Recent weeks have seen the emergence of the newly named Vinarchy, the product of the coupling together of Accolade Wines with the Australian and New Zealand wine assets of Pernod Ricard. While the combined initial 150 brands is to be culled to 100, that will represent a mere 4% of overall revenue. The worry is, as we have seen with Treasury Wine Estate’s unifocus on Penfolds, that Vinarchy has publicly declared that its three key brands will be Hardy’s (the biggest export brand into the UK market), Jacob’s Creek and Campo Viejo (Rioja, Spain). One hopes that some of the company’s other excellent brands such as Houghton, St Hallett and Petaluma might have more legs than those awaiting their near-inevitable demise under the palliative care being administered by other owners.