Berry Brothers and Rudd are the oldest wine merchant in the UK. Based out of St James’s in London’s trendy Mayfair area, this is where they’ve been operating in one guise or another since 1698. When I was coming through in the banking world all those years ago, all the senior lads and lasses had […]
Slick Service Makes The Difference Read More »
A couple of weeks back I had the amazing luck to be invited to the launch of Sir Ian “Beefy” Botham’s new range of wines. Made in conjunction with Paul Schaafsma and his team at Benchmark Drinks, Sir Ian is in this gig for the long haul. Known as a cricketing hero and all round
BEEFY BOWLS US OVER AT WINE LAUNCH Read More »
The date of picking the first grapes of the season is one of the most important decisions to make in wine. Pick too early and you’ll have mouth stripping acidity and no flavour, too late and you’ll have a mouth full of syrup and be gasping for a glass of water. Generations of winemakers, through a
Get The Sun Cream Out To Germany, The Grape Pickers Will Need It Read More »
Sorry for the radio silence for a few weeks. Been off the radar trying to get my head straight and a bit of R&R in. Anyway, back on it now, and something I really excited about all lined up. I’ve been invited to be on the panel for The Benevolent’s mental health discussion at this year’s
Not Alone – Mental Health Panel Chat at London Wine Fair Read More »
Over the past 48 hours it’s become increasingly likely that Conviviality, a massive wine conglomerate in the UK with market leading wine shops and on trade sales companies, are facing administration. I’ve known people both within the company and analysts looking at the company for the past 12 months, and to many people this should
When Wine Companies Play at Being Corporates – The Conviviality Saga Read More »
I’m out in Bordeaux this week retasting the 2016 before it gets released into the market for us all to buy and open and sip on and enjoy. It’s the last chance critics and journalists get to update their view on how good the year’s wines were before the release. So it’s an important session,
A touch of class at Rauzan Ségla – Bordeaux Tasting Trip Read More »
I should have known from last year. There’s no way to just “pop in” to Whisky Live. The function room at the impressive HAC in London’s Square Mile rammed full of the great and the good of the world of Whisky. And a glass. And a dangerous-whisky-nut-mate (who i love to bits!) taking us around.
2 Hours, 25 Drams, and a Packet Of Pringles – Whisky Live Read More »
The first few weeks of the restaurant have gone by in an absolute blur. We’ve been far busier than I think any of us imagined we would be, which is a huge positive. But it’s also meant all the little plans we have for the place have taken a backseat…until now.
A Place of My Own…ish – Bricks & Mortar Read More »
Last week I went down to an exceptionally trendy cinema in Shoreditch in East London to go hear what the Bordeaux Wine Council had to say for themselves about the year ahead. Nervous though I was about sitting through a 3 hour presentation it was remarkably well done, flowed well, and had enough pictures and
What is affordable? – Bordeaux Wines release Read More »
When it comes to school grades, there’s a big difference between the US and the UK. I first realised this when I was doing my masters with an American lad called Reed. Lovely guy, very hard worker, and someone who really cared about nailing every piece of work he did. Fist bit of coursework we
How Do U.S. High School Kids Cope? – Wine Scoring Read More »
