The week in pictures

There was Champagne and pretzels galore at an alpine-themed evening with Canard-Duchêne, a partner of the Regent’s park Open Air Theatre in London, which is currently staging a fabulous production of The Sound of Music.

This year saw the addition of rosé and organic expressions to the house’s Cuvée Léonie range, whose brut expression was introduced back in 2008. Aged in the cellars for three years before release, the new styles are due to appear in the on-trade from next month.

Tennents Lager lit up various London landmarks on Tuesday night ahead of the England v Scotland football match on Wednesday, which saw thousands of Scotland supporters descend on London.

While thousands of people headed to Wembley on Wednesday night, it was a little quieter in The Whisky Shop in Piccadilly, where Andy Gemmell, the global brand ambassador for Dewar’s, hosted an evening which featured a number of cocktails created by the Savoy Hotel’s Tom Walker.

The 2013 Great British Beer Festival kicked off this week at London’s Olympia and to mark the opening the “Let there be beer” campaign put this huge projection on the outside of the exhibition hall.

Inside Olympia the British Beer Festival featured a huge selection of beers from all over the UK, as well as from around the world. The festival is a great opportunity for many smaller breweries to get their beer tasted by a wider audience.

This part of the festival featured bars from brewers Wells & Young’s, Fullers and Greene King and proved to be a popular and busy spot among the real ale enthusiasts.

As well as beer, the festival also serves cider and perry, with the Westons Cider bar also proving a popular destination.

Some of the more colourful characters spotted at the Home House summer ball, which ran with a festival theme.

Zsolt Kismodi (aka Mody) and Paolo Licinio model their cava and tapas match – Alta Allela Privat Mirgin Gran Reserva Brut Nature with Polpo alla Gallega – at the Aqua Nueva cava bar on Regent Street.

One of the cava cocktails on offer at the Aqua Nueva cava bar is Picasso’s Flute, a mix of Torres 10-year-old Brandy, an absinthe-soaked sugar cube, peach liqueur and cava, which comes highly recommended.

While sipping the aforementioned Picasso’s Flute on Aqua’s roof terrace, db’s Lucy Shaw was delighted to discover this Klimtian detail on the black building opposite, bringing a touch of Art Nouveau splendour to the London skyline.

db‘s Rupert Millar had a feeling his holiday in Canada would go well when he came across this boat full of Veuve at a friend’s wedding.

He also came across this cuddly duo at a nature reserve in BC. Both bears were found orphaned as cubs in different parts of the province and then brought to the Grouse Mountain wildlife refuge over 10 years ago. Above is Coola, found near Bella Coola on the coast and the shy chap below is Grinder, found at Invermere further inland. Coola’s mother was killed by a truck on the highway while it is not known if Grinder’s mother was killed or simply abandoned him.

The view over Lake Okanagan from Summerhill. For more pictures of Rupert’s visit to the region click here.

Drinks from Canada’s past. The evolution of Canada’s wine industry at Calona.