The Drinks Business Podcast

En Primeur 2026 with Colin Hay

Db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay speaks to Arabella Mileham about the 2025 Bordeaux en primeur campaign. Noting the surprising quality of the wines despite challenging weather conditions, he shares his top picks of the vintage as well as the challenges ahead. This year, more than ever, pricing discipline will be crucial, and a successful campaign is vital for Bordeaux's financial stability - so far, the pace of the campaign has been slow and early releases shows modest reductions, but this may accelerate, and the next two weeks will prove decisive. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

WSET’s next chapter: Michelle Brampton on modernisation, sustainability and the future of drinks education

In a wide-ranging interview with Patrick Schmitt MW, Michelle Brampton outlines her vision for the future of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET): a more inclusive, digitally-enabled, sustainability-focused, and globally-connected organisation that remains the benchmark for drinks education worldwide. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Taste Spain: what are most exciting Spanish wines right now

Patrick Schmitt MW discusses the past, present and future of Spain’s diverse wine scene with Ferran Centelles, the drinks manager at the El Bulli foundation, and Maria Naranjo, the director of food and drink at Spanish trade organisation ICEX. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Webinar: How AI can transform the wine and spirits trade

Panellists include Danny Cooper, chief information and digital officer at Virgin Wines; Rachel Wilson, general manager of Napa Valley Marriott; and Patrick Comiskey, Master of Fine Arts, wine writer and critic. As AI capabilities evolve at speed – enabling increasingly sophisticated product recommendations, targeted communications and data-driven insights – drinks businesses face a particular challenge: applying these tools in a category defined by complexity and deeply subjective consumer preferences. This session examines how AI-powered personalisation can be deployed effectively across retail, e-commerce and hospitality, and what a specialist, drinks-focused approach looks like in practice. Hosted in partnership with Preferabli, which provides recommendation solutions tailored specifically to the drinks sector, the webinar will bring together voices from across the trade — spanning digital retail, hospitality and wine criticism — to assess both the opportunities and practical realities of AI implementation. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Nadine Fau: How to be green and premium in Provence

Château Galoupet managing director Nadine Fau tells Patrick Schmitt MW about the steps needed to produce wine sustainably in Provence and why premium rosé packaging doesn’t have to come at the expense of the environment. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.