The week in pictures

(Photo: REUTERS/Phil Noble)

I’m sorry. We need to talk about Brexit.

Two years and three weeks after 51% of the nation voted to leave the EU, Theresa May has finally published a white paper outlining how the government thinks we should conduct European trade once we officially split from the union next March.

The UK will leave the single market and the customs union and will instead create a “facilitated customs arrangement” to remove the need for customs checks and controls at the borders.

It also spells the end of freedom of movement, leaving the Common Agricultural Policy, and the Common Fisheries Policy, as well as terminating the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

The full document can be found here.

BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds (Photo: BBPA)

Naturally, the drinks industry is watching closely. Heineken told us it is “monitoring the events closely”, but isn’t prepared to comment.

However, you can always count on the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), for a hot take.

“It is encouraging that the Government is making progress in setting out its proposals for Brexit,” it said.

“While there is still much detail to be thrashed out in key areas such as immigration, there are a number of specific positive developments.”

The BBPA is approved of May’s desire to maintain current systems for Excise and VAT practices which will make the transition smoother.

The industry body wants the government to seek the Excise Control and Movement System upon leaving the EU, which will make selling European beer in pubs easier.

Good news, too, for young people planing to study or work in the UK’s on-trade. While freedom of movement is getting scrapped, the Youth Mobility Scheme — which allows under 30s to work in the UK for up to 2 years without being included in migration data — is to be extended.

(Photo: Ewan Munro/Flickr)

While we’re on politics, large pub chains like Greene King are still “gaming the system” to pressure tenants into accepting poor deals, according to an MP leading an enquiry into the effectiveness of the Pubs Code.

Labour MP Rachel Reeves said that there is evidence that pub groups are “bullying tenants”, calling on the government to enforce the Pubs Code, which was introduced in 2016 to give tenants more rights and greater protection when dealing with the large pub companies that own tied pubs.

“Two years on, the reality is that neither tenants or pubs companies are satisfied that it is working,” Reeves wrote in a letter to business minister Richard Harrington on Tuesday 10 July.

What were they thinking. (Photo: MGM/lLot18)

Brexit is still something of an omnishambles, but “we didn’t think this through” of the week has to go to film studio MGM, which decided launching a range of wines inspired its TV series adapted from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale was a great idea.

For those unfamiliar with the work, The Handmaid’s Tale imagines a dystopian America where women are becoming infertile. As the US falls into political crisis, a fanatically Christian patriarchy takes over, enslaving any women who can still reproduce and assigning them to wealthy childless couples as “handmaids”.

Put it this way, it’s not something you want to use to tout wine.

Ignoring this completely, MGM’s wines — a Pays d’Oc Pinot Noir, an Oregon Cabernet Sauvignon and a Bordeaux white — were named after the series’ principal female characters – Offred, Ofglen and Serena Joy. Click through to read some of the marketing spiel that came with the labels.

They were due to be sold by online wine retailer Lot18, but obviously, there were some very unhappy people on social media, and the whole range was axed “after further consideration” in the space of a day.

Donald Trump in 2012 (Photo: Wiki)

Continuing the contentious theme, a group of west London locals including UKIP’s former head of press and the CEO of a political think tank collaborated with a pub landlord in Hammersmith to help him transform his boozer into the Trump Arms while the president is over in the UK.

The event is being organised by Patrick Sullivan, the chief executive of the Parliament Street think tank who in the past has helped run political campaigns for both the UK Conservative and US Republican parties. the drinks business also understands that Gawain Towler, UKIP’s former PR boss, has been on-hand to offer advice to the pub’s landlord in the run-up to the event.

Three guesses for what happened next.

The pub received a barrage of negative reviews on its Facebook page after announcing the intention to throw a welcome party for Trump.

(Photo: Black Chalk)

And now for something a bit lighter: English sparkling wine.

Over in provincial England, Black Chalk, the Hampshire sparkling wine label which launched three months ago, sponsored the Portsmouth Seafood Festival. Winemaker Jacob Leadley was pouring his Black Chalk Classic and Black Chalk Wild Rose, at the event, alongside his business partner and brother in law, Andrew Seden.

Meanwhile, malting masters Crisp Malt recently invested £6.7 million on a new speciality malt plant and bagging line, and invited some 70 brewers from across the country to check out the new piece of commerial-scale tech.

The speciality plant is the first of its kind to be built on a commercial scale in the UK. Malto bene!

The team at Digby wines had a blast at Leander Club’s Henley Regatta experience. After all, it is the club’s Bicentenary year.

Winning crews are presented w a bottle of Digby Leander Pink when they row back to the club by President Rass Randall. Evidently, what they do next is up to them.

Chef Raymond Blanc OBE with Louise Hill from Les Dauphins UK (Photo: Les Dauphins)

Rhône wine brand Les Dauphins was the tipple of choice at the French Ambassador’s Bastille Day Party yesterday this Thursday in London.

Chef Raymond Blanc may be a stalwart of the French culinary circuit, but he took a break on Bastille Day to enjoy a few vins with the Dauphins crew.

It’s all been kicking off in London this week in the world of wine. db stopped by the Tate Modern on Monday to find out Spanish Rioja purveyor Ramon Bilbao is changing the way it makes its Tempranillo treats.

According to winemaker Rodolfo Bastida, consumers want to find more primary (read: fruity) tasting notes in their wines, which has made producers of oak-heavy Riojas rethink how they treat their grapes. Growing at higher altitudes, less ageing and even Hungarian oak are all ideas Ramon Bilboa is playing with to meet demand.