Chilean wine producer Viña Errazuriz was named Winery of the Year 2008 by the Viños de Chile Association, at the sixteenth annual Wine Gala, held in Casa Lo Matta Santiago, Chile. President of Viña Errazuriz Eduardo Chadwick received the accolade from Edmundo Perez Yoma, the Chilean Minister of the Interior.  …

Smuggling beer across European borders could be down to huge differences in beer tax, according to a new report. Global drinks research company Canadean highlighted massive differences in beer tax throughout Europe. ‘Beer Pricing in Europe – a taxing question’ is an in-depth study of the tax weight on beer,…

Russians are slowing down their vodka consumption, leaving litres of the spirit sitting in distilleries. National Alcohol Association statistics indicate a fall in the demand for vodka over the past couple of months, and November inventories show unsold vodka stock to be six times higher than in 2007,…

UK Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to ‘tweak’ planned duty rises on whisky. Following complaints from the Scottish Whisky Association that the Chancellor’s planned 8% tax hike on alcohol would mean about 29p on a bottle of whisky, it is thought that Darling will rethink plans. The permanent tax hikes – planned for 1 December – come after Darling announced a 13 month cut in…

The UK drinks trade has expressed ‘dismay and disbelief’ over the Chancellor’s decision to raise tax on alcohol. Alistair Darling will cut VAT by 2.5% to 15% from Monday 1 December, for 13 months in his Pre-Budget Report. But to off-set this increase, he is imposing an 8% rise in duty on alcohol.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond re-opened the 133 year old Glenglassaugh distillery, near Portsoy, Aberdeenshire. The distillery was purchased by the European investment house Scaent, in a deal worth £5M, at the beginning of 2008. Since then Scaent has invested considerably in re-developing and preparing the distillery to begin production by the end of the year. Derek McLennan,…

  English wine producer Chapel Down has won an award for excellence in marketing. The Chartered Institute of Marketing acknowledged Chapel Down’s achievements at the Food, Drink & Agriculture’s annual President’s Dinner.  The award recognised Chapel Down’s role in rejuvenating the…