The week in pictures

4G CEO Philipp Axt was in London to introduce the 2012 vintage from his ambitious young South African venture and told db about the challenge of building a “new category” with his wine around the world.

Lorenzo and Francesco Zonin hosted a blind tasting for London sommeliers featuring a decade of vintages from their Chianti Classico and Maremma estates, Castello D’Albola and Tenuta Rocco di Montemassi.

Among the wines in the line up was Il Solatio, which the producer has labelled under the new Gran Selezione classification, a top level tier for Chianti Classico that was approved earlier this year.

Beer and women group Dea Latis hosted a beer and cheese tasting in London earlier this week, as part of its ongoing mission to encourage more women to discover the delights of the drink.

During the tasting, guests sampled five different beer and cheese combinations, with expert guidance provided by Annabel Smith, one of the country’s only female Beer Sommeliers. They were: Affligem Triple: Chaucers Camembert, Guinness: Organic Ashdown Foresters Smoked, Fullers ESB: Ashmore Farmhouse, Shepherd Neame Barley Wine: Kentish Blue, Bacchus Frambozen: Kellys Goats Cheese.

On Thursday Funkin partnered with Benefit cosmetics at the Covent Garden boutique for an evening of cocktails and makeovers.

Daniel Redman-Hubley, Funkin’s Innovation Champion, was on hand making Funkin Strawberry Daiquiris and Funkin Mojitos for the crowd showing them how easy it is to use Funkin’s cocktail mixers.

At this year’s London Cocktail Week, bourbon fans had the special opportunity to take part in a pop-up Maker’s Mark tasting at Steam & Rye on Thursday, 9th October.

The event included an interactive tutorial on how to create a selection of signature Maker’s Mark serves and then attendees had the chance to hand-dip their very own bottle of Maker’s Mark in its iconic red wax.

Hardy’s this week celebrated the Bicentenary of cricket being played at the sport’s spiritual home of Lord’s in North London.

In attendance were cricketers James Anderson, Matthew Hoggart and Mark Butcher, along with wine man Olly Smith.

As Paul Symington dubbed this the “Year of the Fox”, he also revealed that the group’s winemaker at Quinta dos Malvedos, Henry Shotton, had a close encounter with a small fox (pictured below) while sleeping in the winery one night during harvest.

The Banyuls Sur Mer Harvest Festival took place this week.

The “Fête des vendanges” (Grape Harvest Festival) takes place every year on the second weekend of October in the small Catalan port.

On the programme was a market with local products in the town centre, tastings of seafood and wines, shows, concerts, brass bands, hiking and a host of other events.

The Glenlivet has unveiled the The Glenlivet Nàdurra Dram Chair, which is available for viewing for a limited time at The New Craftsmen store in Mayfair, London. The frame is hand-crafted from oak while the leather seat has been steeped in oak bark by the only remaining oak tannery in Great Britain.

Françoise Peretti, director of the Champagne Bureau in the UK and db news and web editor Lauren Eads at the 10th anniversary of the Comité Champagne¹s pan-European Champagne Ambassador’s Awards.

Phipps held its “Get it on” tasting for Wines of Germany at The Sampler on Tuesday this week.

Joe Wadsack, Anne Krebiehl MW and Matt Walls tasted through over 40 German wines which are currently unrepresented in the UK and whittled these down to just 25 .

The final wines then went through to the tasting and yesterday, members of the trade were invited to taste through stunning Riesling and Pinot Noirs with an aim to them gaining listings in the near future.

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust celebrated its 45th birthday with a magnificent dinner at London’s Vintners’ Hall on Wednesday this week, where WSET honorary president Gerard Basset OBE, MS, MW charmed the guests, who included famous wine trade figures such as Michael Broadbent MW, Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson MW.

Oldenburg Vineyards of South Africa is sponsoring the “1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair” at Somerset House in London this week.

Owners Adrian and Vanessa Vanderspuy are seen here with their wine at the VIP opening event for over 500 artists and guests which took place on Wednesday evening.

George Sandeman and his head winemaker Luis Sottomayor were in London this week to launch Sandeman Cask 33 Limited Edition Aged Tawny Port.

The launch of Sandeman Cask 33 into luxury retailers and restaurants marks the beginning of a series of activities which will be rolled out in 2015 to celebrate Sandeman’s 225 year anniversary. George Sandeman also appeared on Sky News TV to announce the launch.

Luis Sottomayor is seen here with wine writer Sarah Ahmed and one of the 685 bottles of Sandeman Cask 33.