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The week in pictures

 

On Wednesday night, rapper Drake and DeLeón Tequila founder Brent Hocking announced the launch of their new Champagne – Mod Sélection Blanc de Blancs Champagne.

Priced at $450 it is the fifth varietal from the House of Mod Sélection.

(Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images)

Drake first teamed up with Hocking in January 2008 to create a new Champagne range called Mod Sélection.

In more celebrity drinks launches, Heaven’s Door Spirits, the whiskey label co-owned by folk legend Bob Dylan, has officially landed in the UK.

Dylan’s brand has secured a deal with When We Are Giants, the distribution and marketing arm of Drinksology, which means Heaven’s Door’s three core whiskeys will be sold in the UK. The they are currently available at Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange.

In Drink and You’ll Miss It, eagle-eyed readers who have seen the Oscar-winning film Parasite! may have noticed something familiar in the scene where Mrs. Park picks up supplies for her son’s birthday.

The wine she’s carrying is actually a case courtesy of Chilean producer Morandè Wine Group. As imported wines often carry much higher mark-ups in South Korea, the scene forms part of the film’s commentary about class.

 

In gothic romance, spiced rum brand Kraken has released a limited edition bottle lauded as the “blackest ever bottle of rum ever created” for Valentine’s Day.

Kraken also launched a poetry competition with British punk poet John Cooper Clarke to offer artsy drinkers a chance to win one of the limited edition bottles, which are being handed out today.

In beer gardens, AB InBev-owned Camden Town Brewery has revealed plans to transform its North London brewery into a food and drink destination.

Set to open in summer 2020, the development will feature a 50-seater restaurant, an extended taproom, outdoor drinking and dining space, a merchandise shop and new brewery tour experience.

Unfortunately for fans of the brand, this means the existing brewery bar on Wilkins Street Mews has now closed. A temporary pop-up bar will open on the Mews from 1 March to provide beer geek relief in the interim, and brewery tours will also be available from this date.

While estates across Europe are busy hacking away at their vine roots, in Stellenbosch, Journey’s End winemaker, Mike Dawson, is well under way with the 2020 harvest, and he says he’s “extremely optimistic about the quality.”

“The 2020 vintage has got off to a fast start with grapes ripening a week and a half prior to what we have experienced over the last few vintages,” he said, adding the early picking was partly down to strong winds in early to mid-January, and a desire to sidestep sunburn damage.

“The initial Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and barrel fermented Chardonnays have just completed fermentation and are looking amazingly clean with pure aromatics and great natural acidities.”

Dawson added the team will tackle Journey’s End’s first block of Merlot today, having picked the vast majority of white grapes over the duration of this week

I am feeling extremely optimistic about the quality of the 2020 vintage at present.

In response to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, wine estate Acumen Napa Valley has donated 12,000 N95 respirator masks to the people of Wuhan, in the Hubei Province of China, which is the epicenter of virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that health workers who interact with coronavirus patients wear the masks.

The masks where shipped to China on Saturday, February 8th. Once the masks arrive in Wuhan, which is the home of Acumen’s founder, Eric Yuan, they will be delivered to the Wuhan Tongji Hospital.

In addition, Acumen will donate 50% of the proceeds from February’s online wine sales, and those purchased at the Acumen Wine Gallery in downtown Napa, will fund the purchase of more N95 masks, and protective medical coveralls, which will be send straight to Wuhan.

“As a community that has benefitted from the generosity of so many people in dealing with the fires and floods that have impacted wine country in recent years, we believe that it is imperative to support our brothers and sisters in Wuhan during this terrible time,” Diana Schweiger, Acumen’s sales and marketing director, said.

“Because of our founder Eric Yuan’s deep roots in Wuhan, we are in a unique position to quickly provide these masks to some of the people who need them most urgently. Our hope is that by aiding the brave people on the front line of this epidemic, we can save lives and help stop its spread.”

 

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