Week in pictures: 4 – 10 May

This week in pictures features Patrick Schmitt MW at the Global Sparkling Wine Masters, Arabella Mileham at the Bordeaux Experience, Douglas Blyde with Compass Box and Hundred Acre, and Gianluca Bisol’s UK tour. 

Global Sparkling Wine Masters

On 9 May, a panel of expert judges including db editor-in-chief Patrick Schmitt MW gathered at Bellanger, in Islington, London, to taste more than 160 sparkling wines from all over the world.

Results will be published next month in the drinks business.

The Bordeaux Experience

Fine wine and retail editor Arabella Mileham visited the Bordeaux Experience’s wine event for trade and consumers with a reinvigorated view of Bordeaux, aiming to show a dynamic, fresh and modern region, as well as showcasing its new “JointheBDXcrew” campaign.

The event included 100 refreshing whites, modern and classic reds, fruity rosés and Clairet to sparkling Crémant and sweet wines to try, as well as briefings, blind tastings, and  street food.

Compass Box

Douglas Blyde attended a spiced pigeon and whisky-fuelled dinner at Mayfair’s Hide hosted by Compass Box ambassador, Michael Stephenson. The “Scotch whiskymaker” was founded in 2000 by former marketing director at Johnnie Walker, John Glaser, who went on to launch the first blended grain whisky being simultaneously the first whisky to feature a female form on its label.

After a bright highball starring the accessibly priced Orchard House expression (Clynelish, Linkwood, Benrinnes), Stephenson took guests through The Extinct Blends Quartet, which pays homage to iconic blended whiskies of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.

Beyond a label evoking Paul Arden’s stylish Silk Cut iconography, the lifted, gingerbread-scented Ultramarine combines Caol Ila and Glendullan with grain whisky from Cameronbridge and Girvan, while intended to evoke “a remote sun-kissed island paradise”, the exclusively American oak informed, near tropical, white chocolate and guava scented Delos features components from Glen Elgin, Imperial, Miltonduff, and Cameronbridge. Our favourite of the night, the tablet, honey, then damp bonfire evoking Metropolis nods to the industrial past of blended Scotch, meanwhile (Aberlour, Miltonduff, Bowmore). Amusingly, its label fuses the old with the new, hence the juxtaposition of a penny farthing beside an e-scooter. Suiting its decadently tempestuous imagery, Celestial is the fourth, final, and most peaty release (Ardbeg and Caol Ila).

The evening culminated with a tasting of Hedonism², an exclusive bottling of Compass Box’s acclaimed grain whisky blend. Limited to six hundred bottles, it is exclusive to Hedonism Wines, with the ample square footage of the Rolls Royce of a drinks merchant nodded to in the squared aspect of the name.

The event was part of a series of tasting dinners orchestrated by executive group bar manager and whisky sage Oskar Kinberg. (hedonism.co.uk/about/wine-and-spirits-tastings)

Hundred Acre

Masterminded by the mighty head of wine for Annabel’s, Georgios Iordanidis, The Birley Wine Club welcomed the inimitable Landon Patterson, CEO of St. Helena’s Hundred Acre, to host a symposium at Matteo’s. Named after the operator Richard Caring’s son and featuring his portrait, the “maximalist” scheme, as described by designer Martin Brudnizki, incorporates 60 deeply upholstered seats in an art-rich, gold-tinted dining room in which the soundtrack hails from the era of La Dolce Vita.

Hundred Acre was founded by former investment banker Jayson Woodbridge in 1999. “Jayson declared he would make the best wine in the world, though he had never made wine, which was the secret to his success,” opened Landon. At that time, Woodbridge did not own a winery; instead, he relied on the kindness of those who did. “It was like sleeping on a friend’s couch – he made wine one barrel at a time, which is what we still do, barrel by barrel, puncheon by puncheon. It’s like assembling a 70-piece orchestra or stitching a couture dress.” A quarter of a century later, the wines achieved cult status, recognised by twenty-two perfect scores from Wine Advocate. However, Landon noted of the journey, “You haven’t tasted the hundreds of terrible wines we’ve made.” Today’s wines are crafted in a winery in which Woodbridge has filed “30 patents” for progressive equipment.

Dinner began with Summer Dreams Lazy Lounging Chardonnay 2021, which coalesced almost Meursault-like notes with aspects evoking scorched lemon meringue pie. “Jayson was all piss and vinegar in his thirties – he couldn’t have made that Chardonnay then,” joked Landon. This was served with perky kingfish and green mango crudo – indeed, this menu took Iordanidis and the culinary team nine tastings to refine. While explaining the exceptional liquid, Landon reminisced, “We use wine to commemorate our memories; we don’t say do you remember that Budweiser we had?”

Next, with prosperously filled black truffle and Pecorino dumplings, Summer Dreams Twilight Pinot Noir 2021 was deep in hue, tannic, and rich – “not for the feint of heart” summed Landon. It draws from a vineyard three miles from the coast, where “we vow to get grapes ripe.” Landon said. Of the personalities of grapes, Landon noted, “Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are ballet versus boxer, Cabernet.”

Two vintages of Wraith, “both 100-point wines,” said Landon, were poured with chargrilled USDA beef fillet with a Cola glaze – not traditional Matteo’s fare. Immensely aromatic, 2016 had magnitude and an almost iron ore core, a wine which “needs to put out on the first date”, quoted Landon of Woodbridge’s words. 2019 was more succulent with a finespun Margaux-like texture, gently developing in the glass over time. “Wraith is made from our best single barrels from our best vineyards taken and aged for another year,” said Landon, adding, “like a human wine can age 80 years.”

Finally, Fortunate Son The Diplomat 2019 draws on octogenarian Bordeaux vines and wears the words of Churchill on its label, which is highly likely a mantra of Woodbridge, too: “Play the game for more than you can afford to lose… only then will you learn the game.”

Perhaps explaining why Hundred Acre has taken so long to host their wine dinner in the UK, Landon recalled a prominent UK merchant’s frosty reception a decade ago. “He told me your wine has more alcohol than Bordeaux, so go away…”

Bisol1542

Bisol1542 – the UK’s first Prosecco Superiore – is set to embark on a UK tour as it celebrates 35 since the brand landed in the UK. The tour also sees the UK launch of a new expression of sparkling wine – Bisol1542 I Gondolieri Prosecco Superiore.

The tour, which begins on 7 th May, will visit eight cities including; London, Cambridge, Bristol, Oxford, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and York and will take the form of trade tastings, following by both trade and consumer evening aperitivo hours.

The London event will be held at Bocca di Lupo, with a tasting, followed by a dinner, paired with Bisol1542, during which Brand Ambassador, Gianluca Bisol, who first brought Prosecco Superiore to the UK in 1989, will showcase wines across the Bisol1542 portfolio. These will include both Bisol1542 and Jeio wines, as well as the launch of Bisol1542 I Gondolieri for the first time to the UK market.

Johnnie Walker Black Label

On Sunday night, United Talent Agency hosted its annual Pre-Met Gala Soirée in partnership with Johnnie Walker Blue Label.

Jodie Turner-Smith (pictured) and guests including Awkwafina, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Karlie Kloss, Lizzo, Cynthia Erivo, and more enjoyed a curated selection of Johnnie Walker Blue Label cocktails to celebrate the evening.