The week in pictures

Tasca d’Almerita’s Regaleali and Tascante estates, located in central Sicily and on Etna, respectively, saw between 30cm and 60cm of snow in one of Sicily’s largest snowfalls on record since the 1980s

This week marked the start of the 2017 harvest in South Africa, with pickers pictured here out in the early morning to picking Chenin Blanc grapes to be used for Méthode Cap Classique sparkling wine. Early signs are. In recognition of the start of the white grape harvest, this week we produced a ‘10 Stellar South African Chenins‘ feature celebrating some special examples of SA’s most planted variety. (Photo credit: http://visualviticulture.co.za) 

At the start of this week, in steadfast defiance of ‘Blue Monday’, db sauntered over to Mayfair for a caviar and Devaux Champagne dinner at Omrer, the newish seafood-focused restaurant of Michelin-starred Yorkshireman Shaun Rankin (pictured here with Jean-Noel Girard of Devaux Champagne).

Dishes came with five different types of caviar provided by WG White Caviar House and ranged from a mood-enhancing saffron linguine with Royal Bay oyster, lemon butter and Oscietra caviar (paired with Devaux Ultra D in magnum) to a positively summery Ispahan macaron with lychee ganache and raspberry sorbet (paired beautifully with Devaux D Rosé, again in magnum).

db also spent a fascinating couple of hours among a crack team of M Dubz (MWs) tasting a selection of Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noirs. All from the 2015 vintage, the wines had been selected to represent the region at the Mornington Peninsula International Pinot Noir Celebration 2017 to be held on 11 February 2017.

As we left the tasting we were surprised by this gang (what is the collective noun?) of flaming koalas!

It was to the Oval on Wednesday for the never less than massive Liberty Wines portfolio tasting. As always, we missed the lunch, but did have a chance to catch up with some of the winemakers and taste their excellent wines.

Pictured here, South Africa’s Peter-Allan Finlayson, of Crystallum fame, presenting two new wines from Gabriëlskloof Wine Estate in Botrivier, where Finlayson has been head winemaker since 2014. The wines are a fresh, zingy ‘Magdalena’ Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc and an ‘Elodie’ Chenin Blanc made with old vine fruit from the Paardeberg in Swartland.

We also had a good chinwag with Tim Duval, scion of the near-legendary John Duval Wines (Tim has been working on winemaking from the 2016 vintage) while having a go on the ‘Annexus’ Grenache – surely one of the most elegant and beautifully proportioned old vine Grenaches in Australia. This is not jammy Grenache, but fine-boned, medium-bodied stuff, coming from some of the Eden Valley’s, and Australia’s, oldest Grenache vineyards, planted in 1858, according to Tim.

Slate-loving Mosel star winemaker Axel Pauly was also on hand to take us through some of his minerally Rieslings and remind us of the amazing fruit acidity of this noble grape. His Kabinett manages to be refreshing and zingy despite having 45g/l of residual sugar.

Just before the tasting ended and the bottles were whisked away, we were fortunate enough to bump into Zorik Gharibian and his wife, Yeraz, from Armenian winery Zorah.

We’ve seen Zorah wines popping up more and more on restaurant wine lists around London – largely thanks to the enthusiasm of Liberty Wines’ David Gleave MW. Zorah focuses on indigenous Armenian varieties (of which there are many) fermented and aged traditionally in amphorae.

The winery, in the foothills of the biblical Mount Ararat, is within a stone’s throw of the oldest known winemaking facility in the world, the so-called ‘Areni 1’ cave, which has been dated back to 4,000BCE.

Drinks trade charity The Benevolent named its new chairman at The Vintners’ Company Annual Wine Trade Lunch on 13 January. Tom Yusef will take over as chairman from Dan Townsend, after a successful two years in the role. Following the lunch, a cheque for £12,500, the revenue generated by the event, was passed to The Benevolent from The Vintners’ Company, which will be used to support its efforts to aid colleagues from the UK drinks industry facing serious illness, financial hardship or personal crises.

The event was also an opportunity to present Verity Milns, corporate communications manager at Liberty Wines, with the Vintners’ Benevolent Award, established in 2013 to acknowledge and celebrate an individual who has actively helped raise awareness of The Benevolent and its work.

Hundreds of members of the drinks trade gathered at London’s Lindley Hall on Monday for New Zealand Winegrowers 36th annual trade tasting.

A huge selection of wineries from across the country were represented at the tasting, with many winemakers travelling to London for the event. During the day Peter McCombie MW hosted a session exploring New Zealand Pinot Noir…

…while Warren Gibson, winemaker at Trinity Hill in Hawke’s Bay, hosted a session exploring his region’s expression of Chardonnay, demonstrating its diversity and the range of styles being produced there. “Hawke’s Bay’s collection of soils and climates combine with a winemaking renaissance to produce a range of styles from traditional to contemporary, with the occasional while Burgundy look-alike thrown in,” said Gibson.

The prestigious IWSC 2017 Achievement Awards have opened for entries and are inviting nominations for Spirit Communicator of the Year, Wine Communicator of the Year, Julian Brind Memorial Trophy for Outstanding Achievement in the Wine Industry and The Outstanding Achievement in the Scotch Whisky Industry Trophy. Pictured is Alice Lascelles, winner of the first ever Spirit Communicator of the Year award last year.

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Irish Distillers pledged yesterday to invest €10m in production capacity at Midleton Distillery. The three new copper pot stills, seen rolling through Midleton Town, will be operational by June 2017 and will increase single pot still capacity by 30%.

Gin: The Movie premiere took place on Thursday at The Courthouse Hotel, Great Marlborough Street, London. The documentary features Brighton Gin, Hayman’s Gin, William’s Chase Distillery, Mason’s Yorkshire Gin, Edinburgh Gin and the UK’s most northerly distillery in the Shetland’s. With distribution deals with independent cinemas, Gin: The Movie will go on a year-long tour across the country. Cinemagoers will receive a box full of gin samples, tonic and mixer samples, botanicals, garnishes and more. You can watch the trailer here.

Borsa Vini Italiani also took place on Thursday, this time in London’s Leadenhall building. Showcasing an impressive line-up of wines in equally salubrious surroundings, this event also focused on “connecting key businesses from Italy and the UK in a forum that is specifically aimed at importers, independents and restaurant trade.” Fortunato Celi Zullo, director of the Italian Trade Commission, continued that it also aimed “to gain further exposure on the diversity, quality and value coming out of Italy.”