
The best own-label wines from independent merchants
Berry Bros & Rudd, Britain's oldest merchant, has more than 60 own-label wines, from its bestselling Good Ordinary Claret (£13.95) to the sumptuous, sweet and raisiny William Pickering Tawny Port (£31).
Berry Bros' St James's Street counterpart, Justerini & Brooks, has a smaller range made by some of the finest producers in France, although you might have to sign the official secrets act to find out precisely who. Its 275th Anniversary Bourgogne (£23) is a case in point, bottled by someone in the village of Vosne-Romanée. These are great wines and, in the case of Corney & Barrow's 2021 Aligoté (£36.25), made by Domaine Marquis d'Angerville, genuine bespoke parcels with only 900 bottles made.
In recent years Yapp Brothers has unveiled several own-label wines, while Tanners has a range from 'trusted suppliers' that best represent specific regions. Not to be outdone, after 52 years The Sunday Times Wine Club has also launched its own range, including a Provençal rosé just in time for summer.
• How can you tell if wine is corked? 33 wine questions answered
France (13%)The Wine Society, £9.95This floral blend including pinot gris, riesling and gewürztraminer has lovely aromatic hints of peach.
France (13.5%)Yapp Brothers, £10.95From a co-operative of growers in the Ardèche, this cabernet sauvignon sings with notes of cassis and has a smooth finish.
Spain (14%) Corney & Barrow, £13.95 A traditional full-bodied rioja with an emphasis on rich, savoury dark fruit and meaty flavours with touches of spice.
• How to start a wine cellar — and drink well for less
France (14.5%) Tanners, £14.40This grenache-dominant blend from the Gonnet family of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is silky, supple and full of red fruit.
France (14.5%)Justerini & Brooks, £27.85A serious, classic pomerol, this merlot-heavy red has inviting notes of plum, savoury spice and a dry, velvety texture.
USA (13.2%)Berry Bros & Rudd, £38Quite a coup for Berry Bros, this fine, silky chardonnay teems with citrus, red apple and peach.
• The Sunday Times Wine Club's 10 best bottles this summer
France (13.5%) £13.99 The club's first own-label rosé from the high slopes of Provence is crisp and pure, with a wonderful saline freshness.
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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Iconic fashion chain plans UK high street RETURN after going bust and shutting 46 stores
AN iconic fashion chain is planning to make a triumphant return to the high street next year, The Sun can exclusively reveal. Ted Baker is set to make a comeback to the British high street in early 2026, sources close to the matter have said. It is understood the brand is planning to return to London, with more details to be confirmed closer to the time. It's not clear yet how many shops there will be or whether there will be any outside the capital. The news comes more than a year after the much-loved brand dramatically collapsed and shuttered all its stores in August 2024. Founded in 1988, Ted Baker was well-known in the 90s for its clothes and accessories with bold and floral designs. A decade ago it was one of the strongest names in the retail sector with 550 shops and concessions around the world - but has recently ran into major difficulties. Shoppers were shocked when the fashion giant fell into administration in March last year. It brought back its website in November last year, stocking a range of menswear, womenswear and accessories. The website currently ships to the UK only but it says it will offer international shipping "very soon". The Sun has approached Ted Baker for comment. What happened to Ted Baker The company's troubles first began in 2019 after its founder Ray Kelvin quit his role following allegations of harassment. Fashion chain to shut all shops It then put out several profit warnings, which is when a company advises the stock market that profits will be lower than expected. In 2020, the retailer said it would axe 160 jobs. More bad news came in March 2024 it collapsed into administration, putting dozens of stores and hundreds of jobs at risk. By then the company had 86 stores across the UK and 975 employees. No Ordinary Designer Label (NODL), owned by Authentic Brands Group (ABG) and trading as Ted Baker, appointed Teneo as administrators. NODL blamed a deal going sour between its owners and a Dutch operating partner that had allegedly promised to inject cash into the business. By April, Ted Baker had announced it would close 15 stores with the loss of 120 jobs. The Sun exclusively revealed in July 2024 that the brand was at risk of disappearing from the high street forever within weeks. It was then announced that the last of Ted Baker's 31 stores would be closed for good in August. The brand launched huge clearance sales to get rid of its final stock, with at least one store advertising at least 70% off everything. Shoppers raced to clear the shelves of glamorous maxi dresses, winter coats and men's suits at bargain prices before the stores shut forever. Other iconic brands that have come back from collapse Ted Baker wouldn't be the first brand to make a dramatic comeback to the high street. Shirtmaker T.M. Lewin announced last month it would be opening more stores in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. The brand had fallen into administration and shut all of its 66 branches in 