The week in pictures

Party season is well under way from Blighty to Brisbane, and all the celebs are getting involved.

(Photo: StarPix, David Allocca)

First up was actor-turned spirits entrepreneur Kate Hudson hosted an intimate cocktail hour for press followed by a private dinner to celebrate the launch of her vodka brand, King St.

Hudson mingled with guests as they tried the vodka, which is heavily advertised as being “gluten free”* and even got behind the bar to mix up her favourite cocktail – a dirty martini.

*all vodka is gluten free, by virtue of the distillation process.

On Wednesday, db threw the party of the year in London to celebrate our 10th annual Green Awards.

Small Beer Co. were over the moon after winning the Water Management Award for a brewery.

This year’s Green Awards ceremony, it’s safe to say, was special. The Club at the Ivy was more packed out than ever before, with distillers, winemakers, logistics experts, retailers, drinks giants and small brewers all coming out in force to recognise the strides being taken to clean up the drinks industry.

Our awards are still the only set of industry gongs dedicated exclusively to the eco-conscious side of the drinks industry.

We posted the results of the awards yesterday, which you can read in full here.

Thursday, (5 December) saw the Wakefield Summer House of Shiraz in Sydney, with an array of VIP guests including; model Samantha Harris, actor and presenter Darren McMullen, Miss Universe Australia 2012 Renae Ayris, reality star Melissa Lucarelli and MasterChef Australia 2019 winner Larissa Takchi.

The Circle of Wine Writers 2019 Christmas Party took place on Monday evening, hosted by New Zealand Winegrowers at New Zealand House in London. Amongst the festive crowd were Oz Clarke and PR Louise Hill, seen here with Yealands, one of the night’s wine sponsors.

In political spirits, Glenfarclas Distillery has sold a cask of Scotch filled by Conservative MP Ken Clarke 25 years ago for £40,000.

The Sherry Hogshead cask, which was sold at the Glenfarclas Distillery shop in Speyside, was filled in May 1994, when Clarke was still Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The cask was laid down at Glenfarclas Distillery, and Clarke pledged that the single malt would remain untouched until a Conservative MP won back the seat of Moray, the home of the Glenfarclas distillery.

When the constituency of Moray returned to the Conservatives, Clarke returned to the distillery and the cask was bottled. 275 bottles of this very special release were available, raising a grand total of £40,000 for The Salvation Army.

John Grant, fifth generation family member and current Chairman of Glenfarclas, together with The Right Honourable Ken Clarke, presented the cheque to The Salvation Army at The Caledonian Club on 2 December.

In more pricey Scotch news, a 4ft 9ins tall, 105.3-litre bottle of Tomintoul whisky, believed to be among the world’s largest, is going up for auction, and is expected to fetch more than £15,000.

Due to be sold by auctioneer Just Whisky, the bottle of 14-year-old Tomintoul, which contains 5,250 drams, is predicted to break a number of records.

Weighing in at over 180 kilos, the specially-commissioned bottle holds the equivalent of 150 standard 70cl bottles.

Bottled at 46% ABV in 2009, it has a huge cork, oversized label and needed a team of 14 people to help fill and seal it.

And in yet more expensive whiskies, a private 3,900 bottle collection, thought to be the largest to be sold at auction with several bottles valued at over £1 million, will go under the hammer next year at Perthshire-based Whisky Auctioneer.

It is collectively estimated to achieve an auction price of between £7 and £8 million.

In fizzy treats, we’ve come to the last leg of Champagne house Bollinger’s culinary campaign with the UK’s hottest chefs right now.

Dubbed “Le Grand Tour”, Bollinger has teamed up with chefs on a series of recipes celebrating a single ingredient, designed to pair with its recently released La Grande Année 2008.

In this final pairing of the tour, Tom Kitchin at The Kitchen,  has chosen scallops to pair with the vintage fizz.

The full dish features hand-dived Orkney scallops baked in the shell with seasonal vegetables and a white wine, vermouth and herb sauce.

“With 2008 being one of the best most anticipated vintages of the last 25 years we are honoured to be able to offer such a classic champagne by the glass to our guests,” said Kitchin.

“The firm and meaty character of the La Grande Année 2008 works beautifully with the rich white wine and vermouth sauce of the scallops and the high acid and chalky finish contrasts perfectly with the subtle sweetness of the scallops.

“The dish shows you that champagne can be a serious food wine even with the richer and bolder dishes and doesn’t always have to be confined to an aperitif, especially in vintages such as the 2008.”

In other fizz news, Trentino sparkler Ferrari has been chosen as the sparkling wine partner of Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team, as it works up to the start of the 36th America’s Cup which begins in March 2021.

A bottle of Ferrari Maximum Brut was broken against the bow of the team’s first AC75 by head designer of Prada, Miuccia Prada.

Never ones to shy away from festivities, the Ellis Wines team pulled out all the stops this week. From Father Christmas and Brussels sprouts to reindeers, flamingoes and we’re not sure quite what on the right, Ellis give a new meaning to ‘go hard or go home’. Sporting their Christmas jumpers for a day, staff helped to raise money for charity Save the Children. Not even the office dog was left un-jumpered.