The Drinks Business have released a very interesting article by Patrick Schmitt covering an interview with Jeremy Howard CEO of Slurp: “It’s An Example of the En Primeur System Breaking Down Completely”. Slurp was founded in 2004 and has moved rapidly to become the largest stock holding internet retailer with 1,500 lines in its own depot for next-day … Read more
We have a glut of tomatoes on our hands this year and surprisingly it is the beefsteak and plum varieties that have done the best. We grew the heritage beefsteak Marmande tomato which takes its name from the town of Marmande, south of Bordeaux. There is a story about the Marmande tomato told by locals in … Read more
If you enjoy your Port Zev Robinson’s film Life on the Douro is a “must see” . . . and if you are new to it Zev’s film will tell you more about the essence of Port than your first sip from the wine glass will ever do. Life on the Douro is about the families (and dynasties) … Read more
A collection of Chateau Lafite Rothschild has fetched the highest price for a single lot of wine at auction this year. The 300 bottle collection consisted of a case of Lafite for each year spanning 1981 to 2005 and was auctioned by Christie’s in Hong Kong this weekend. The lot fetched 4.2 million Hong Kong dollars (US$539,280), however the … Read more
It seems that Chateau Suduiraut has launched Les Lions de Suduiraut as their Second Wine. Previously known as Castelnau de Suduiraut, the rebranding as Les Lions, with an attractive gold label featuring the lions on the heraldic crest of Suduiraut, comes hot on the heels of Chateau Guiraud‘s rebranding of their Second Wine earlier this year: Petit Guiraud (previously Le Dauphin de Guiraud). Petit Guiraud also … Read more
Beaujolais wine producer Georges Duboeuf has launched a contest in collaboration with Brooklyn based artist Michael “Mr Kaves” McLeer: “Nouveau Expression – Be Heard”. The contest invites all disciplines of artists 21 and older to submit original work to the Georges Duboeuf Facebook Fan Page. The multimedia competition accepts art in all its forms, including fashion, poetry, sculpture, and dance. … Read more
How many of you have a collection of stones, fossils, shells and pebbles? Quite a few of us are prone to picking up objects from fields and beaches . . . and vineyards. I came across a conversation on Facebook the other day which was about collecting pebbles from vineyards and it got me thinking. … Read more
The Drinks Business reported last week that Champagne was getting too warm for the Pinot Meunier grape according to a number of growers in the region. The Champagne AOC has 7 permitted grapes: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris (sometimes known as Fromenteau), Pinot Blanc, Petit Meslier and Arbane (for information on some of … Read more
Jane Anson has reported for Decanter.com that the wine school of Chateau La Tour Blanche in Sauternes has gone into partnership with a school in Beijing to teach oenology students from China. The students will first spend six months in Beijing, training in the basics of wine, as well as learning French and English. After first stage exams, they … Read more
Yesterday Tim Atkin mentioned on Twitter that Chateau Cheval Blanc was actively looking at establishing a vineyard in China according to Pierre Lurton. It seems a logical step given that the luxury goods group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) own a 50% stake in Cheval Blanc (as well as Chateau d’Yquem) and that LVMH announced that their brand Moet Hennessy was to plant its first vineyard … Read more
