Touriga Nacional, Marselan, Petit Verdot and Petit Manseng are among a number of late-ripening grape varieties highlighted by Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) as ones that could help the region to adapt to climate change. The CIVB has outlined a number of measures to help it deal with climate change in the future and in its latest report on the subject it said in Bordeaux, as…

Waitrose has launched a new service allowing customers to try a variety of gins without leaving the house. The new gin experience offers five different gins as part of a new launch called Gin O’Clock, which falls under the Waitrose Wine Tasting at Home concept. The experience offers a two-house session led by one of the supermarket’s specialists and it can be either hosted in…

Wines of Hungary UK is bringing ‘Furmint February’ to the UK in 2019. The initiative has been running in Hungary for ten years as a way to celebrate the country’s flagship grape among trade and consumers. The programme of activities will begin with a tasting more more than 60 Furmint wines from 20 different producers in London on January 30. There will be a wide…

Thatchers is introducing Dabinett and Redwood variants to its Cider Barn range. The series of special vintage ciders feature small batch runs, with each cider demonstrating a particular skill or story about the apple varieties chosen. The ciders can be made from single variety, dual variety or a blend. The 6% abv Thatchers Redwood is blended from a selected range of bittersweet and culinary apples,…

Plaimont Producers, the co-operative in South West France, has succeeded in gaining permission to reintroduce the long-lost grape variety ‘Tardif’. The grape variety was discovered in the Pedebernade vineyard in the Gers village of Sarragachies in 1999 by Jean-Paul Houbart, Plaimont’s technical wine researcher, along with Jean Michel Boursiquot and his team. The Pedebernade vineyard is pre-phylloxera and thought to date back to 1830. Since…

Budweiser has launched twist-off bottle caps to ensure the beer is better placed for outdoor events.  Twist-Offs are designed to open up more social occasions for the brand, by offering fans an easier serving experience. Brand owner ABInbev hopes to better tap into the brand’s target market by unlocking a variety of new occasions such as festivals, BBQs and outdoor events. Aina Fuller, senior brand…

Lighter-style wines, a greater awareness of environmental issues and a growing interest in quality and variety are among the key trends shaping the global wine industry today, according to writer and broadcaster Jancis Robinson MW. “The overarching trend is that we are forfeiting quantity for quality,” she told the LIWF conference. “It is necessary now, to stay in the oversupplied wine business, to make better…