An ‘e-catalogue’ containing 30,000 wines will be available to visitors to this year’s London International Wine Fair (May 20 to 22) through wine list company TastingBuddy. The catalogue should allow visitors to plan, search and select wines for tasting before the fair begins to create a personalised tasting list that can be printed or downloaded. More information can be found on www.tastingbuddy.com.

Waitrose is exclusively stocking the new Grouse Beater ale from Yorkshire brewer T&R Theakston until March, when it will be rolled out to other off-trade retailers. The 4.2% alcohol-by-volume brew, which is packaged in 500ml bottles, was previously only available in cask format around the start of the grouse season in August. Blueberry juice is added to the golden ale during the fermenting process to give it a “light, fruity” flavour.

This spring will see the launch of a South African wine range by Foster’s EMEA under the Lindemans brand name. The range will initially be launched with two wines from the 2007 vintage, a Sauvignon Blanc and a Shiraz, with an expected retail price of £5.99. Marketing support worth £1m will include an advertising campaign. The launch follows on the introduction last May of a Chilean range of wines.

Midlands brewer Marstons is going down the lightweight bottle route across its range of take-home beers, including its leading Marstons Pedigree brand. The new 500ml bottle is 22% lighter than its predecessor, which represents a glass saving of more than 1,000 tonnes per year and an associated CO2 saving of more than 650 tonnes.

The 2004 Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz is being released in screwcap following requests from Tesco and the Swedish Systembolaget alcohol monopoly. Other Penfolds reds to be bottled under screwcap from the next vintage, will include Bin 138 Old Vine Shiraz Grenache Mourvedre and the Thomas Hyland range.