The week in pictures

db’s Andrew Oliver, Lucy Shaw and David Hennely show us what real hustle looks like on Tuesday (Photo: Edith Hancock)

Germany has really lucked out on the trade show front. Cannes may have MIPIM, but Düsseldorf has Prowein, where a staggering 61,500 movers and shakers from the wine, beer and spirits industries (and everywhere in between) gathered to strike deals, swap stories, and flex their marketing budget muscles.

Our own Wine & Spirits Show is around the corner, so naturally, db sent out a crack-team of reporters to find out how the pros survive trade shows.

John Leech, commercial director for Piemonte-based Barbera producer Araldica, had some wise words for us: “drink plenty of water and go to bed as early as possible.”

On Monday evening, the MWs came out in force for the Winemakers’ Winemaker Award ceremony at ProWein, hosted in partnership with the Institute of Masters of Wine.

Congratulations to Angelo Gaja of Italy’s Gaja Wines, who took this year’s accolade.

This month, we also released our 200th issue, with a resplendent cover created by artist Alexander Hall. The organisers at ProWein sent us this cake, which we can confirm was delicious.

Gosnells founder Tom Gosnell celebrating his success (Photo: R&R)

Meanwhile, back in London, mead producer Gosnells threw a party to celebrate the launch of its new bar in Peckham’s Coal Rooms.

Guests sipped Gosnells of London (5.5% abv original brew, made with Spanish Orange Blossom Honey), a Mead of the Month from Biggin Hill and two cocktail serves: ʻPeckham Lemonadeʼ (Gin from East London Liquor Co, lemon juice, honey, topped with Gosnells) and ʻVodka & Assam Teaʼ (frozen Gosnells cocktail, slushed into a metal cup with a vodka and tea topper).

It was St Patrick’s Day over the weekend, and Pernod Ricard-owned Jameson gave whiskey lovers the holiday of a lifetime to mark the occasion.

A lucky band of Jameson fans travelled to the most northerly inhabited area on the globe, Svalbard, Norway to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. It’s marked by the co-ordinates 17° longitude 80° latitude, a tribute to the year John Jameson set up his Dublin distillery.

On the other other side of the world, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) named four Italian wine ambassadors during this year’s Chengdu wine fair, after a week of lecturing and tasting under the guidance of Sarah Heller MW and Henry Davar.

In poor taste news, a beer bottle label featuring a woman wearing a ball-gag in her mouth has sparked a row in Russia over its portrayal of “violence towards women”, prompting a state agency to run an online poll on whether or not it was appropriate. No guesses for how well that went.

The Kopytov Brewery in Siberia launched its new Pryanik Imperial Stout with a label that features a close up of a woman with a ball-gag, intended to look like a traditional Russian pryanik honey cake.

Yuliya Shlyakhova, a fashion designer living in St Petersburg, complained to Russia’s Anti-Monopoly Service.

She claimed that the image “displays violence towards women, and is obscene and offensive”.

In response, the Anti-Monopoly Service chose to launch an online poll asking if the image was offensive, which yielded more than 28,000 votes. In the end, 58% of those polled deemed it offensive.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments…

London gin distillery Sipsmith, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, has launched its first ad campaign featuring the character Mr Swan, a reference to a part of the pot still in which its gin is made.

HEINEKEN held its Tapped In Session briefing with Walter Drenth, Senior Global Director International Brands and Craft, to showcase the strength of the beer giant’s worldwide portfolio, with a deep dive into labels such as Desperados, Tiger, Tecate, Red Stripe, KruŠovice, Birra Moretti, Affligem, Mort Subite, Lagunitas, Amstel. Heineken also held a beer tasting and dinner later that evening with Master Brewer, Jeroen Stoffels

In Week in Pictures: Literally, Delaware-based craft brewer Dogfish Head has collaborated with photography company Kodak on a beer, flavoured with eight different ingredients, which is capable of developing Kodak’s Super 8 film.

And finally…Europe’s first underwater restaurant, based on the coastline of southern Norway is set to open next month.

Around 7,000 people have already booked in to eat at the 40-cover restaurant.