The week in pictures

Fells held its annual portfolio tasting at the opulent surroundings of One George Street off Parliament Square in London on Tuesday, with Jackson Family Wines one of the many producers exhibiting.

Laurent Fresnet, chef de cave at Champagne Henriot, proudly displays the producer’s new Cuve 38 at the tasting. Made from 18 different vintages harvested between 1990 and 2007, only 1,000 bottles in magnum format have been released with Henriot stating that it represented a “new way for the vinification of Champagne and a new definition of a cuvée”.

Queen Latifah was ready to take a swing at the 2015 Academy Awards, at which Piper-Heidsieck was the exclusive Champagne. Guests to this year’s 87th Oscars celebrated by sipping on Cuvée Brut throughout the telecast and in the Dolby Theater’s VIP room.

The Brut was also poured during the prestigious Governors Ball along with the Rosé Sauvage and Prestige Cuvée Rare 2002, while Academy Award winners sipped on Rare 1988 while getting their statues engraved in the Oscar statuette engraving room.

(L-R) Kevin O’Gorman, Michael Gabbett, Paddy Purser, Billy Leighton, Ger Buckley in Grinsell’s Wood

Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard celebrated the unveiling of its Midleton Dair Ghaelach, its first ever Irish whiskey to be finished in virgin Irish Oak Hogsheads, with a trip to the wood where the casks were produced. Grinsell’s Wood within the Ballaghtobin Estate in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, provided the oak for the first in a series of virgin oak releases in the coming years. Each bottle can be traced back to one of ten 130-year-old Irish oak trees in Grinsell’s Wood, which were felled in April 2012.

To celebrate the cricket match between England and New Zealand in the Cricket World Cup, New Zealand Winegrowers and English Wine Producers, along with Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise hosted a “Battle of the Bubbles” between English sparkling wine and New Zealand sparkling wine in Wellington, New Zealand. Oz Clarke represented England with Clive Dougall of Seresin Estate. Jane Skilton MW represented New Zealand with Sarah Burton, formerly of Cloudy Bay, now of Brennan Wines in Central Otago. The face off resulted in a tie with the man of the match named as Wyfold Brut 2010.

In London, English Wine Producers and NZ Winegrowers replicated the tasting (albeit in a less formal fashion) at New Zealand House with the result somewhat different with the home crowd voting for England.  The Man of the match this time was Hambledown Classic Cuvee NV.

Searcys of London launched its Selected Cuvée this week, to be served at its venues across the city, produced in partnership with Maison Burtin in Epernay. Customers to the group’s St Pancras Grand and One New Change venues will have the option of ordering a bottle to be served in an elegant Coupe Stack. Searcys is London’s largest collection of Champagne bars, and also operates across venues in London, Bath, Oxfordshire and Birmingham. Venues include the Gherkin, St Pancras International, Blenheim Palace and 30 Pavilion Road.

Champagne Taittinger was the official sponsor to the launch of Celia Imrie’s debut novel Not Quite Nice in London this week. The actress is known for her roles in Calendar Girls, Bridget Jones and Nanny McPhee, and more recently The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

The Oxford University team proudly hold their trophy following their decisive victory in the 62nd Varsity Blind-Wine tasting match against Cambridge. Top tasters included Oxford captain Swii Yii Lim who scored 146 points. The Varsity Blind Wine Tasting Match is an annual competition between the Oxford University Blind Wine Tasting Society and the Cambridge University Blind Wine Tasting Society which has run since 1953. It is sponsored by Champagne house Pol Roger.

db was lucky enough to be invited to try out shiny new steakhouse “M” in the City this week, run by Gaucho’s ex managing director, Martin Williams. Our feast kicked off with an appetite-whetting Que Che cocktail, which blended Tanqueray, Amaretto, Salvatore Liquore di Limone and watermelon mousse. We then moved on to a bottle of Ridge 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, which was tasting like a dream. 

During our decadent meal at “M” we went all out and ordered a 120g sirloin of grade 9++ Blackmore Waygu from Australia, which had a texture like butter and melted in the mouth, served with balls of deep-fried bone marrow.

The day after our meat feast we were invited to Ibérica in Marylebone to celebrate the fact that three of Gonzalez Byass’ Spanish wine estates: Fillboa, Secastilla and Finca Moncloa are now part of the prestigious Grandes Pagos de España group. During the dinner, we tried wines from all three estates and tapas dishes including snow crab crositini, chorizo balls and slow cooked lamb with vine tomatoes.

The annual Wines from Spain tasting moved to Tobacco Dock this year, giving us the chance to ogle this specular ship moored in the dock.

During the tasting we caught up with Rob Buckhaven from Fells, who kindly modelled the new look of Torres’ best seller, Sangre de Toro, complete with detachable bull.

We also chatted to the lovely Anne Vallejo of Marques de Caceres about the Rioja estate’s new rosé and its new Verdejo from Rueda.

Then it was straight on to Camino in Blackfriars for a decadent dinner organised by Jimmy Smith of the West London Wine School, which included a whole suckling pig that was theatrically paraded around the table before being carved up and devoured.

Jimmy organised the dinner to showcase the wines of Marques de Murrieta, including the stunning 2005 vintage of Castillo Ygay and the 2010 vintage of barrel-aged white Capellania, which were presented by Vicente Dalmau Cebrián Sagarriga, the 10th count of Creixell, president of the prestigious Rioja bodega.

db called upon the services of our girl in Havana, wine writer Sophie McLean, to send us these pictures from the launch of a new expression of Havana Club rum – Union, made by master blender Asbel Morales, which claims to be the first ever rum made specifically to pair with a Cuban cigar: the Cohiba Siglo VI. Photo credit: Sophie McLean.

The reviewers for The Wine Advocate all came to London this week. They are (left to right): Stephan Reinhardt; Monica Larner; Jeb Dunnuck; Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW; Robert Parker; Neal Martin; Mark Squires; Luis Gutierrez.

Parker used his London visit to announce that he was to stop reviewing Bordeaux en primeur, leaving the job of covering this year’s vintage to Neal Martin (third from the right).

During a press conference at the Landmark Hotel on Wednesday (25 February), he praised his seven reporters (pictured above), commenting, “The common theme of this group is that they are all very independent minded, very knowledgeable, and very gifted at what they do.”

db editor-in-chief, Patrick Schmitt was also present (see below).