Week in pictures

 db met the lovely Anselmo and Beatrice Pellini, owners of top-end Lambrusco Chiarli in Modena, during a recent visit to the region.

The dashing and debonair chef de cave of Moët & Chandon Benoit Gouez and Champagne writer Giles Fallowfield share a toast during dinner at Hix Belgravia.

Dynamic duo Ben Smith of Enotria (erstwhile bass player for Curiosity Killed the Cat) and Emily O’Hare, sommelier at The River Café, strike a pose during an epic lunch in Rimini.

 Debauched decadence ensued at the Courvoisier Institute of Grand Cocktails in Victoria House, Holborn, where attendees were led through a series of rooms, from a mock spice market in Morocco to a palatial ballroom.

db fell in love with Chiarli’s adorable pooch Vento, master of hide and seek.

A picture perfect patchwork of the Rimini landscape

db spotted this curious label during a tasting at Marche producer Umani Ronchi. Not to be confused with the cheese, the Pecorino grape is becoming increasingly trendy in Italy.

Land of Parmesan, Parma ham and pasta, db indulged in many a chunk of the umami-rich cheese with a dash of the region’s famous balsamic vinegar during a recent visit to Emilia Romagna with Enotria.

The affable Michele Bianchi Bernetti of Umani Ronchi shows off his latest sparkler.

Marinel FitzSimons of our sister title The Spirits Business and Emanuele Barrasso of RandR Teamwork enjoy a pair of Giffard-infused White Ladies at the Nightjar in Shoreditch.

 What better way to quench your thirst in the 35-degree Italian heat than with a lemon and orangecello digestif?

Spicing things up at the Courvoisier Institute of Grand Cocktails launch.

The drinks industry gathered together for Imbibe Live 2012 at the show’s new home, Olympia Grand Hall with a total attendance of 7,653 (ABC audit pending), a 6% increase on footfall from 2011.

The WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) held its first English wine consumer class following on from record sales after the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend, just in time for the Olympics. It was hosted by Julia Trustram Eve, of the English Wine Producers. The English wines included Chapel Down, Hush Heath, Nyetimber and Ridgeview, amongst others.

Oenobrands has been awarded the 2012 “Vincoeurs” prize for innovation. The “Vincoeurs en Hérault’ event celebrates wine in all its diversity, rewarding exemplary players in the wine industry. The awards cover fields as varied as oeno-tourism, risk-taking, environmental effort, digital innovation and community involvement. This was the second “Vincoeurs en Hérault”, and was presided over by the French actor and wine lover Pierre Arditi.