Last summer Fells pulled off a significant coup by taking on distribution for the Hill Smith family’s Negociants portfolio. Until that point, the likes of Yalumba, Oxford Landing and Vasse Felix had been distributed by Negociants UK, which the Hill Smith family decided to close. Fells hired eight members of the Negociants UK team and sold a 10% stake in its business to the Hill Smith family to cement the relationship. 

Chianti needs a bit of a revamp in the UK and the market is crying out for a strong brand, one which offers a range of Tuscan wines at different price points.

You can’t go down the alcohol aisle in a supermarket without noticing the influx of new no and low-alcohol alternatives. I’ve even picked one up thinking it was the alcoholic version and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Most bars and restaurants have pages in their drinks menus dedicated to alcohol-free alternatives. With restaurants and bars popping up where the drinks offering is strictly alcohol-free, it seems there’s no slowing the no/low movement. 

Last year, Heathrow airport handled 220,000 passengers every day. With that kind of footfall, it’s little wonder Terminal Five is reputedly the most expensive retail space in the world. Flying has become increasingly routine, and with it comes the airport experience: cities in miniature, hosting a daily population larger than Portsmouth, all of whom are killing time before boarding their plane. These microcosms of society provide a valuable insight into how we interact with wine.

I am old enough now to remember the great, yawning emptiness of the early internet – what we then called the World Wide Web. I remember excitedly first connecting to it and then wondering what it did.

Master of Wine students sometimes question why the examination is held under such strict time pressure. Some even ask why an exam is held at all. They might sound like silly questions, but the answer is far from silly. In fact, it reveals one of the most fundamental elements of the qualification, and by extension of the wine industry as a whole.