Off-Piste Wines has become the exclusive representative for Italian producer Piccini in the UK multiple off-trade. Piccini, founded in 1882, is one of Italy’s best-known worldwide wine brands, according to Off-Piste. The producer, based in Castellina di Chianti in the heart of the Chianti Classico region, remains family-owned to this day with fourth generation Mario Piccini at the helm. In addition to its Tuscan roots,…

Welcome to our annual list of the most influential, authoritative and dynamic personalities that shape the UK wine trade. 1 Pierpaolo Petrassi MW Head of BWS, Waitrose Petrassi’s strong and stable leadership of the UK’s most experienced supermarket wine-buying team provides a welcome tonic to the churn seen at many multiple retailers. He moved to Waitrose in 2010 and…

Morrisons, The Co-op, Waitrose, Hedonism and Tesco were among the big winners as we rewarded excellence at the 2019 Drinks Retailing Awards at The Dorchester. Morrisons was named Multiple Beer Retailer of the Year and Multiple Wine Retailer of the Year, and it then walked off with Supermarket of the Year to cap a fine evening.  The Co-op was named Convenience Chain of the Year…

The UK’s leading supermarkets, multiple specialists, independent stores and ecommerce sites were honoured at the 2018 Drinks Retailing Awards at London’s Dorchester Hotel on Tuesday evening. The DRAs are the drinks trade’s biggest annual highlight, bringing together the leading lights in retail and rewarding the greatest innovators. Competition was fierce as the awards received a record number of entries, but a rigorous judging process eventually…

Boutinot is now working with north-eastern Italian producer Cantine Riondo, becoming the exclusive agent for wines targeted at the UK multiple off-trade. Riondo, founded in 2008, is the bottling and export arm of the Veneto’s Collis co-operative group, which owns 6,500 hectares of vineyards via 2,400 growers throughout the region, and accounts for 15% of Veneto wine production. Over the last nine years the company…

Calvet, the French wine brand owned by Les Grand Chais de France, has collaborated with leading Camembert brand, Le Rustique, to launch an on-pack promotion. From March until June this year, the promotion will appear on Le Rustique de Printemps Brie and Camembert packs and Calvet wine bottles across multiple grocery chains. The promotion aims to drive additional sales in both the wine and cheese…

Lidl, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s were among the retailers honoured at the Drinks Retailing Awards as leading lights from across the drinks trade converged on The Dorchester on Tuesday night. OLN was joined on stage by The Wine Show’s Joe Fattorini to hand out gongs to retailers that stood out as the best in the business over the past year. Lidl has grown faster than any…