What’s the point of tasting notes? Who are they actually for? Who reaps the benefit, for example, of reading that a wine has notes of “gentian, elderflower, seaweed, mussels, salt spray, chicken stock, sage, fennel, peach kernel, lemon, alkali and wet stone”, as David Schildknecht’s highly attuned nose detected in the 2004 Riesling Steinriesler of Nikolaihof Wachau?
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As the 2020 vintage came in, Rathfinny owner Mark Driver spoke with Andrew Catchpole about the challenges of flexing the business in a remarkable year
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Alex Taylor and Jamie Smith of Urban Craft Wines at Tring Winery are sending innovation out the door, as Andrew Catchpole reports
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About 30 million people in the UK drink wine. For years, producers and marketeers have been trying to grab their attention, hoping to figure out how to successfully communicate their wines through words and images.
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Origin Wines’ Swiss founder talks to Andrew Catchpole about the Cape’s re-emergence post shutdown and his new pan-country range of terroir-focused wines
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Health rose to the top of the agenda at the beginning of 2020 in a way we’ve never seen before. Jo Gilbert speaks to the face of alcohol responsibility in the UK about meeting this challenge
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‘Never A Dull Moment’ is the title of a wonderful book about what its author, David Hepworth, calls “rock’s golden year”. 1971 was indeed an annus mirabilis for music, witnessing the release of landmark albums by David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Marvin Gaye, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Yes, The Who and Rod Stewart. For Hepworth, 31 December 1970 marked the end of the Sixties – 12 months late, in one sense – and the start of something very different. It was a turning pint, a line in the sand.
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I love books. I love being surrounded by them. The company of all those stories and thoughts is inspiring. As the number I owned grew over the years, I had to double stack them on the shelves like bottles of wine in a shop. Then finally, there was no more space. A triage and trip to the local Oxfam shop became inevitable.
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My favourite part of the nauseating, sadly since-deleted film promoting the new, ‘clean’ Avaline wine comes at the very end. After extolling the virtues of this miraculous cuvée at length – and trashing pretty much every other wine ever made for their use of additives – the duo responsible for its immaculate conception, actress Cameron Diaz and fashion brand-builder Katherine Power, tell us how they like to drink it.
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Andrew Catchpole catches up with one of the most passionate sommeliers in London to talk wine culture, change and cheese
Andrew Catchpole talks to Mentzendorff boss Andrew Hawes pre and post-lockdown
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Prominent restaurateurs joined Andrew Catchpole around a virtual table to discuss rebuilding trade in the new norm.
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Lorraine Copes talks to Andrew Catchpole about amplifying the voices of people of colour in the UK drinks and hospitality trade.
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With hospitality one of the hardest hit sectors in the wake of the pandemic, the head of the leading trade organisation has no end of crucial issues to deal with. Kate Nicholls talks strategy to Lisa Riley
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Our lives are going to be harder. Whatever it took to sell wine, bring in cash, pay bills, keep the door open will change once we open that door again. On-trade wine sales have changed and we must change with that. But where to begin?
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From Barca Velha to small-batch single varietal Douro wines by way of Clink cocktails, Luís Sottomayor gives Andrew Catchpole the lowdown on life at the helm
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One of the many reasons people like working in the wine trade is the sense of common bond. Trade outsiders may doubt how friendly people who are direct competitors can really be. But they often are. People can’t help liking and respecting each other. The bonhomie that wine engenders helps, as does admiration for the labour, love, and sheer dedication of those who make the stuff. From producers to distributors, retailers, and communicators, an unstated feeling of shared mission is in the air. Now, too, the trenches spirit that comes with having backs against the wall.
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With his iconoclastic and straight-talking approach, Sam Owens walks Andrew Catchpole through life as a moreishly modern indie
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The youngest scion of the Roux clan talks to Jo Gilbert about family expectations, restaurant no-shows and how to avoid divorce when working (and living) with your significant other during a pandemic
Insight and innovation are threaded through Quintessential Brands’ DNA. Andrew Catchpole catches up with James Lousada and Neil Anderson to find out more
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