The week in pictures

In scholarly news, eight new Masters of Wine were named this morning, including two based in China, and one from outside the drinks trade.

UK-based Dominic Farnsworth – a partner at Lewis Silkin in London, specialising in intellectual property – fell in love with wine after walking past Lay & Wheelers’ shop on the route to school. After completing the WSET to Diploma level, he gave himself a choice between climbing Himalayan mountains, or enrolling with the Institute of Masters of Wine.

Apparently the latter was the easier option.

England fast bowler, Stuart Broad, took time out of his busy Ashes cricket schedule to launch wine label Hardys new competition.

The brand has been the official wine partner of England Cricket for five years.

Broad stopped by Asda’s Pudsey store after winning the third test at Headingley, Leeds, to launch the wine label’s ‘Win dinner with a cricket legend’ promotion, which is running on Asda’s website until 25 September.

We’ve had George Clooney, P Diddy, and Chris Noth, and Deadpool launch Tequila brands in the past few years. Now, even singer-songwriter Nick Jonas has thrown his hat into the ring with a new brand created in collaboration with the Stoli Group.

Villa One includes a silver, reposado and añejo

Called Villa One, it includes the classic three expressions of the agave-based spirit: a silver, reposado and añejo, priced between US$45-60 a bottle.

As previously reported by the drinks business, the Beckhams have expensive tastes when it comes to red wine.

This week, the power couple were in Nice, one of the best places to drink Provence rosé, especially in the height of summer.

David and Victoria got stuck into a bottle of Art Russe (2015 vintage) at La Petite Maison restaurant in Nice on Wednesday night, and liked it a lot, we’re reliably informed.

The wine comes from Château La Grâce Dieu Des Prieurs, owned by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Filatov. Nestled between the towns of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, the 8.5 hectare boutique winery defies convention and stands out from its neighbours in terms of label design, winemaking and its modern architecture. Each vintage features 12 different reproductions of original Russian art pieces curated by the Filatov-owned Art Russe Foundation, which boasts the biggest collection of Russian artworks of the 19th and 20th centuries in the world.

David showed the stylish bottle off to his 58 million Instagram followers with a video at the restaurant.

Pernod Ricard has officially broken ground on the site of a $150 million whisky distillery in China, which is set to open in 2021.

Based in Emeishan, Sichuan, the distillery will also include an immersive visitor centre to draw in more tourists to the area. Pernod Ricard has said it hopes to attract more than 2 million tourists within the first decade of its opening.

In motorsports, northern Italian wine co-op Viticoltori Ponte has become the official wine partner of the San Marino MotoGP in Misano, which takes place this month.

The news was announced following a recently signed agreement between event group Dorna Sports and the Prosecco DOC Consortium to sponsor the annual motorcycle championship.

The new deal will mean that its sparkling wine – Ponte Prosecco DOC Extra Dry – Treviso – will be ready on the podiums of the MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 categories for the winners to celebrate with, as well as around the track, in the VIP areas of the circuit, in the many bars linked to the event.

“We’re really excited to take on this challenge,” Luigi Vanzella, Viticoltori Ponte’s general manager, said. Vanzella added that the partnership “marks the start of a new era and, thanks also to the recent recognition of our hills as a World Heritage Site, we are sure it will contribute to significantly increasing the number of global aficionados of what is an undisputed Italian standout”.

Founded in 1948, with its base in Ponte di Piave, in Treviso, Viticoltori Ponte represents 1,000 grower partners, with approximately 2,500 hectares of vineyard extending from the North of Venice to the foothills of the Treviso province.

Does red wine have a relationship with fish? If not, should it? And what sort of relationship can it be?

Harry Niazi, of Olley’s Fish Experience in South London’s Herne Hill, decided to investigate with a group of wine and fish enthusiasts including Andy Neather, former wine writer for the Evening Standard.

The red wines matched with fish ranged from typical suspects such as Beaujolais and New Zealand Pinot Noir, to more daring attempts with Spanish Tempranillo, Chilean and South African Syrah, Bordeaux, South African Cabernet and Pinotage, and an Italian blend.

These were paired with prawn cocktail, whitebait, grilled mackerel, smoked haddock fishcakes and king prawns in a white wine sauce. This was followed by mains like battered cod, haddock, hake, trout and salmon.

Not surprisingly, the winners were lighter wines. An Australian Robert Oatley Grenache – which was low on tannin, with hints of strawberry and summer fruit flavours – excelled in six of the eight courses

Villa Maria’s Pinot Noir from New Zealand matched well with five; and Cune’s gently spicy Tempranillo Crianza from Rioja managed to match four courses.

In consumer experiences, William Grant & Sons-owned Hendrick’s Gin has set up yet another unusual pop-up campaign in London this summer, this time hiding a gin bar in an ATM.

(Photo: Jonathan Hordle/PA Wire)

The ATM, which stands for (wait for it) ‘Automated Transport to the Marvellous’, provides drinkers with an “unexpected entry point to the world beyond the mundane where visitors can interact with the brand, discovering how its rose and cucumber infused liquid makes it so unique.”

If you look closely, you’ll notice an enormous “secret” door built around the cash machine.

Hendrick’s has hired actors to lead people through the door to a secret gin bar, where consumers can learn more about the gin’s botanicals and taste the gin for themselves.

(Photo: Jonathan Hordle/PA Wire)

Marketing firm Space has developed the branded events in collaboration with Hendrick’s, The Gazebo Effect and Red consultancy, the first of which took place in a laundrette in Shoreditch earlier this month.

Bidding opened yesterday (29 August) in London on big bottle Ornellaia to raise funds for a charity that supports the blind.

Ornellaia invited Shirin Neshat, the internationally acclaimed Iranian artist who lives in New York, to interpret the character of the estate’s 2016 wine, “La Tensione” (Tension), and customise a series of 111 large format bottles – 100 Double Magnums, 10 Imperials (6L) and one Salmanazar (9L) – as well as a special label to be included on one 75cl bottle in each case of the vintage.

The new range was released to coincide with the 11th edition of the winery’s Vendemmia d’Artista.

Comprising 11 lots, featuring 9 of the 10 Imperials and the unique 1 of 1 Salmanazar, the online auction will run on Sotheby’s website until Friday 13 September.

In on-trade news, The Beaufort Bar at The Savoy hotel in London has launched its own vodka brand – Beaufort Bar Vodka.

The organic vodka is made from a wheat base and benefits from the inclusion of Champagne yeast, leading to a “distinctive and flavourful” vodka with a “full-bodied finish”.