Sotheby’s Jamie Ritchie on the future of wine auctions September 3, 2021 If Jamie Ritchie were on Desert Island Discs, which is not beyond the realms of possibility, his luxury item would be his gavel. “In 1994, as part of Sotheby’s 250th anniversary celebrations, I was given a wooden gavel. It has been the only gavel I have ever used. It has required some occasional re-gluing as [...]
Last chance to join the English Whisky Festival this Friday September 1, 2021 There is still time, if you hurry, to get tickets for the two-day virtual English Whisky Festival, which runs from 3-4 September. Organized by Exploring English Whisky, the event gives you the chance to sample the handiwork of 17 of the country’s 30-plus whisky makers. Some are well known: the St George’s Distillery at Roudham [...]
Why a bespoke wine cellar might not cost what you think September 1, 2021 So maybe you have a burgeoning wine collection: a couple of cases of Super Tuscan you picked up for a good price en primeur, a Château Lafite you’re saving for a special occasion, some Cabernet Franc that won’t be at its best for another six or seven years. What you need, my friend, is a [...]
Forget everything you think you know about sambuca August 27, 2021 When you think of sambuca, the chances are you imagine sticky shots in a dark nightclub, that one friend who insists on buying a round after everyone has already had too much, dizziness, nausea, hangovers. Sambuca has a place in the British psyche alongside Jagermeister and tequila as a drink of debauchery and trouble. But [...]
How to share a glass of pet-friendly plonk with your cat or dog August 25, 2021 Always a nation of cat and dog lovers, lockdown has made many of us absolutely barking when it comes to our pets. If on any of those long, lonely isolation nights you wished you could share a nice glass of Riesling with Rover or a Frascati with Felix, those prayers have, somehow, been answered. food In [...]
The sparkling kombucha that wants to be champagne for the moderation movement August 24, 2021 East Anglia is the county for Grand Cru kombuchas, and 2021 is a particularly exciting vintage for living tea. The kombucha wave doesn’t seem to have crested and certainly hasn’t crashed yet, with two seaside breweries collaborating to produce the first sparkling “rosé” kombucha. Suffolk-based producers Adnams and LA Brewery, have launched Suffolk Blush, made [...]
How Takamaka rum went from garage grog to a top tipple August 23, 2021 Would you drink rum that started life in a swimming pool? The former manager of a Soho dive bar and a drag club in Camden thinks you’d be mad not to. Richard Cohen is the only non-national working for the Seychelles rum brand Takamaka, which has just arrived in the UK in the form of Rum [...]
Mezcal is here and The Lost Explorer is the ideal place to start August 23, 2021 Mezcal has been on the verge of breaking into the UK’s mainstream spirits market for some time now, with some excellent and accessible brands knocking on the door of discerning drinkers. And there is perhaps no better, more successful small batch mezcal available on these shores right now than The Lost Explorer. Launched in late [...]
Two winemakers changing the world, one rosé at a time August 20, 2021 English rosé is a rapidly diversifying wine category, with the smallest boutique vineyards producing standout wines. The first vines were planted at the Off The Line Vineyard in Hellingly, East Sussex in 2014. The wines are made on site in a purpose-built red wine only winery by Kristina Studzinski and her partner Ann-Marie Tynan. Studzinski, the [...]
Inside the crazy, expensive world of whisky miniature collecting August 19, 2021 The founder of The Whisky Exchange is selling his collection of rare and old whisky miniature bottles. The collection will be sold as part of the quarterly miniatures and memorabilia auction at, live until Tuesday 24 August. Sukhinder Singh, who founded the global whisky retailer with his brother Rajbir in 1999, is putting four hundred [...]
