The week in pictures

In the heart of the Barossa Valley, South Australia, St Hugo opened its doors to host the World’s Top 50 academy chairs. After announcing the world’s latest best restaurants list, 26 academy chairs visited vineyards in the Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley, meeting with local producers and South Australian chefs as part of their two day annual general meeting.

Seared Waygu, grilled salad and “chips”.

At St Hugo, the Academy Chairs enjoyed an exceptional four-course ‘wine to food matched’ lunch experience created by executive chef, Mark McNamara. The unique dishes on Mark’s menu were designed to perfectly complement St Hugo’s bold and powerful wines.

Chief winemaker, Dan Swincer and executive chef, Mark McNamara.

Rooftop bar Skylounge is also throwing its Choctail into the ring which guests can enjoy with superb views of London’s skyline. Top of the Chocs is a blend of 30ml Absolut vodka, 30ml Mozart dark chocolate, 15ml Baileys, 20ml vanilla syrup and 30ml double cream.

Kensington restaurant Maggie Jones, named after Princess Margaret who used to book her table under the alias, has announced the launch of a new cocktail range throughout May to celebrate The RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The Elderflower Pimm’s. The three floral cocktails are all refreshing takes on the classics combining rose, elderflower and other edible flowers with gin, Pimm’s and fizz.

The Wild Rose: a blend of rose lemonade and pink gin.
Elderflower Pimm’s.
The Elderflower Bellini.

Joe Fattorini, wine writer, presenter and ‘Obi Wine Kenobi’ on ITV’s The Wine Show, has been named as IWSC’s wine communicator of the year. Frequently found with a Dachshund under his arm, Fattorini has taught viewers about the ritual of kissing vines in South Africa, visited vineyards in the war-torn Middle East and voluntarily spent time locked in a wine barrel to illustrate how a winemaker helped the French Resistance during WWII.

Speaking to The Herald, he commented: “It is a great honour to receive this award, which represents the work of the remarkable team who made The Wine Show happen, from the investors who risked their money and the directors and producers who risked their reputations, to the tireless technical team and the wine makers who welcomed us and told us their stories.”

Cyril Camus, president of the Camus Cognac house was awarded the Legion of Honour, the highest French order of military and civil merits, by Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former French Prime Minister. Camus was nominated in recognition of his family’s and the company’s contribution to France’s international presence and the pioneering ethical ethos of the business, as well as its assistance in developing the local economy.

Veuve Clicquot cellar master Dominique Demarville was in London on Monday this week to launch the brand’s first ever official low-dosage cuvée: Extra Brut Extra Old.

Demarville described Extra Brut Extra Old – which is made entirely with reserve wines spanning harvests from 1988 to 2010 – as “an extraction of Yellow Label”.

Also in London on Monday this week was Sting and his wife Trudie Styler (pictured above with db’s Patrick Schmitt) to promote their range of Tuscan wines from Il Palagio.

This week saw the great and good of the wine trade descend on Verona for the annual Italian knees-up that is VinItaly, celebrating the country’s dizzying diversity in terms of regions and grape varieties.

db was in attendance and made sure we found time to see some of the city’s famous sites, including the Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra.

Among the Italian wine royalty we met during the fair was Marchese Lamberto Frescobaldi, who was excited to pour us his Maremma rosé, Alìe, which goes on sale in the UK in May. Bearing a striking resemblance to the shape of Brangelina’s Miraval bottle, rosé guru Sacha Lichine helped consult on the project.

We also caught up with the ever ebullient Emenegildo Giusti of Giusti Wine, known as ‘Joe’ to his friends, who was full of the joys of spring.

Leading Trentodoc sparkling producer Ferrari was much in demand during the fair – hosting a lunch on the Tuesday, the queue to get onto their stand stretched halfway down hall 3. Once inside, db was treated to a decadent lunch of lemon-scented pasta and guinea fowl washed down with Ferrari’s latest expression – Perle Bianco 2007, as modelled here by the lovely Camila Ferrari and export manager Dean Lapthorne.

Keen to try some of the country’s top whites, we headed to the Pieropan stand to meet brothers Andrea and Dario, the Soave estate’s agronomist and winemaker, who led me through their range, which includes two single vineyard Soaves that age gracefully but in very different ways.

Soon it was on to the Villa Sandi stand for a spot of Prosecco, poured by the gorgeous Diva Moretti Polegato – daughter of the estate’s owner Giancarlo. London-based Diva is a qualified sommelier and currently works for her family winery in the role of brand ambassador.

Another strawberry? Don’t mind if I do…

Kicking off Vinitaly in true Italian style, the effortlessly glamorous Marilisa Allegrini hosted one of the most wonderful and memorable parties db has been lucky enough to attend. The soirée began with lashings of Prosecco and abundant portions of artichokes with Parmesan cream and whipped salt cod, followed by a call to dinner via La Traviata’s famous toast scene. After dinner we were treated to an epic firework display followed by a rousing rendition of O Sole Mio.

Keeping the party going, Francesco hosted a funky lunch the following day featuring a lounge music DJ set, gallons of wine and creative canapés.

In charge of the food was neon pink-haired, Michelin-starred, Puglia-born chef Cristina Bowerman of Glass Hostaria in Rome.

The lovely Cristina Mariani-May of Banfi was on a high after her estate was voted the best winery in Italy at the fair after coming top in a blind tasting.

Back from Verona, we nipped to the Artesian at The Langham, the former world’s best bar, to check out new head mixologist Gabor Fodor’s debut cocktail menu. Dubbed ‘Perception’, the cocktail collection aims to shake up our perception of glassware and how we approach drinks, which aren’t always what they seem.

The star of the show was the Mind Your Step, a tart, lip-smacking, dangerously drinkable blend of Zacapa 23 rum, aged Pisco, soursop and orange blossom-scented shards of edible glass.

Steak restaurant STK has gotten into the Easter spirit with the launch of its Bunny Tail cocktail, a fresh blend of limoncello, vodka, lemon juice and cotton candy served with a chocolate bunny.