Give it up for the world’s most extreme winemakers Every wine merchant has their hero or heroine – not necessarily their best sellers but the wines and winemakers they most admire. These are often viticulture’s unsung heroes – small producers who work with new techniques or revive old ones, sometimes toiling in the harshest terrain, where machines aren’t viable and human power is the [...]
Spend this Halloween in a hotel haunted by a giant sea beast The Averard Hotel in Lancaster Gate is perhaps the first such venue to guarantee a sleepless night. The pop-up hotel in the Grade II listed former home of a doctor, architect and two Liberal MPs is hosting a pre-Halloween “Kraken Dread And Breakfast”, offering the chance to join the Leagues of Darkness. The brainchild of [...]
Scotland may be famous for whisky but its gin is on the rise When you think of Scottish spirits, there really isn’t any competition. The ‘water of life’ is an international brand, and even fierce competition from Japan to the East and the US to the West have not shaken Scotland’s place as the one true home of whisky. But there is another spirits industry quietly gaining international [...]
Why aqvavit is moving from Scandinavia into your drinks cabinet September 28, 2021 Once believed capable of curing any illness known to man, aqvavit has gone from a drink rarely seen outside of its native Scandinavia to the connoisseur’s choice of spirit for London Cocktail Month. Danny Walker and Liam Hirt are a pair of British distillers who saw the potential in aqvavit. Working between their Psychopomp Distillery, based [...]
Try fine German wine at fabulous Somerset House September 16, 2021 Eva Fricke’s wines are much sought-after, often going for as much as £3,000 per half-bottle at auction. Her Lorcher Krone Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese 2019 is the first wine to score 100 points from the respected American publication The Wine Advocate. Only eighteen bottles are in existence. Now you can sample some of her wares alongside those [...]
Tudor-inspired gin Six Wives is gin fit for a king September 15, 2021 Six Wives is a small-batch, hand-crafted gin inspired by traditional botanicals. It is the brainchild of Simon Marjoram, a marketing director, who had the idea while walking his two Schnauzers down the towpath towards Hampton Court. Its bottle is a nod to the fate of Henry’s spouses – divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. And [...]
Booze like Bond at this immersive dining experience September 14, 2021 Monte Carlo, the French Riviera, New Orleans, the Caribbean: these are the places we associate with James Bond. Portobello Road, not so much. But this stands to change, for over the next few weeks the bohemian enclave of Notting Hill will be aswarm with Sunspel polo shirts, Persol eyewear, Goodyear-welted Crockett and Jones Norwich boots, [...]
This Kentish winemaker has just released the UK’s sweetest wine September 7, 2021 When you think of the great sweet wine producing regions you probably think of Sauternes in Bordeaux, the rolling hills of Austria, or the warm and humid vineyards of Hungary. But climate change is slowly but surely rewriting the rulebook for winemakers, and a Kentish producer has just released a late harvest wine with 122g [...]
Sotheby’s Jamie Ritchie on the future of wine auctions September 3, 2021 If Jamie Ritchie were on Desert Island Discs, which is not beyond the realms of possibility, his luxury item would be his gavel. “In 1994, as part of Sotheby’s 250th anniversary celebrations, I was given a wooden gavel. It has been the only gavel I have ever used. It has required some occasional re-gluing as [...]
Last chance to join the English Whisky Festival this Friday September 1, 2021 There is still time, if you hurry, to get tickets for the two-day virtual English Whisky Festival, which runs from 3-4 September. Organized by Exploring English Whisky, the event gives you the chance to sample the handiwork of 17 of the country’s 30-plus whisky makers. Some are well known: the St George’s Distillery at Roudham [...]
