UK Wine Show

Neal Martin is a wine writer for Robert Parker and uses the The Wine Advocate Rating System to evaluate quality. We get to grips with the worlds most famous and powerful wine rating system and the pros and cons of wine ratings.

The Wine Show is a consumer exhibition held at the Business Design Centre in Islington. We catch up with the organisers to find out whats on at this year's show.

Neal Martin writes for Robert Parker, the renowned American wine commentator to give a British perspective to the erobertparker.com website. We hear how Neal first created his own successful wine site and how his distinctive writing style sets him apart.

Tim How is CEO at Majestic Wine Warehouses winner of the 2007 Decanter award for Best High Street Retailer. Tim describes Majestic's positioning in the UK and how they compete so successfully.

Mike Rogers is co-owner of award-winning independent wine merchant Philglas and Swiggot. Established in 1991 there are now 3 stores in London. Mike gives an insight into retailing wine at the quality end of the spectrum.

Justin Howard-Sneyd is head of wine buying at Waitrose and is one of 5 MWs in the team. Justin explains how Waitrose position their in-store wine departments to appeal to a broad range of customers.

Mike Ratcliffe is Deputy Chairman of South African Wine Industry Trust. We talk about black economic empowerment and how the trust is helping disadvantaged people to get into the wine industry.

Mike Ratcliffe is a director of Wines of South Africa and managing director of Warwick Estate. Mike talks to us about future plans for South African wines.

Steve Smith is a Master of Wine, viticulturist and managing director of Craggy Range, New Zealand. We find out what he thinks about terroir and why variety, climate and soil matter.

Louis Latour of Burgundy negociant Maison Louis Latour gives us his thoughts on the concept of terroir and the impact of global warming in his part of France.

Michael Cox launched Oxford Landing amidst the onslaught of fruit-driven Australian wines arriving in the UK in the 80's and 90's. We talk with Michael about the challenges of marketing New World wines.

Wine for Spice was created to extinguish that burning question of the ideal wine to drink with curry. We catch up with Wine for Spice founder Warren Edwardes for a lesson in spicy food and wine matching.

Maison Louis Latour is one of the most highly-respected negociants in Burgundy. We speak to Louis Latour about the activities of a negociant and their role in producing and selling Burgundy's wine.

Sioban Harnett is viticulturist at Cloudy Bay, the iconic New Zealand winery. We find out how the vines are trained and managed to suit the growing conditions of the Marlborough region.

Tim How is CEO of Majestic Wines, the UK's biggest chain of wine warehouses. Tim looks back at Majestic's history and forward to ambitious plans for future growth.

Sioban Harnett is the viticulturist at Cloudy Bay, New Zealand's iconic winery. We talk about the different jobs of a viticulturist throughout the growing season.

Simon Waghorn is winemaker for Whitehaven and Astrolabe, two top award-winning New Zealand wine brands. We get his views on wine awards and how winnning can help sell wine.

Wines of Chile is a promotional body that represents 90 Chilean wineries with offices in Santiago and London. Michael Cox heads up the UK office which was set up in 2003. We asked him for his perspective on Chilean wine.

Mark Hallett is owner of Grape Escapes a wine tour operator specialising in wine holidays to the vineyard regions of France. We find out what their tours to Champagne have to offer.

This week we feature Tony Jordon the CEO of Green Point Australia on the recent release of their entire sparkling range under crown seal.

This week is English Wine Week so we met up with Julia Trustram Eve, Marketing Manager for English Wine Producers, the Marketing Association for the English Wine Industry. We discuss issues including new Brussels legislation and global warming.

Denbies is England's largest vineyard and attracts 300,000 visitors a year. General Manager and son of the owner, Chris White, lets us in on the secret of Denbies' success.

James Booth is co-founder of Virtual Wine, the wine media company that runs wine tastings over the Internet. We find out how a virtual wine tasting works and why the idea is catching on.

Jamie Goode is the wine writer and blogger behind wineanorak.com. In this interview we discuss the technical issues with a range of closures including the screwcap, natural cork, diam, zork and the vino lock.

Leventhorpe Winery is a commercial vineyard and winery based in Leeds in the North of England. Owner George Bowden tells how he grows vines at the extreme edge of viticulture and why badgers, birds and hedgehogs are as much a hazard as frost and fungi.