Magpie

Italians object to Irish health labels

A plan by Ireland to put stark health warnings on bottles of wine, beer and spirits has caused anger in Italy.

Chris Bain

Harris & Co, Castle Douglas

Favourite wine on my list

Herrenhof Lamprecht Sand & Kalk

Pinot Gris 2020, Bucherberg, Austria. I tried this at the winery last May and it made an instant impression. The character, texture and flavours this wine has makes it very hard to put into words. Mind = blown.

Favourite wine and food match

Domaine Laougué Madiran 2020 paired with Chinese-style spare ribs.

Favourite wine trip

An infamous trip to Rioja and Ribera del Duero with some of the finest Scottish wine merchants back in 2016 haunts me still. Thankfully most of them remain friends.

Favourite wine trade person

Daniel Lambert, for various reasons, but mainly because he took us to Barbados last November, which was an incredible experience.

Favourite wine shop

There are too many to mention and though I haven’t visited for some time, I think Glasgow’s finest, Valhalla’s Goat, always holds a special place in my heart. The passion and enthusiasm those guys have for their liquid treasures is phenomenal.

The company’s website says that its services are used by “tens of thousands of consumers, on and off-trade accounts and corporate clients”.

It claims a list of more than 6,000 drinks including some products “not available elsewhere online or on the high street”. The Drinks Business, January 30

LVMH’s Mentelle arithmetic adds up

Endeavour Group announced it has signed an agreement with Moët Hennessy, the wine and spirits arm of French luxury goods giant LVMH, to acquire Cape Mentelle. A fee wasn’t disclosed.

Completion of the deal will take place “in due course”, pending licensing approval, said Endeavour, a leading retail and hospitality group that has alcohol retailer Dan Murphy’s and several other wine brands in its portfolio.

Cape Mentelle was founded in 1970 and the deal heralds an ownership change for a pioneer of winemaking in Australia’s Margaret River region.

Decanter, January 12

Ireland is free to go ahead with the measure, which would warn consumers about the risks of cancer and liver diseases linked to alcohol, after a deadline passed for the European Commission to oppose it.

Coldiretti, Italy’s biggest farmers’ association, described the “terrifying” warnings as a “direct attack” against the country. “The green light from the EU for alarmist wine labels in Ireland represents a dangerous precedent as it risks opening the door to other legislation capable of negatively influencing consumer choices,” the association said.

The Guardian, January 12