2020. Last year, fashion and homeware chain Cath Kidston made a surprise return by opening a store in Westfield White City, London. The retailer had crashed into administration and shut all of its stores in 2023. Wilko also made a high street comeback with stores in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland almost a year after it went into administration. Meanwhile fashion chain M&Co opened a new store in Scotland a little more than a year after it collapsed. What does going into administration mean? WHEN a company enters into administration, all control is passed to an appointed administrator. The administrator has to leverage the company's assets and business to repay creditors any outstanding debts. Once a company enters administration, a "moratorium" is put in place which means no legal action can be taken against it. Administrators write to your creditors and Companies House to say they've been appointed. They try to stop the company from being liquidated (closing down), and if it can't it pays as much of a company's debts from its remaining assets. The administrator has eight weeks to write a statement explaining what they plan to do to move the business forward. This must be sent to creditors, employees and Companies House and invite them to approve or amend the plans at a meeting. A Notice of Intention is used to inform concerning parties that a company intends to enter administration. It is a physical document which is submitted to court, usually by directors aiming to prevent a company from being liquidated. Like with a standard administration process, a Notice of Intention stops creditors from taking out any legal action over a company while they try and rectify the business.


Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Record number of farms shut in wake of inheritance tax raid
A record number of farms were forced to close for good this year after Rachel Reeves's tax raid made the future of thousands of rural businesses unviable. A total of 6,365 agriculture, forestry and fishing businesses have closed over the past year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the highest since quarterly data was first published in 2017. The majority of these closures took place during the first six months of the year after Ms Reeves, the Chancellor, announced in October that she would cut the amount of inheritance tax relief available to family farms. Just 3,190 businesses in the sector have been set up over the same period. It leaves a net loss of 3,175, indicating the number of farms is shrinking at the fastest pace on record. Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, said the farm closures were a result of 'Labour's disastrous tax policies'. She added: 'The crippling NICs increases, alongside the family farm and family firm taxes, are destroying generational businesses, creating job instability and even leading to devastating suicides. 'These statistics prove that Labour do not understand our rural communities and our rural communities cannot afford Labour.' Lee Anderson, a Reform UK MP, said rising taxes and red tape were 'pushing British farming to the brink'. 'No government in modern history has done more damage to rural Britain than Labour is right now,' he said. 'Farms are closing at twice the rate new ones are opening. This is completely unsustainable. Labour has betrayed the industry that helped build this country.' 'Beaten from post to pillar' Farmers are also grappling with the soaring cost of fertiliser and a poor harvest following the recent drought and floods last year. James Grindal, a 55-year-old third-generation farmer in South Leicestershire, said the poor weather and barrage of costs mean new farmers and entrepreneurs are reluctant to set up businesses in the industry. He said: 'Yields are quite a bit down this year, it has been so dry – we have not had decent rain for four or five months. 'People have been beaten from post to pillar. Whichever way you turn you seem unwanted. 'The Government is not over-supportive of us, with inheritance tax relief disappearing.' Mr Grindal's 84-year-old father still works on the farm and remains a part-owner. However, he warned that the Chancellor's tax raid meant that when his father dies, the family will be unable to invest in the farm as planned. Mr Grindal said: 'He is still actively involved in the farm – he still sits on tractors occasionally, why shouldn't he own a bit of the land he has worked hard to own? Out of nowhere [this tax was] dropped on us. 'When he passes away we are going to have to pay a fair bit of tax on that. It will probably stop us from doing some of what we are doing. 'I could understand the tax if we were going to sell it. But we are not, we are going to keep growing corn and feeding people.' Currently, family farms do not incur inheritance tax, receiving full relief on the usual 40pc rate. Under the changes introduced by Ms Reeves which take effect from April 2026, inheritance tax will be charged at a rate of 20pc, above a threshold of £1m. Farmers have objected that their businesses are typically cash-poor and low-margin, meaning they will be forced to sell chunks of their land to settle the bill. Mr Grindal said that the tax changes meant his teenage sons would be even more reluctant to take on the family business. 'There are not many people coming new into the industry. I've got two boys, 19 and 17, and I very much doubt they will come into farming,' he said. 