It’s certainly been a turbulent few years for the Australian wine industry, and now I see that the “on again off again” sale of all Fosters wine assets has changed again and it currently comprises the sale of 31 Australian vineyards (approximately 4 000 hectares) as well as a further 1 000 hectares in the USA. Read more

The problem with market surveys in general is that the type of person who takes the time and trouble to respond may not be representative of the consumer that could not be bothered to. Read more

Climate change is a big subject, and a big issue that will impact on all of us in the coming years, and it is far too broad a subject to cover in one blog post of about 800 words, but suffice to say that over the last couple of weeks I have been reading up a lot on climate change and its projected impact on the wine industry, and would like to share some generalities and thoughts here. Read more

Yesterday I was astounded to read on www.decanter.com that the French Department of Health was going to ban the consumption of alcohol from any outside area from 31 July this year. Read more

I had no idea that there was such a thing as an MP4 player but there is, apparently, and the result is that MP3 players are losing popularity and are no longer in the “shopping trolley” of goods that the UK Office for National Statistics uses to measure inflation in Britain –a notional trolley that is made up of 650 frequently bought goods and services. Read more