LIWF in pictures

Romanian winery Prince Stirbey raided its archives to find a suitable label for one of its rare pudding wines made from native grape, Tamaioasa Romanesca.

Ebullient wine writer Joe Wadsack in full flow at the LIWF’s Speaker’s Corner, where he challenged winemakers to bring him wines to blind taste.

The Benevolent stand adopted a fun fair theme, where the trade were invited to try their luck at hoopla, with bottles of Taittinger Collection belonging to The Benevolent’s new chief executive David Cox doubling for skittles.

We couldn’t resist snapping these adorable pandas on this baijiu stand, where distillery manager Yuan Tao Feng was giving away panda handkerchiefs and samples of the popular Chinese white spirit.

The nattily dressed Pavel Titov, general manager of historic Russian sparkler Abrau Durso, models the latest addition to the brand’s range – a Brut Rosé.

While the weather may have been miserable, Adolfo Hurtado of Chilean estate Cono Sur kept the mood bright with some rose-tinted specs in celebration of his Pinot Noir rosé sparkler. Hurtado was also full of excitement for the launch of his single vineyard range, and can be seen here modelling the Block 21 Pinot Noir from the San Antonio Valley.

One of the most curious launches at the LIWF was Tio Pepe toothpaste on the Gonzalez Byass stand. Crafted by the duo behind experimental restaurant The Larder House in Dorset, in addition to Tio Pepe, the toothpaste contains a dash of mint and elderflower. It proved a surprisingly effective palate cleanser, particularly after a flight of vintage Port.

Rachel Archer, I Heart brand manager for Copestick Murray, showed off designs for a new British punk-themed range extension, due to launch in July. I Heart is also about to launch a Brazilian sparkling Moscato, one of the many efforts to capitalise on the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympic fever.

Coonawarra Cabernet crown jewel Wynns proved a hit at the LIWF. On the second day of the fair winemaker Sue Hodder talked a lucky few through a vertical tasting of top wine John Riddoch, which, she revealed, is becoming increasingly popular in Asia.

McLaren Vale estate Wirra Wirra invited some of the wine fair’s braver attendees to indulge in a spot of welly wanging, the aim being to hit giant cardboard cut outs of wines from the estate’s range, rather than seeing how far you could lob a gum boot. Winner Toby Cox, a trainee manager at the Mayfair branch of Majestic, bagged a mix case of Wirra Wirra and a £250 cheque to be donated to a charity of his choice.

After a number of attempts, the ever-stylish Emanuele Barrasso of R&R Teamwork got his wanging technique down to a fine art in a dizzying delivery somewhere between that of a ballerina and a hammer thrower.

And finally… db’s senior staff writer Lucy Shaw was a less successful wanger, failing to reach even the nearest target, though she enjoyed giving it a jolly good go.