Devil's Advocate - How Wine Businesses May Need to Change in 2023

According to a widely-quoted saying, 'If you go on doing what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got'. Robert Joseph suggests that, nowadays, the return may not even be that good - and outlines some of the ways wine businesses may change this year.

Reading time: 4m 30s

The Devil's Advocate Has One Last Post Before Christmas

Robert Joseph swaps his horns for antlers and shares a few thoughts about how to approach wine over the holiday weekend.

Reading time: 2m 30s

Wine and Beer for Pets? It’s Now a Thing.

It started with engineering cat milk. Now, there are non-alcoholic beer and wine options for your furry friends. And it’s all very profitable. There’s a lesson for wine in this.

Reading time: 3m 30s

Devil's Advocate #2 - Harry, Meghan and... Wine

Robert Joseph wonders if the attention surrounding the new Netflix documentary may lead to 'royal' wine hitting the headlines, or maybe even the shelves...

Reading time: 1m 25s

Devil's Advocate - Bordeaux, Where the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Uproot Their Vines

Robert Joseph looks beyond the financially attractive top Grands Crus Classés, at the far less successful mass of Bordeaux and its sub-appellations where large swathes of vines are due to be uprooted.

Reading time: 5m

Devil's Advocate #2 - World Cup Sofa Spectators and Screwcap Evangelists

A brief, wry note penned by Robert Joseph, while simultaneously watching England play Wales in the World Cup and idly following an online argument about wine closures.

Reading time: 35s

Devil's Advocate: Is Zero-Alcohol Wine, 'Wine'? And Why Does it Matter?

There are moves to bring dealcoholised wine into the same legislation as conventional wine, and big brand owners are introducing zero-alc versions of their existing ones. Robert Joseph wonders if this is wise for the wine sector in general.

Reading time: 2m 45s

Devil's Advocate: Heavy Bottles and Wine Tourism - and their Carbon Footprint

Responding to some of the feedback to his recent piece on the challenges facing wine producers looking to reduce the weight of their bottles, Robert Joseph wonders whether the focus on the carbon footprint of heavy packaging is not, in any case, distracting the wine industry's attention from some of its other environmentally-unfriendly activities.

Reading time: 2m 45s

Devil's Advocate - Amphoras are in Fashion, but not as Simple as they Seem

Robert Joseph reports from a fascinating conference session in Milan on amphora.

Reading time: 5m