The week in pictures

Johnnie Walker launched the John Walker & Sons Voyager sailing yacht with British male model David Gandy in Portofino yesterday. This summer the yacht will host exclusive events in Cannes, Monaco, Athens, Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, Hamburg and Copenhagen before docking in Edinburgh in August.

David Gandy, who has been appointed Johnnie Walker Blue Label brand ambassador by parent company Diageo, is joined by Matt Barwell, consumer marketing director for Diageo Western Europe (left), and John Kennedy, president of Diageo Western Europe (right).

The Glenlivet’s master distiller Alan Winchester talks assembled media and other guests through the whisky’s new Alpha release at The Whisky Shop in Piccadilly. The limited-edition Glenlivet Alpha is described as a “blank canvas” as it has been released without an age statement, cask information or tasting notes and is designed to challenge consumers to develop their own perceptions of the whisky.

db‘s Andy Young talks to Chivas Brothers’ international PR manager Jim Long at the launch of The Glenlivet Alpha. The black bottles, designed so that consumers are not influenced by colour, can be seen in the foreground.

On Wednesday evening Bowmore held a launch dinner for its newly released Tempest IV at The Caledonian Club in London. This main course of tournedos of Balmoral venison with a Madeira and truffle sauce, wild mushroom dauphinoise potatoes and creamed spinach was served with Bowmore 15-year Darkest and the two sets of rich flavours worked incredibly well together.

The guests at the Bowmore dinner pose for a photo, with the Bowmore water tiller on the table, which has been distributed to various pubs and restaurants as part of the whisky’s water education programme.

Officials destroy more than 3,000 bottles of counterfeit wine China’s in Fengxian district. Police found the wine, which was labelled as Bordeaux first growth Château Lafite, at an unlicensed workshop last year. Photo credit: Xinhua

Villa Maria wines from New Zealand, official wine partner to BAFTA, hosted a lunch for presenter and journalist Clare Balding at the Corinthia Hotel in honour of her upcoming “Special Award” at the Arqiva British Academy Television Awards in 2013, taking place on Sunday 12 May. Claire, pictured here with Hatch Mansfield managing director Patrick McGrath MW, was joined at the lunch by close friends and colleagues who have played a significant part in her hugely successful television career.

His Excellency Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, the French Ambassador to Germany with Jean Jacques Cattier, brand patriarch and head winemaker of Armand de Brignac Champagne, at a tasting of the Champagne at the French Embassy in Berlin, Germany.

Inspired by the highly anticipated release of Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic The Great Gatsby, Harrods has recreated the lavish entertaining and unmistakable glamour of the Roaring Twenties, with the launch of a Great Gatsby Cocktail Bar.

Neil McGuigan, CEO of Australian Vintage, prepares to demonstrate the “Tim Tam Slam” during a tasting of aged Semillon that he is preparing to release into the UK market.

Wine writer Olly Smith with a very large bottle of Valencian wine.

The team at The Sailors Arms in Newquay, as the TCG pub re-opened following a large redesigned. The new interior design is inspired by 1950s seaside resorts with a contemporary edge.

Westons Cider was the official cider of the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, which took place over the bank holiday weekend. Westons said it had its best year yet at the festival as cider sales “soared through the roof as the sun shone down”.

To a backdrop of hay bales, traditional cider-making equipment and authentic cider barrels, the Henry Weston’s stage showcased some of the star performers of the Cheltenham Jazz Festival including Estelle from the Coronettes.

Bacardi unveiled its new single malt, Glen Deveron, at The Delauney. The whisky will be available exclusively in travel retail in Spain and the UK.

Westminster Abbey provided the backdrop to the Fladgate Partnership’s Port tasting in Dean’s Yard, where the 2011 vintage was officially launched.

db‘s Tania Sansom with Campo Viejo’s chief winemaker Elena Adell at the winery’s Streets of Spain event on London’s Southbank.

Tania shows off her own creation following the Streets of Spain Blend Your Own Wine masterclass.