The week in pictures

The lovely Laure Colombo paid db a visit on Tuesday to present her family’s range of wines from the northern Rhône. Jean-Luc and Anne Colombo bought their first vineyard in Cornas, in the southern Rhône, in 1986, when the appellation was almost completely unknown. Their daughter, Laure, joined the family business in 2012, having gained a viticulture degree from Bordeaux University and a winemaking degree from Montpellier. She’s also worked vintages at Grover Vineyard in India, Esk Valley in New Zealand and Château Haut-Brion.

Three years ago Colombo launched her own label within the family’s portfolio, Colombo & Filles, with the intention of producing approachable wines for a younger market. Launching with the 2014 vintage, the Colombo & Fille range includes wines from across the northern Rhône, from appellations including Condrieu, Saint Joseph and Cornas, but it is the tiny appellation of St-Péray, where Colombo lives on an 18-hectare farm surrounded by vines, that is closest to her heart. She believes the region is the Marsanne and Rousanne dominated AOC is the white counterpart to Cornas, and can make wines that are “just as good as those from Côte Rôtie and Hermitage”.

This week a group of Austrian winemakers from DAC Leithaberg was also in town to showcase the wines of their region. The venue chosen for the tasting was HKK in the City of London and was followed by a memorable lunch where db had the chance to sample HKK’s famous cherrywood-smoked Peking duck – paired beautifully with mature Leithaberg Blaufränkisch.

At the event db chatted with Stefan Tscheppe of historic Burgenland estate Esterházy about the amazing potential of Leithaberg terroir for producing world-class Chardonnay. You can read the story here.

The UK’s Beer Academy welcomed its newest beer sommelier to its ranks this week – Stavros Photiou of the Shepherd Neame Brewery in Faversham. Stavros has a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in food science from Michigan State and a second master’s in brewing from the University of Nottingham. With extensive brewing experience with one of the major brewers in Cyprus, KEO, he managed to get into the British brewing industry and now works with Shepherd Neame. He is the first Beer Academy accredited Sommelier from Cyprus.

db was fortunate to be invited to a dinner hosted at two-Michelin-starred restaurant Le Gavroche this week by Bordeaux and Burgundy producer CA Grand Crus. Thierry Budin, director general, and Anne le Naour, technical director, took guests through the 2014 vintages from its five estates in Bordeaux, which include Grand-Puy Ducasse, Chateau Meyney, Chateau La Tour de Mons, Chateau Blaignan and Clos Saint-Vincent.

A highlight of the evening was this 1996 double magnum from 5ème Cru Classé estate Chateau Grand-Puy Ducasse……

…..which was an absolute treat served alongside this hunk of gooey brie stuffed with truffle.

Our judges, a cherry picked group of Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers, pose patiently at the entrance of Hispania in the City of London prior to this year’s Rioja Masters competition, part of db’s growing Global Masters series. Lashings of suckling pig followed.

This was also a week in which this wonderful little collection of wines arrived in the office: a very special selection of seven Assyrtiko wines from seven different villages on the volcanic Greek island of Santorini, made by the highly-rated winery Domaine Sigalas. The collection is the first of its kind to give enthusiasts the chance to compare the different terroirs of Santorini and how they influence wines made from the Assyrtiko grape.

On Wednesday this week db was treated to a gastronomic tour of Lombardy courtesy of Wine Chap, Franciacorta ambassador and all-round good egg, Tom Harrow. The event, taking place at the Cucina Caldesi Cookery School in Marylebone, was designed to showcase the versatility of Franciacorta sparkling wine when pairing it with the incomparably delicious food of the region – which it did abundantly.

Food writer and Lombardy lover Christine Smallwood was on hand to guide guests through the geography and gastronomic highlights of the region before the feasting ensued…

Chef and food writer Jane Baxter cooked enough food to feed an army – all of it delicious and paired with different styles of Franciacorta.

The utterly irresistible rustic Lombardian treats cooked up by Jane included risotto with Grana Padano, Grappa and tender pink quail, ‘sciatt’ cheese fritters and beef in oil with herb polenta.

This week also celebrated the third year of International Sherry Week, with events is four cities around the UK – London, Manchester, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

In London, db attended the Andalucian evening at Drakes Tabanco, which involved sherry flights straight from the barrel and a tasting menu pairing a selection of different sherries with Spanish dishes, while listening to a flamenco guitar.

Guests were treated to small dishes of scallop with bone marrow butter, tomato, coriander and chilli paired with Gernancdo de Castilla fino en rama, sautéed seasonal mushrooms with a 25 year old Fernando de Castilla amontillado Viejo, and finished with a Torta de Baros ice cream with Drakes exclusive Fernando de Castilla rare old india.

Meanwhile the Drakes Tabanco team showed off their considerable skill in the traditional way of pouring Sherry from the barrel using a Venencia.