'There is not a great deal of encouragement to get up at the crack of dawn and work all day and not get much reward for it, when they see what else they can do.' Confidence at 'rock-bottom' Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers' Union, said confidence in the industry was 'at rock-bottom' with farmers facing 'a number of challenges.' The inheritance tax rise came as 'another bitter blow and another attack', he said. Mr Bradshaw added: 'It creates this continuing sense that the industry isn't valued and its worth to the country isn't being recognised. 'I can understand why the psychology is there that people will be taking the decisions that they may be resigned to sell off, and they are no longer able to make a living off it.' Victoria Vyvyan, president of the Country Land and Business Association, said taxes and red tape were undermining farmers' efforts to make ends meet. She said: 'This report says what ministers won't: rural businesses are being pushed to the edge. 'Farmers trying to modernise or diversify are blocked at every turn – by red tape, by National Insurance rises, by a government that talks growth while pulling out the foundations beneath it. 'Still, the countryside carries on. New businesses are opening. People are holding on. But grit isn't a strategy. What's needed now is simple: stability, clarity, and a government willing to listen – before more farms are lost and more families are forced out.' Michael Oakes, who sold his dairy business last year and now runs a beef herd in the West Midlands, said the rising demand for renewable energy was also compounding farmers' woes. He added: 'You've got some landlords taking land out of food production to put into solar.' Ms Reeves's tax change, which alongside a similar reduction in the relief for family businesses is set to raise up to £520m per year for the Exchequer, caused immediate political ructions with farmers driving tractors into central London to protest outside Parliament. MPs also heard emotional evidence from family farms about the dangers of the tax raid. Jonathan Charlesworth, a farmer in Yorkshire, said his father, John, took his own life in fear of the inheritance tax raid. Other farmers have told The Telegraph that the impending increase has opened a 'suicide window' for elderly business owners who worry they will impose a financial burden on their children and grandchildren by staying alive beyond April of next year. Any hopes the plans might be softened were dashed with the publication of the Finance Bill this week which confirmed the changes will come into force next year. A Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs spokesman said: 'Our commitment to farming and food security is steadfast and farming profits in the UK increased by £1.6bn last year. 'We are slashing costs and red tape for food producers to export to the EU, have appointed former NFU president Baroness Minette Batters to recommend reforms to boost farmers' profits, and we're ensuring farmers get a bigger share of food contracts across our schools, hospitals, and prisons.'


The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Water firms should serve the common good
The Water Commission's failure to consider renationalisation as an option for the industry does not necessarily mean that we'll 'watch the industry continue to sink under the failed model of privatisation', as the Green party's co-leader, Adrian Ramsay, has suggested ('Less reorganising, more doing': landmark report alone won't fix broken water sector, 21 July). But, as you say in your editorial (21 July), it will mean that 'making water companies value the public interest more highly, relative to private profit, will be an ongoing struggle'. There is a way, however, of ensuring that the public interest wins this struggle. Change the laws on corporate governance. Legally require water and other private companies to operate in the interests of the common good, and develop a regulatory system to ensure that this happens. This would make it easier to prosecute CEOs and other senior executives, should they fail to run their companies in the interests of the British people. In legislating this way, the government could take its lead from the German constitution, article 14, clause 2 of which states: 'Property entails obligations. Its use shall also serve the public good.' In so doing, the government could take note of the fact that this is a legal cornerstone of Germany's social market version of capitalism – one that for a long time has surpassed Britain's in terms of its higher levels of prosperity, with far lower levels of HendersonLeeds I could accept a privatised water industry if I had a choice of provider. As a Severn Trent customer, the only way to change my water supplier is to move house. There is no incentive for Severn Trent to offer me the best service it can, as there is no penalty for not doing so. Pious statements about regulation are easily addressed by looking at the regulatory bonfire that occurs every time we elect a Tory government. I've been a Labour voter for 40-plus years, and was incensed enough to think about changing my vote over the benefit changes disaster, but now have a positive reason to consider a vote for the Green party – an unambiguous commitment to nationalisation. This is the only way of getting an accountable BowdenBirmingham Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.