The week in pictures

This week, we found out that Star Trek lead Captain Jean-Luc Picard is boldly growing where no Starfleet commander has grown before.

A Californian winery is standing in for what is supposed to be Picard’s Burgundy estate in the latest series of Star Trek.

As the drinks business reported out at the time, it was revealed in the trailers (and even the marketing promotions) that the start of the Star Trek: Picard series takes place in Burgundy, where former Starfleet officer Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart) has retired to his family domain to make wine.

But time and budget constraints mean that film and television shows routinely use locations that are nowhere near where they are meant to be, and as such, the vineyard is in fact Sunstone in the Santa Ynez Valley.

In fine wines, Xavier Logette from Lafite ran a very special masterclass at the Oxo Tower restaurant in conjunction with Harvey Nichols, showcasing the diverse portfolio of Domaines Barons De Rothschild Lafite.

Guests enjoyed a resplendent eight-course meal of slow-cooked venison, beef fillet, 10-hour cooked lamb neck, French cheese and a passion fruit and banana soufflé, all washed down with fine wines from the Barons De Rothschild Lafite stable, including  a very special Duhart Milon 1988 Pauillac with the cheese course.

In fine dining, heavyweights of the restaurant business prepped, cooked and served a banquet alongside former rough sleepers and prison offenders, who have successfully rebuilt their lives working in the hospitality industry on Wednesday.

The Cook & Dine event was in aid of reforming charity Only a Pavement Away, which saw Greene King CEO Nick MacKenzie, Carluccio’s CEO Mark Jones and UK Hospitality chief Kate Nicholls all roll up their sleeves for the lunch at Freemasons’ Hall in Covent Garden, raising £20,000 in the process.

TV chef Tom Kerridge, whose head chef Chris Mackett ran the kitchen at the event, said: “My team and I are absolutely delighted to be involved with Only A Pavement Away, and this unique event. It’s a great charity that’s giving vulnerable people an opportunity to find stability and build a career in an industry that I love, and am passionate about. Hospitality has given me so much and I’m really happy to be able to help this brilliant initiative.”

In innovations, last week db headed to Carousel in central London to hear the bright young things of the nascent CBD drinks sector discuss how best to market alcoholic beverages containing the non-psychoactive component of the cannabis plant.

The Wonderworks networking event saw Botanic Lab founder Rebekah Hall, OTO cocktail bitters maker Gemma Colao and Smith + Sinclair marketing boss Fran Pierce wax lyrical on the numerous health benefits CBD can provide, and the inherent problems entrepreneurs in the FMGC sector have bringing them to consumers’ attention without incurring the wrath of the Advertising Standards Authority.

In 0.0, 7 (sorry), Heineken is celebrating the release of No Time To Die on 2 April, and its lucrative partnership with the James Bond franchise, by launching a limited edition range of Bond-branded packaging in stores.

The new design will be featured on Heineken and Heineken 0.0 packs, and will be supported by an exclusive on-pack promotion.

In buried treasure, a hoard of ‘gold’ 17th century wine bottles, unearthed on a building site in Worcestershire, are set to be sold at auction, and have been valued at £20,000.

The vessels, thought to date to c1665-1670, were unearthed on a building site in Worcestershire in November 2019, near the Croome Estate, once home to the Earls of Coventry.

And in lost treasure, Hillbark Hotel in Merseyside is offering a £2,000 reward for the safe return of a stash of wine stolen on 26 January, including three bottles of 1942 Perrier-Jouët Champagne.

Among the wines swiped were three bottles of 1942 Perrier-Jouët Champagne that had been hidden in France during the German occupation and distributed in England after the war ended.

In celebrity drinks, Ed Sheeran has secured a new alcohol licence for his Notting Hill restaurant Bertie Blossoms, allowing those not dining to buy a drink at the bar.

Sheeran and his manager Stuart Camp bought former Spanish restaurant Galicia, which closed in April 2018, for an alleged £1.5 million, and turned it into Bertie Blossoms.

Alcohol can now be sold at the site from 10am to midnight from Monday to Friday, from 11am to midnight on Saturday and from noon to 11:30pm on Sunday. Late night refreshments can be provided from 11pm to 12:30am from Monday to Saturday and from 11pm to midnight on Sundays.