People are now discovering and making innovative ciders all around the world and here in Britain fans are keen to reinstate this country’s position as one of the leaders of the category. This year annual cider sales rose to a three year high, topping the £1 billion mark for the first time since 2014. The weather, of course, was a big contributor, and the happy…

Jacob’s Creek is launching a new French-inspired premium Rosé, to tap into growth of this style in the UK. Le Petit Rosé, which will be priced around £8, is made from Australian-grown grapes by winemakers in Australia. The wine, which is described as being fresh and delicate, has been created to reflect the savoury style of Rosé that is common in the Southern French countryside,…

Carling Cider is adding to its range with a new Black Fruits flavour. Carling Black Fruits, which goes into Tesco stores today, followed by Asda and Morrisons in May, is described as a crisp, clean apple cider with a blend of blueberries, blackcurrants and blackberries. The new variant, which will be available in a can, will be sold in 4 x 44cl, 10 x 44cl…

Fladgate Partnership chief executive Adrian Bridge has given the UK off-trade market a vote of confidence after fortified wine sales started to arrest years of decline. In 2015 the category – which had been suffering – fell just 1% in volume and grew 1% in value after upping its average price per litre by 2% to £8.60 (Nielsen). Port squeezed ahead of sherry, with £79…

Brewdog founder James Watt was forced to admit his appearance on BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary Who’s The Boss? was “a bit of a disaster” this week after his behaviour sparked a vicious backlash. He was dubbed embarrassing, rude and a “professional arsehole” in his ill-fated bid to hire an area manager in front of the watching public, while wholesaler Best of British Beer even said…

Jägermeister plans to ramp up its push into the off- trade after setting up a UK subsidiary complete with 75 staff in Surrey. The UK is Jägermeister’s third-largest market but it admits it underperforms in take-home. It claims to account for around 5% of on-trade spirits sales but less than 1% in the off-trade. But it believes the new infrastructure will allow it to increase…