The week in pictures
Woody Allen and the star of his film Café Society Jesse Eisenberg were among the first guests to visit the Mouton Cadet Wine Bar at the Cannes International Film Festival on Wednesday night. Mouton Cadet from Bordeaux, which is the official wine of the festival, opened the doors to its exclusive wine bar this week on the famous La Croisette in Cannes, on the rooftop of the Palais des Festivals.
To celebrate Mouton Cadet’s 25th year as Official Wine to this major international celebrity event, highly acclaimed Paris interior designer Mathias Kiss was commissioned to create the bar space based on ‘The French Art of Living’.
English wine producer Nyetimber toasted its partnership with the Sky Bar this week, which is tipped to become the UK’s “most unique bar” when it opens in Brighton this summer. Located inside British Airways i360’s aerodynamically designed glass pod, customers will glide slowly up to 138m for 360-degree views of Sussex while enjoying a glass of Nyetimber’s Classic Cuvee sparkling wine. British Airways i360 is currently under construction on Brighton beach and will be the world’s tallest moving observation tower when it opens this summer. It was designed by Marks Barfield Architects, creators of the London Eye. Nyetimber will also be available in the attraction’s 400-seat restaurant the Belle Vue.
The Champagne Academy celebrated its 60th anniversary and launched the 2016 programme of its annual Champagne Academy Course trip to Champagne in June at a dinner at The Lanesborough Hotel in London. The Champagne Academy was established in 1956 to encourage the appreciation of Grandes Marques Champagnes in the UK and Ireland. Each year 16 people working in the UK and Ireland wine trades are nominated as candidates for the Champagne Academy Course in Champagne by the 16 participating houses, which include Bollinger, Charles Heidsieck, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Heidsieck Monopole and Krug. The names of the 2016 Champagne Academy Course candidates are due to be revealed later this month.
Emmerdale star Emma Atkins help celebrate opening a formerly derelict pub in Cumbria. The owners of Silverdale Holiday Park in Cumbria invested £300,000 to bring back to life the stricken pub, which had stood empty for six years. Emma Atkins, who plays Charity Dingle in Emmerdale, pulled the first official pint at The Royal’s celebration opening this spring. Emma Atkins, whose parents still live in Silverdale, said she was delighted to see The Royal re-open in the village where she grew up.
The Ornellaia winery at Bolgheri, Tuscany, has unveiled the latest installation to be added to its sculpture park, which since 2009 has invited world-renowned artists to contribute pieces of contemporary art. In 2015, Swiss artist John Armleder was commissioned to interpret the 2012 vintage of Ornellaia, which boasts the descriptor “L’Incanto” (The Enchantment). His art piece, Splash, is intended to capture the “enchanting” moment when wine emerges from its bottle.
Every year, Ornellaia selects a famous contemporary artist, from a different country, who then creates a personal interpretation of the one-of-a-kind character of each vintage, with the artwork installed on the estate, as well as replicated on a limited-edition label that then adorns a special series of large-size bottles of Ornellaia.
Campari has taken over Red Gallery in Shoreditch to host the “world’s largest” selection of Negroni’s via its Negroni Bar by Campari. Opening from 11 to 21 May, the bar will celebrate the classic Italian cocktail by presenting guests with more than 30 different variations on the serve, from the Carpe Diem Negroni made with Cocchi Barolo Chinato fortified wine and Punico Zahare liqueur, to the Tu Vuò Fa’ L’Americano with sweet Vermouth and Pale Ale Beer.
Christie’s specialist, Jessica Fertig, with a bottle of Bordeaux the surrealist artist, René Magritte, used to paint a female nude on. Femme-Bouteille as the piece is called was sold in New York this week for US$725,000.
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This week also saw db host a New Wave Chile masterclass with Sebastián Labbé, winemaker of Viña Carmen, at the Westbury Hotel, Mayfair.
Masterclass attendees were able to sample six of the Maipo Valley-based winery’s wines: Carmen DO, Semillon Sauvignon, Apalta, 2015; Carmen Gran Reserva, Pinot Noir, Leyda, 2015; Carmen Gran Reserva, Carignan, Maule, 2014; Carmen DO, Portugais Bleu, Maule, 2015; Carmen Gran Reserva, Petit Syrah, Maipo, 2012; and Carmen DO, Moscatel, Maule, 2015.
Sebastián Labbé of Viña Carmen explained to attendees of the New Wave Chile masterclass how old vine Sémillon from Apalta could become the basis for Chile’s truly great whites.
Moët Hennessy UK MD Jo Thornton congratulates Sarah Wood, founder of video advertising company Unruly, winner of the 2016 Veuve Clicquot Business Women Award, while the Champagne house’s president, Jean-Marc Gallot, presents Cassandra Stavrou with the 2016 Veuve Clicquot New Generation Award at a lavish bash at Claridge’s this week.
The Circle of Wine Writers held its 56th AGM this week voting in Colin Hampden-White (far left) as its new chairman. Congratulating him were former chairman Jim Budd (pictured wearing one of his signature Hawaiian shirts with a watermelon theme), president Rosemary George MW and vice-president Oz Clarke.
Roberson Wine’s Zainab Majerikova (far right) and Sideways author Rex Pickett (third from left) hosted a new wave California wine tasting for cast of the new Sideways play at The St James Theatre in Victoria. The play, which opens on 26 May, is an adaptation of the acclaimed novel of the same name.
Both the play and the book eulogise finicky grape Pinot Noir, which Pickett clearly still carries a torch for: “A great Pinot is like chasing the most beautiful woman, and if you finally manage to get her, you almost feel like crying with happiness,” he said.
Carolyn Martin from Creation Wines in Hemel en Aarde, South Africa, was in London this week to host a press lunch at 67 Pall Mall. Carolyn introduced a selection of wines from across Creation’s impressive range, which had an impressive thread of finesse running throughout. Martin explained how her husband, winemaker Jean-Claude Martin, sought to take advantage of the long ripening periods in Hemel en Aarde to produce refined wines that were a world away from the heavy-handed, overly oaked examples sometimes associated with South Africa. “We’re aiming for Jodie Kidd, not Dolly Parton,” Carolyn Martin said.
The lunch at 67 Pall Mall included Isle of Mull scallop ceviche with chilli, peas, lime and dill, which paired very well with Creation’s unoaked, textured yet refreshing Viognier; confit corn-fed duck leg with braised lentils, bacon and duck hearts, which found a match with Creation’s top-end Art of Pinot Noir, and Champagne jelly with Yorkshire rhubarb and clotted cream ice cream.
Glenturret Distillery’s latest limited edition malt whisky tells the story of 16 men and a dog. A photo dating back to 1905 was unearthed at the back of a cupboard at Scotland’s oldest working whisky distillery earlier this year. It featured 16 still men and a collie dog believed to be the distillery manager’s dog at the time. The picture has provided the inspiration for the bottling and will take pride of place on Fly’s 16 Masters Edition label.
