The week in pictures

John Franklin of Mentzendorff was tasked with collecting the chocolate brown Chapoutier 2CV from France this week, which will grace the Mentzendorff stand (C20) at the London Wine Fair next week. Visitors will have the chance to win a case of Chapoutier wine if they tweet using the #Chapoutier2CV hashtag.

As reported by db earlier this month, gin brand Hendrick’s has created a giant flying cucumber to take passengers on voyages across America. The 130-foot long, 44-foot aircraft features a giant all-seeing “eye in the sky” in the middle of the it. To coincide with the launch, the brand has created pop-up airline Hendrick’s Air.

The Ambassador of Argentina, Alicia Castro and Andrew Maidment of Wines of Argentina celebrate Malbec World Day at the Argentina embassy in London.

A Methuselah of Taittinger was donated by the Champagne house and signed by 22 celebrities, including actress Anna Freil, The Great British Bake Off star Mary Berry and TV presenter turned philanthropist Katie Piper (pictured) backstage at the BAFTA’s this week to be auctioned off later this year. 

db was jammy enough to spend a couple of days at Le Sirenuse in Positano this week, where we were treated to this view from the hotel’s terrace.

Among the many delicious Italian wines we tried during our stay in Positano was this Vorberg Pinot Bianco from Alto Adige producer Cantina Terlano, which wooed us with its depth of flavour, rich ripe fruit and silky texture.

We’re pleased to report that the trend for red trousers is going strong in Positano

The Saxon Hotel, Villas and Spa in Johannesburg launched a Johnnie Walker whisky bar this week. Christened Eighteen05, it’s the first Johnnie Walker branded bar in Africa and the first of its kind outside Scotland.

The Yale Alley Cats are to pay musical homage to the world’s most famous cat next week at The Famous Grouse Experience in Crieff as part of their summer tour of the UK and Scandinavia. The choir will gather around the statue of Towser the Mouser and perform a selection of hits in tribute to the mouse catching cat.

The East India Company is to launch the Tea Bar at it flagship store on Conduit Street next month offering a selection of brews curated by “tea master” Tea Lalith Lenador. Among the black, white, green and oolong teas on pour will be Staunton Earl Grey, Silver Tips White Tea with Jasmine and Blend 68, a tropical punch served as an iced tea.

Meritxell Juvé of Cava house Juvé & Camps came to London this week to host a base wine tasting of its Cavas. During the tasting at the new Barrafina in Covent Garden she spoke of the need for Cava producers to rally together in order to give Prosecco competition.

“A lot of consumers don’t know that Cava is made in the traditional method with second fermentation in bottle, which is a failing on the part of producers to communicate what the Cava category represents. We need to keep an eye what the Prosecco producers are doing and learn from them. Cava is a different proposition though; our products are more complex,” she said.

db hot footed it to trendy new dim sum bar Fu Manchu in Clapham this week to see what the fuss was all about.

Named after the moustachioed Chinese master criminal protagonist of Max Rohmer’s early 20th century cult novels, signature sip Manchu’s Mind Control was served in tiki cups fashioned into mini Manchus. During the launch we were treated to oodles of delicious dim sum, with the pork bao buns proving a highlight.

Yesterday night we were invited to a decadent dinner at China Tang at The Dorchester hosted by Hamilton Russell owner Anthony Hamilton-Russell and his wife Olive to celebrate the South African estate’s new alliance with Mentzendorff in the UK. Among the wines on pour were the 2014 vintage of the estate’s Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which were paired with the likes of whole lobster and noodles and classic Peking duck.

db headed over to Lincolns Inn Fields where Dom Pérignon has taken over a London townhouse for a two week pop-up restaurant experience in partnership with chef Skye Gyngell. Over a delicate starter of crab, asparagus and borage flowers, oenologist Vincent Chaperon introduced the houses’s new 2005 vintage, discussed intricacies of DP’s “plenitude” late-release concept and called for Champagne to refine its approach to pressing.

As guests retired upstairs to finish the meal with a glass of Dom Pérignon 1971 from its third plenitude release, Skye Gyngell herself made a brief appearance to introduce her strawberry-themed pudding.

Former db deputy editor and now Saturday Kitchen regular and Wine Gang member, Jane Parkinson, hosted a masterclass on Chablis at The Hospital Club in Soho earlier this week. Using premier crus the tasting examined the stylistic differences between the “left” and “right” banks of the Serein.

Wines of Canada held its bi-annual tasting at Canada House on Thursday. Alongside favourites such as Norman Hardie’s excellent Cuvee “L” Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, there were new faces and wines in the shape of Ezra Cipes of Summerhill with a deliciously complex 1998 methode traditionelle sparkler and a series of wines from fellow Okanagan producer Painted Rock including the now bottled 2012 vintage that senior staff writer Rupert Millar last tasted in barrel on a visit to the estate in 2013.

Last night, The Worshipful Company of Distillers held a debate at JP Morgan’s London office entitled “Innovation is the life-blood of the spirits industry”. Left to right: Damien Heary from William Grant & Sons; Ian Buxton; Trevor Stirling from Sanford C Bernstein; Glen Gribbon from Edrington; and Ian Shackleton from Nomura International.