to step out of the bar and enter into the retail world by opening his own off-licence. In partnership with his wife’s parents and siblings, he set up The Scottish Real Ale Shop in what was once a microbrewery, next door to The Lade Inn, in the town of Callander. Dedicated…

Some 800 wines from 42 exhibitors will be on show at the Specialist Importers Trade Tastings next week. The events, in London and Manchester, give independent buyers the chance to taste a range of wines from all over the world in one place, many of which will not be available to the multiples. Newcomers to this year’s tastings include South African specialist Yeo & Co,…

For a nation supposed to have an alcohol problem, Britain’s drinkers are not exactly going overboard at the checkouts. Only two of our top 10 drinks categories – cider and sparkling wine – saw any growth worth celebrating in 2006. With inflation running at around 3 per cent, anything less than a 4 per cent value increase is effectively a standstill at best. But it…

s In November last year, the Violent Crime Reduction Bill became law, and with it the concept of Alcohol Disorder Zones. The Act aims to empower local authorities by giving them the right to introduce a number of measures to combat violence and anti-social behaviour on our streets. When the bill was announced, Home Office minister Tony McNulty said: “We need to do more to…

The Rencontres Mediterranéennes du Muscat might sound like a dating agency for southern European winegrowers, but Perpignan’s Muscat showcase has prompted further investigation into the grape’s position and potential in the UK. With more than 9,000ha of Muscat planted in France, most of it in the south, it isn’t a grape to be sneered at. This isn’t far behind those other versatile, “noble” varieties such…

More mature beer lovers will have fond recollections of a brewery in Reading called Simonds. It was founded in the late 18th century and taken over by Courage in 1960. The Simonds brewery in the centre of town was demolished at the turn of the 1980s and usurped by a state-of-the-art facility now familiar to travellers along the M4 . Although Courage rapidly confined the…