The London Wine Fair in pictures
We were treated to sunny skies for the London Wine Fair at Olympia last week, which drew the great and good of the UK wine trade to west London.
The first stand to pique our interest was this Willy Wonka-like sweet shop filled with strawberry bon bons, cola drops and marshmallows.
The sweet shop was the work of Kingsland Drinks, which has launched a pair wine-based drinks in two flavours: pear drops and rhubarb & custard.
Winning the prize for the funkiest stand was Copestick Murray, with its bespoke VW camper van promoting the I Heart wine range.
Nyetimber showed off the 2010 vintage of its single vineyard fizz Tillington in style from the upper deck of a converted route master bus painted a fetching shade of mint green.
db’s deputy editor Lauren Eads and managing editor Lucy Shaw made sure they made the most of the bubbles on offer after a long day at the fair.
We also caught up with the irreverent Clovis Taittinger on the Hatch Mansfield stand to find out the latest on his English sparkling wine project in Kent.
During the fair the cherubic Larry Cherubino gave an masterclass on the best wines from Australia’s Great Southern and its five sub-regions: Denmark, Frankland River, Mount Barker, Porongurup and Albany, which featured a lip-smacking Riesling, mineral Chardonnay and ethereal Pinot.
After all that wine it was time for food. Luckily for us, The Harrow at Little Bedwin’s chef/owner Roger Jones was on hand at the Negociants stand with marketing manager Alex Layton whipping up all manner of delights paired to six different wines in the Negociants portfolio. The most wonderful match of the day came in the form of an arbroath smokie milkshake paired with Jim Barry The Veto Riesling 2015.
Another divine pairing we had to be dragged away from were the foie gras and salted caramel macaroons with Chaffey Bros Düfte Punkt 2015.
Other delights included quail and black pudding bon bons paired with Yalumba Octavius Shiraz 2009 and Welsh rarebit cigars with Yalumba The Cigar Cabernet 2012 (below).
Over at the Armit stand the sun was shining and the oysters and Albariño flowing…
We found time to sneak away from the fair to enjoy a lavish lunch hosted by Jean-Claude Mas of Domaines Paul Mas at The Bird in Hand pub.
Jean-Claude treated us to a tasting of an array of his wines including his new sparkler Astelia named after his three daughters, which were paired with creative small plates from courgette flowers drizzled in honey and piping hot croquettes to scallop carpaccio with daikon, reddish and coriander.
Soon to headline Skin Contact Live! at the O2, Bancroft Wines’ Sophie McLean took time out of her busy schedule to pour us some delicious drops.
The Pol Roger UK crew didn’t let the side down in terms of their stellar effort on the coloured trouser front, with pins spanning the spectrum from red and royal blue through to mauve. The team’s beloved Landrover Defender made a reappearance at the fair this year, as did the stunning Pol Roger Brut Vintage 2006.
The jazzy wallpaper framing the Pol Roger stand
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The atmosphere was buzzy in the London Room before the 2016 Drinks Business Awards were announced, with the great and good of the wine trade turning up to hear the winners.
Winning big this year was Enotria & Co’s Troy Christensen, who was voted our Man of the Year.
Also on the winning team was Liberty Wines, which scooped the award for on-trade supplier of the year, collected by CEO David Gleave.
Ben Smith of Concha y Toro UK beams after the Chilean wine giant is voted Drinks Company of the Year.
Martin Cambet of Argentina’s Bodega Caserena celebrates his double Drinks Business Global Masters win at db’s stand. The producer took home a gold medal for its 2014 Winemaker’s Selection Malbec and its 2012 Lauren’s Vineyard Agrelo Malbec.
Fun and games! Cambet ‘fights’ with Phil Crozier, wine buyer from Gaucho Group, over Caserena’s recent Gaucho Award for Best New Winery.
Joe ‘the nose’ Wadsack gets down to business at the IWSC masterclass stand, enlightening guests on the fine art of food and wine matching. Highlights included Nyetimber’s Blanc de Blancs 2009 paired with with stilton – an unlikely but satisfying pairing – and a bottle of Dr. Loosen Eroica Riesling 2014 matched with anchovy fillets.
Every year the IWSC makes a donation to a charity chosen by the year’s outgoing president. This year was the turn of Neil McGuigan, who was the IWSC 2015 president. McGuigan’s choice of charity was The Benevolent, which supports members of the drinks trade facing emotional, physical or financial hardship. McGuigan presented David Cox of The Benevolent with a cheque for £5,000 during the fair, alongside IWSC managing director Ewan Lacey and IWSC CEO Allen Gibbons.
db was particularly fond of cork producer MaSilva’s backdrop, which alluded to the producers renewed focus on the Champagne industry. During the fair Miguel Cardozo, MASILVA’s global business director, showcased the company’s recently launched One by One system, which promises to eliminate TCA from corks by using gas spectrometry technology to individually test each cork for traces. Cardozo described the technology as “revolutionary” and a vital step in the cork industry’s efforts to level the playing field with alternative closures.
Cork Supply has also upped its technological capabilities using the fair as a platform to launch its DS100+ “dry soak” detection system for TCA in natural cork. The system will launch in July after three years of research, and is able guarantee 100% TCA-free corks, according to Cork Supply. The machine was unveiled for the first time at the fair, seen here with Cork Supply founder Jochen Michalski.
On the other side of the closure spectrum, Vinolok hosted a vertical tasting of Australian producer Henschke’s Tappa Pass Shiraz 2005 and 2010 to demonstrate the effectiveness of using its innovative glass closure system.
Noel Reid, wine buyer at Robinson’s Brewery, showcases his selection of entry-level wines offered to its multitude of pubs up and down the UK. Keen on quality and value, Reid is working toward improving the wines on offer at UK pubs, presenting this diverse interesting range which included New Zealand Sauvignon rose, a red from Ribera Del Duero and an Amarone. Languedoc producer Moulin de Gassac is now working with the importer to offer what Reid describes as an “unbelievable” range of French wines priced at less that £5 a bottle wholesale.
After a long day at the fair Robinson’s cracked open its fridge, which remained filled to the brim with Iron Maiden’s Trooper ale throughout the three days.
db also had a chance to speak to Charlotte Symington, of Symington Family Estates, who introduced us to the company’s Decanter and Board concept, which is designed to promote Port and food pairings in the on-trade.
Symington explained how the company was working with a number of sommeliers and chefs in London and encouraging them to come up with different pairing suggestions. These could then be offered to on-trade customers who could in turn come up with their own suggestions.
Pairings suggested hitherto include: artisan charcuterie, smoked almonds, Padron peppers and 20 Year Old Tawny; chocolate ganache and Six Grapes; cheese, walnut bread, grapes, chutney and Quinta dos Malvedos; and cinnamon apple crumble, vanilla custard and Quinta dos Malvedos or 20 Year Old Tawny.
The Wines of Argentina mobile bar was never short of customer eager to sample its selection of Argentine wines. The mobile bar is completely transportable, created from a former shipping container.
Maison Castel kept fair-goers entertained with its 360 degree 3D tour, which saw energetic visitors pedal their way through the vineyards of southern France.
Finally, db found time to sample Castenau’s brand new prestige cuvée, Hors Categorie, presented here by Keith Issac MW, general manager of Castelnau Wine Agencies, and export manager Thomas Jorez. The cuvée is a blend of the producer’s 2008, 2009 and 2010 vintages, with just 3,500 bottles produced priced at around £80 to £90.
