The week in pictures

Ryan Reynolds may have his own gin brand, but his alter-ego Deadpool is more of a tequila man.

Campari has struck a deal with 20th Century Fox for Marvel’s red-suited antihero Deadpool to endorse its Espolòn Tequila, and has wasted no time in allowing its fictional mascot to take a swipe at Reynolds’ own spirits venture, Aviation Gin.

Reynolds’ character has been named “creative director” of Espolòn Tequila – distributed by Campari Group – ahead of the release of Deadpool on16 in May.

“I needed the money,” said Deadpool.

We couldn’t end the week without mentioning the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET). The booze school its revamping its entire curriculum to give those with a passion for spirits a chance to learn more, and separating the oenophiles from the gin drinkers.

A WSET Level 3 Award in spirits is set to launch, with aspiring students able to enrol from 1 August 2019.

The WSET Level 2 Award in Wines and Spirits, and the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines and Spirits have also undergone a thorough review, resulting in new qualifications exclusively focusing on wines. Both will be rolled out next year.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and there was no better example of that truism this week than the winner of this year’s Errazuriz Wine Photographer of the Year.

Is it a bird? Is it a drain? Well, the snap — taken by Melbourne-based photographer Victor Pugatschew — is a close-up of Chardonnay spinning into a tank. The judges at Tuesday’s Pink Lady Photographer of the Year 2018 award named Pugatschew the winner of the wine-focused photography category for the second time in two years.

The judges said his image “stood out from the rest in its category for the way in which he made the subject matter so fascinating and original.”

Opinion has been pretty divided on our Twitter feed. Have you seen a better example of wine photography? Let us know in the comments.

From art to film, Georgian wine is getting its own spotlight in the UK’s arthouse cinema scene as a new documentary on the subject is set to premiere in the UK next month.

Our Blood is Wine, a romantic tale of traditional farming and local cuisine, will make its debut at London’s 5th Georgian Film Festival taking place between 1 and 8 May at Regent Street Cinema.

While we’re still on the arts, leading Italian wine expert Marilisa Allegrini likened this year’s Vinality to Romeo and Juliet in highlighting just how symbolic the trade fair is to the city of Verona.

“For Verona, Vinitaly is like the Arena and the Opera, and Romeo and Juliet, so we must be proud of it and remind ourselves of the value it represents for us around the world.”

The 52nd edition of Vinality closed on Wenesday 18 April with 128,000 visitors from 143 countries and 4380 exhibitors.

And from arts to craft; east London brewery Five Points smashed its £750,000 crowdfunding target in just over a month.

Five Points has attracted more than £920,000 of investment from 1,250 donors on crowdfunding platform CrowdCube, and said it plans to put the money towards “state-of-the-art new brewhouse equipment and fermentation tanks which will triple production capacity volume,” which co-founder Ed Mason hopes will bring their sales up to six million pints per year.

Back in the world of wine, Frédéric Chaudière from Château Pesquié in Ventoux spent four days on a UK-wide tour with importer Flint Wines.

On Tuesday he held a masterclass for sommeliers and merchants at Henrietta Hotel in Covent Garden before heading up north to visit wine merchants and Michelin starred restaurants.

Later that night, Champagne Castelnau launched a new prestige cuvée in its Hors Catégorie collection: Hors Catégorie CCF 2067.

The launch took place in the newly re-furbished Jacobean Suite at Kettner’s Townhouse in Soho.

Champagnes from Castelnau in the Hors Catégorie collection are named after the toughest mountain passes of the Tour de France, for which Castelnau is the Official Champagne. CCF 2067 is named after Col de la Croix de Fer at 2067 metres.

In keeping with the theme, MD Pascal Prudhomme arrived at the launch on a specially branded racing bike and some very racy lycra.

(Photo: Daniel Lambert)

Team DB’s very own fine wine editor Rupert Millar rubbed shoulders with the likes of Jancis Robinson on Thursday during a wine tasting of the latest releases from family-owned Napa winery Trefethen (try saying that five times after a glass of Cab Sav).

Janet and Lorenzo Trefethen were in town this week to mark the 50th anniversary of their Napa estate with a tasting hosted by Steven Spurrier at 67 Pall Mall. Bringing along wines dating back to the 1970s, they demonstrated how their winemaking style had evolved over the decades to produce wines with a greater sense of balance and place.

Back in the world of beer, a publican duo from the Queens Head, Troutbeck, embarked on a mission on Thursday to climb 10 of Cumbria’s iconic fells to help raise money for Help For Heroes.

Samantha Robinson and her husband Mark, who have ran the popular Queens Head pub close to Windermere since it’s reopening last year, have already tackled Helvellyn, the third highest fell in the Lakes, and Nethermost, and have now set their sights on 8 more popular fells.

Loch Lomond Whiskies has agreed a marketing partnership with Colin Montgomerie to promote the brand’s range of single malts worldwide.

The independent Scotch whisky distiller recently announced a five-year partnership with The R&A to become Official Spirit of The Open and Women’s British Open.

Since turning professional in 1987, Montgomerie has recorded 52 tournament victories across the world and became European #1 in 1993 – a position he held for an unprecedented seven years. Ryder Cup success followed as a player before he led Europe to a famous victory as Captain at Celtic Manor in 2010.