Wine investors would have lost £35,000 last Friday if they sold one case of each Bordeaux’s first growth chateaux for the five years from 2009, The Wall Street Journal's Will Lyons said at a debate on the future of Bordeaux en primeur, at the London Wine Fair last Monday (June 2).

Pernod Ricard’s winemaking team behind Campo Viejo will launch their first Tempranillo Blanco wines next month, following trials at the Rioja brand’s new Experimental Winery.

Two of Britain’s leading wine experts have joined forces to offer a WSET entry-level wine award in a beautiful setting in southern England.

Russian consumers are turning to imported wines, especially sparkling wines, as traditional beverages such as vodka and beer decline in popularity, according to Wine Intelligence.

The Academy of Food & Wine Service (AFWS) has announced the names of the sommeliers going through to the semi-finals of the Moët UK Sommelier of the Year 2014 following the regional finals held earlier this week in Bristol, two London venues and Stafford.

CA Grands Crus says it has succeeded in making exceptional terroir-focused wines across its portfolio of Bordeaux estates in the region’s most prestigious appellations, despite a challenging growing season in 2013.

Michael Jordaan, a 46-year-old venture capitalist and former CEO of South Africa’s First National Bank (FNB), has been appointed chairman of Wines of South Africa (WOSA).

The South African wine industry expects an average sized, good quality wine grape harvest, with exceptional harvests especially in the coastal regions.

Brintex has announced Azerbaijan will exhibit at the London Wine Fair for the first time, joining other debutants English Wine Producers and The Douro and Estrela.

Kingsland Wine & Spirits and Legacy Wines will now be known simply as ‘Kingsland’, the Manchester-based company has announced.

Pernod Ricard has announced the purchase of Kenwood Vineyards in California’s Sonoma Valley from F. Korbel & Bros.

UK show organiser Brintex has dropped the spirits exhibition Distil from the 2014 London Wine Fair as part of a set of changes and a renewed focus on wine and the UK market.

Champagne sales to the UK were down 5.1% in volume and 3.8% in value last year.

English Wine Producers (EWP) has launched new branding for this year’s English Wine Week which takes place from May 24 to June 1.

Accolade Wines has annoucned that it has finalised the purchase of Mud House and Waipara Hills and their assets, from the Mud House Wine Group.

Martini has announced that the brand is to sponsor Vector, the British powerboat racing team and global manufacturer of high performance powerboats and performance yachts.

Australia’s wine industry hit the wall in 2013, after 30 years of surging growth, according to the The Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory (WID).

Sparkling wine specialist Tom Stevenson has said his new tasting event will become “the Oscars” of the Champagne and sparkling wine category when medals are awarded in September 2014.

Baron Philippe de Rothschild has appointed Stevens Garnier UK off-trade distributor for its Mouton Cadet and wines from Bordeaux and the Languedoc.

Kingsland Wine & Spirits has appointed former HwCg md Guy Young as commercial director.

An survey of 6,000 consumers, by IPSOS* to discover consumer preferences on wine and spirit closures claims the majority prefer an aluminium closure, over other closure options.

Drinks International has teamed up with show organiser Messe Düsseldorf to publish an extensive preview magazine of ProWein 2014, the German wine and spirits show that is now in its 20th year.

Torres has been voted the World's Most Admired Wine Brand for 2014.

Scandinavians are now drinking more Italian wine then wine from any other country, according to Wine Intelligence.

Martini and Williams have today announced a multi-year partnership to create the new Formula One team Williams Martini Racing.

Moët Hennessy is rolling out its Chandon sparkling wine concept to the UK from May.

The inaugural AfrAsia Bank Cape Wine Auction 2014 (AfrABCWA), regarded by the organisers as possibly the most extraordinary international wine event ever seen in South Africa, will set a local philanthropic precedent.

The date and timings of the memorial service to celebrate the life of Michael Cox, the former European head of Wines of Chile who died on March 20, will take place on April 10.

US wine exports, 90% from California, reached a record high $1.55 billion in winery revenues in 2013, up 16.4% compared to the previous year, according to the Wine Institute of California.

The Napa Valley Vintners' (NVV) 18th annual Premiere Napa Valley made history by bringing in a total of $5.9 million, nearly doubling the previous record of $3.1m raised in 2012.

Chilean wine producer Vina Cono Sur is to be the solo wine sponsor at the Tour de France 2014 for its 3 opening stages in the UK.

Michael Cox, a well known figure in the UK wine and spirits trade and latterly European director at Wines of Chile, has died.

The Consejo Regulador of Rioja (Wines from Rioja) has announced that Rioja sales have reached 277 million litres in 2013, surpassing the all-time record set before the global economic downturn.

French-speaking Canadians are becoming more open-minded about drinking their country’s domestic wines, according to Wine Intelligence research.

The Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Docg consortium has launched its website in Chinese.

Marian Kopp has been recruited by German wine cooperative Lauffener Weingärtner as its president and managing director

The New Zealand owned winery has bought a 41-hectare property in the sought-after Gimblett Gravels sub-region in Hawkes Bay.

For the latest instalment of the Brands Report, we quizzed the class of 2013 on the Champagne brands moving through their bars.

Vinexpo Bordeaux “should be the Cannes Film Festival of the drinks world”, according to the wine show’s CEO Guillaume Deglise.

China, including Hong Kong, is now the largest market for red wine, according to a survey commissioned by Vinexpo the Bordeaux-based exhibition company.

Claude Chevalier and Louis-Fabrice Latour are the new president and co-president of the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB), the generic body representing the Burgundy wine region.

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust's international Wine Educator of the Year is the Asia Wine Service & Education Centre, Hong Kong (AWSEC).

Two Paddocks, the New Zealand wine producer owned by actor, Sam Neill, has bought a fourth vineyard, this one in Bannockburn.

Espaco Porto Cruz, the multimedia exhibition for contemporary Portuguese culture by young artists, has won the Best of Wine Tourism Award for the area of Porto, Portugal.

The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) has announced that it has secured certification mark protection for the Napa valley wine region in both Australia and Taiwan.

John Ratcliffe, the former head of Seagram UK and a driving force behind the once innovative specialist UK off licence chain, Oddbins, has been appointed CEO of Accolade Wines.

Global warming will “turn the sparkling wine world upside down”, turning the style from a northern to a southern hemisphere product, according to Dr Richard Smart.

Champagne houses and supermarkets must take equal responsibility for overly discounted Champagne in the UK, according to Nicolas Feuillatte's commercial director.

The Indian wine market is “bewildering” “frustrating” and “political” but also a “huge opportunity” for wine producers, says a panel of leading experts.

Wine sales growth in China can be found if the country's drinking culture, diverse regions and consumer groups are better understood and if e-commerce is utilised, according to Chinese industry professionals.