Bruce Jack is one of the most engaging characters in the global wine trade. Minutes, hours, probably days can pass in this man’s company. I had once arranged to meet him for lunch in South Africa while out for Cape 2010, but I had organised to be picked up in a couple of hours to go somewhere else. Jack turned up clutching loads of…

THE PERCEPTION, AT LEAST, is that Portugal is one of the beleaguered states of Europe. It is a nation that couldn’t slow its speed of spending ahead of the big financial crash and became a graveyard of white elephants and ghostly city centres. The newly lain but little-used motorways that stretch arterially – and sometimes arbitrarily – through its rugged landscape seem…

Brandy, and especially South African Brandy, does not get the credit it deserves. South African brandy cannot be compared to any European brandies, says KWV marketing director for spirits & RTDs Peadar Hegarty, emphatically. And there lies the problem with brandy in general. Brandy is very much about regional and national brands, unlike Cognac and Armagnac which are more brand oriented and more…

MOLDOVA has not experienced an earthquake for nine years, so it seemed symbolic that the tectonic plates chose to shift on a night when an international group of journalists were in the country to assess the opportunities for its wines in the global market. The 5.3 Richter scale shake that rocked the capital, Chisinau, was all anyone could talk about the…

ALL TOO OFTEN drinks brands seem to follow the crowd instead of making themselves stand out at the party and really engaging with their audience. Consumers want something back from a brand – stories that they can share and relate to.  Brands need to listen to the other stories being told and enjoyed and start telling their own story, making sure they are…

THE ARCHETYPAL INDIAN OCEAN  paradise island, Mauritius has it all – white-sand beaches, turquoise waters, swaying palm trees. It has a melting pot of cultures, having been variously invaded by the Dutch, French and English before gaining independence in 1968 and finally becoming a republic in 1992. It has miles of sugar cane fields. It has vanilla and pineapples and lychees. It…

IF EVER YOU NEEDED PROOF that Japanese whisky had established itself among the world heavyweight whisky producers it came at a recent whisky show in Paris. The finest whiskies the country has to offer were not in the world whiskies area, but in a room called Grandes Nations de Whisky.  “Japanese whisky has crossed over from novelty or esoteric into…