Blog
CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva 2015 launch
C.V.N.E. Short for Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España, but pronounced ‘cune’, this is one of the world’s most famous Spanish wineries. They have a 140 year history and have produced some groundbreaking wines in that time, including Spain’s oldest white wine, Monopole, and the first Spanish wine to be named Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator. That wine was Imperial - and it’s the reason for this blog.
Behind the gold stickers: Interview with Andrew Jefford, Decanter World Wine Awards Co-Chair
Renowned wine writer, Andrew Jefford, has been judging at the Decanter World Wine Awards since 2004. He’s seen wine trends come and go, but manages to keep an open mind when presented with a set of new wines to judge. I caught up with him for half an hour backstage during the 2021 DWWA judging week to talk about a whole bevy of topics, including who benefits from wine competitions, how he started out in the world of wine, celebrity wines, wine influencers and what it really means to have a DWWA label stuck on a bottle.
Terrazas de Los Andes: The search for freshness in Mendoza
“When you’re in Mendoza, you decide who you want to be when you look at where you plant your vineyards,” Herve Birnie-Scott muses. Thirty years ago, this winemaker from the Loire decided what he wanted Terrazas de Los Andes to be, despite being a bold move away from Argentinian wine at that time.
Wednesday Wine Women: @kvltwines
With my partner Matt, a digital creative with a thirst for natural wine, we built a brand around no-nonsense education, inclusivity and environmental concerns - as well as our love of all things metal and macabre. We are hoping to grow our offering of workshops and classes soon.
Wednesday Wine Women: @maisonmirabeau
Jeany is responsible for the marketing, new product design and key supplier relations at Maison Mirabeau, as well as being a keen communicator about their life in Provence to the many fans of the brand.
Wednesday Wine Women: @jesslambwrites
Jess spends four days a week working for a London fine wine broker and uses the rest of her time to study for the WSET Diploma. Still only having been in wine for a relatively short time, Jess is excited about what the future may hold - she’s hoping for lots more opportunities to indulge her twin passions for writing and learning.
Wine to the rescue! Berkmann Wine Cellars to save restaurants and bars with Help4Hospitality
The hospitality industry is one of the sectors that has undoubtedly been hit the hardest during the Coronavirus pandemic and the future is still uncertain for many of our beloved restaurants, hotels, pubs and bars. But, pulling together and creating initiatives, like Help4Hospitality, that are designed to support each other in the industry - chefs, bartenders, suppliers, wineries, venues - is keeping the hope alive that hospitality could be the phoenix that gloriously rises from the ashes. I know I for one will need giant drink after these and I’ll need somewhere to drink it!
Cramele Recas: Why you should be drinking Romanian wine
What are your thoughts on Romanian wine? Have you ever tried Romanian wine? I hadn’t and, admittedly, I didn’t know too much about it either. Yet, located at 45 degrees latitude, with sunny summers and cold winters, stunning natural landscapes, which comprise of mountain peaks, lush valleys, glacial lakes, rivers, mud volcanoes, salt mines and the shores of the Black Sea, it is actually the perfect place to grow grapevines. In fact, Romania is one of the world’s largest producer of wine and is the fifth biggest producer in Europe, after Italy, France, Spain, and Germany. Who knew?
The New ‘New World’: An interview with Rollo Gabb of Journey’s End
In 2006, Rollo Gabb produced his first barrel of Destination Chardonnay. It was the only barrel that year: ‘That’s why I called it Destination; I was either destined to sink or swim. So, I kicked off with the one barrel and off we went.’
There might never have been a Nemo moment for Rollo. ‘I could have taken the option of sitting on my arse and just being some sort of playboy,’ he says, half-jokingly. His father had been extremely successful in the commercial wine business (Roger Gabb was behind the brands Kumala and Isla Negra, among others) and, after university in Manchester, Rollo enjoyed being a young man about town running nightclubs, including the legendary Hacienda. When I meet him in Quo Vadis, one of the London restaurants he is involved with, echoes of his ‘Madchester’ days are apparent on his groovy paisley-patterned multi-coloured shirt (we take a moment to admire each other’s shirts, as I have a rather groovy one on myself).
Anne La Naour: A new era for CA Grand Crus
It’s a new era for CA Grand Crus (administrators of several Bordeaux and Burgundy vineyards owned by the Credit Agricole Group), with recently appointed Anne La Naour at the helm as Executive Director. Alongside Jean-Philippe Archambault, Director of Santenay in Burgundy, she is bringing a fresh vision to the estates and has sold two properties in Bordeaux in order to open up opportunities to work with new places and people. Anne is leading the focus towards innovation, putting quality at the centre of everything they do.
Sipping on Blanc de Blancs at Jenkyn Place
Being invited to a private tasting of Jenkyn Place’s first ever Blanc de Blancs in their beautiful Hampshire estate, standing next to the very vines upon which the ‘blancs’ were grown… it’s a yes from me. Even when dark clouds started to roll in and the heavens threatened to open, there was nothing that could dampen the enthusiam for the occasion – which is English winemaking in a nutshell, as it goes. By midday, there were blue skies, sunshine, Scotch eggs and puppies bounding around the garden – and a vertical tasting of Jenkyn Place Brut Cuvée from 2006 to 2014. It couldn’t have been more perfect (including the Scotch eggs, which still had soft, orange yolks).
T-Oinos Wines: Liquid energy in a bottle
The rare grey-black marble that is found on the floors of Buckingham Palace and the Louvre comes from Tinos, a rugged Greek island in the Aegean Sea. So sought after, this marble is now UNESCO protected - which is the reason you will see giant boulders in the middle of vineyards, with rows of vines respectfully stopping at their edges and continuing on after.