Drinks Podcast

Do you like Prosecco? Good for you! I don’t especially like it – I’d rather have Champagne, Cava, Ferrari, English sparkling, Methode Champegnoise or new world sparklers. Turns out there are very good reasons for this: The stuff we know as Prosecco in the UK is not the best sparkling wine to be had from the […]

Sizzle or Steak? If you have a hugely popular event and you give it a name that precisely describes it, then it might sound a bit dull: “A room full of people tasting fermented grape juice and spitting” is not enticing. But call it the Champagne Bureau’s Annual Tasting and things are getting better. The […]

2016 was a busy year for the Comité Champagne … it saw the launch of some terrific initiatives: the Champagne Campus and the 3D VR app telling us about the region and the wines. But the big news was the designation of the Champagne region as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Each of those would justify […]

The origins of Craft Beer and Craft Brewers are lost in the mists of time … or rather, the designation “craft” too indistinct to be seen clearly. No-one knows what a Craft Beer really is but we know one when we drink one. It could well be said that Zero Degrees, the brewery and Pizza […]

Britain makes all sorts of beer – amber, dark, stout, blond, golden, etc. one thing we have not yet started to make to any great extent is fruit beers. These are often sneered at as alcopops or girls’ drinks but, trust me, at up to 8.5% and with flavour profiles that truly challenge, they are nothing […]

When you are VERY successful, when you have the highest-selling red wine in the UK and a range of awards in your award cabinet (we all have one, don’t we?), do you rest on your laurels? Do you sit back and admire your success? No, you don’t because the a) there’s someone right behind you, […]

Brazilian wines. You’ve seen them – they’re the ones that look just like anyone else’s wines. They are in Waitrose, Marks and Spencer and other retailers but don’t go looking for bright Brazilian colours or the yellow, green and blue of the Brazilian flag – they’re nowhere to be seen. Brazil takes its wine pretty […]

There comes a time when you want to gather friends and enjoy an evening with a bit more of a purpose than simply chatting, drinking and singing (maybe the singing is just my circle of friends). There are games nights, Murder Mystery Dinners (I highly recommend the range from Paul Lamond Games), tastings and many other, […]

Fizz, the Sparkling Wine Show in London every autumn is a terrific opportunity to get your taste buds and nose around some of the best new non-Champagne sparking wines on the UK market. It’s held in Church House in London in their glorious round hall and is organised by the indefatigable Ben Campbell-Johnson. It is […]

If you are a French wine-maker, it is likely that you are a fairly small operation and that you could benefit from some sort of collaboration with other makers – be it through a coopérative or a négociant. Some, like the group calling itself Rhône Vignobles, choose a looser connection. They held a tasting, with […]

There is a dance or an on-going negotiation between, on the one hand, bar owners and brands and, on the other, the customers and it’s based on one agreed ambition: both sides want us, the drinkers, to have a good time. We want to do that with the minimum of fuss and the bars and brands […]

There are shows for everything. Wine shows, beer shows, trade shows, press launches etc. etc. etc. … it’s enough to drive you to drink! And this may seem hard to believe but there’s only so much free booze you can sample before you want to give up a head for bed with a hot chocolate. However, […]

This is the story of a drinks journalist. A man who, through no fault of his own, found himself enjoying and talking about all drinks, other than those nasty sweet “alcopops” and novelty drinks in funny-shaped bottles that you bring back from holiday and sit in your cupboard for years until, one day, you or […]

Wine people are generally lovely! Winemakers have the long view to life that is needed when working in a job where, from planting to drinking can be 30 years! Wine importers and sellers and keen for us to buy things that make us feel good (if used in moderation) and, generally, wine writers and journalists really, […]

Beer is everywhere and is the oldest known alcoholic drink – beer yeasts were found in the Pharaoh’s tombs. The quality varies place to place and the styles and tastes vary over time but, starting from America out into the English-speaking world, craft beers are taking over. They have now properly reached Honolulu on Oahu in […]

Leaving the autumn wine-tasting in the cellars of Berry Brothers and Rudd last October was more difficult than normal: not just because it was saddening to leave behind the blissful wines and the delightful company but also because, towards the end of tasting tables, was stationed the … well, I don’t know a better way to describe her, even […]

As winter takes its hold and the mince pies are starting to make you yearn for a light green salad with balsamic dressing, it can’t be avoided, I’m afraid: Christmas is here. You will need to provide drinks (probably wine or sherry) for your guests and family (I suggest a discrete store of something stronger […]

English sparkling wines have a perception problem: Yes, they’re good, yes, they’re elegant and stylish, yes, they’re local but, when you come down to it they’re just not Champagne, are they? For now. True, they don’t yet have the history that comes with Champagne; but the times and the weather they are a’changing: with European temperatures rising, […]

When you go on holiday to the south coast, you might travel to Devon. Perhaps to the rather twee and delightful fishing village of Beer. You’ll find a pleasant pebble beach, welcoming tea-houses and cafes, some very high-end art galleries and cosy pubs. You might wander into one of those pubs seeking a pint of local beer … you are […]

As I’ve said before on these pages, what you wear to a tasting is important because you’re likely to spill some wine on it. However, occasionally, the appropriate dress is a raincoat and wellies. Not because it’s going to be “that sort of party” but because it will be outdoors in this washout of a summer! […]