Smith & Gertrude is the kind of bar that most people would want to have in their neighbourhood. Set up by thirty-something married couple Duncan and Amy Findlater two years ago, it has already become something of a local institution with its winning formula of a great wine selection and a simple bar menu of cheese, charcuterie and salads, all served up in a chilled atmosphere. Helen Arnold met up with the couple to discover what inspires them.
Alto Adige is like no other wine region in Italy. The language is primarily Germanic and the mountains that border Austria and Switzerland bring an unique freshness to the wines that include Gewürtztraminer, hailing from the town of Traminer. Justin Keay travelled there to witness the launch of new wine Epokale, that is aged for seven years in a disused silver mine.
If you thought about making a craft beer in Wimbledon then you would be mighty surprised to find that no-one else has had the same idea before you. At least not for well over 100 years. So when former City banker, Mark Gordon, wanted to venture in to the world of beer for the first he was surprised and delighted to find he could make the Wimbledon Brewery all his own.
The wine trade and consumers alike are increasingly looking for wines with history, tradition and a genuine back story. Well, they don’t get much more authentic than wines from Georgia. It might have been making wines for centuries, but it has only been in the last few years that its unique Qveri-style wines are capturing the imagination of our wine buyers and adventurous wine drinkers. Ahead of its annual tasting on Thursday Sarah Abbott MW looks at why Georgian wines are so relevant for the premium on-trade.
Bodega Argento, the leading exported Argentinian wine brand, has been moving steadily upmarket for over a decade. Eschewing the supermarket aisle for premium on-trade has allowed head winemaker Silvia Corti to spread her wings and launch two new wines – the Bodega Argento Reserve Organic Malbec and the Esquinas de Argento Pinot Grigio 2016.
As a first time exhibitor at London Wine Fair how do you go about catching people’s attention? With so many stands, masterclasses and debates taking place many visitors only have time to go and see existing partners never mind find something new. But for Wines of Hungary’s Lilla O’Connor careful planning and understanding what UK buyers are looking for really helped its producers stand out.
Here’s a starter for 10 for you. Have you ever tasted a bottle of Chinese wine? If yes, was it any good and if so worth a place on your wine list? If the answer’s no then you are not alone because for all of the talk of Chinese wine we see very little of it here. Austrian winemaker, Lenz Moser, hopes to change all that with his own quality Chinese wine range gunning for a place on your wine list.
Here’s a challenge for you. Interview 40 winemakers right across the southern hemisphere and turn them an in to an engaging film all about how different wineries approach the wine harvest every year. Oh and the film can only be 45 minutes long. But that’s what film maker Dan James has done with his Vintage Sixteen documentary that receives its London premiere on Friday.
Is there a town in the UK without its favourite neighbourhood Italian wine restaurant? But it’s not just the food we love, but Italian wine has long been a favourite of the average wine drinker who are showing signs of branching away from a safe Pinot Grigio on a night out. Next week’s Il Collettivo tasting hopes to celebrate the exciting and dynamic end of the Italian wine scene with a joint tasting amongst four of our leading specialist importers.
Not only is the UK blessed with some of the world’s most innovative and dynamic independent small wine importers, but buyers are also benefiting from the fact these specialist distributors realise their strength sometimes lies in coming together to showcase what they can do. Like next week’s Il Collettivo tasting featuring the best Italian wines from Swig, Sommelier’s Choice, Flint Wines and Forty Five 10. So what can we expect?
