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The Drinks Business •

How the wine industry is addressing labour standards in vineyards

As scrutiny of vineyard labour practices intensifies, James Bayley explores how the Champagne region — led by Comité Champagne — is working with state authorities, growers and service providers to strengthen protections for seasonal workers and uphold the industry’s reputation.

While seasonal work is a long-established and essential part of viticulture, evolving expectations around social sustainability have prompted producers and institutions alike to reassess not only their responsibilities b...
The Drinks Business •

Lifting spirits: Aidy Smith on building an inclusive drinks industry for all

In a world where the drinks trade often clings to tradition with the same devotion it gives to terroir, Aidy Smith is inviting the industry to rethink what inclusivity really means. Speaking to the drinks business, the broadcaster, journalist and digital creator reflects on why so many people still feel unwelcome in wine and spirits — and what he’s doing to change that.
Best known for The Three Drinkers on Amazon Prime, Smith has become a familiar face in global drinks media — but it’s his work...
The Drinks Business •

Why the wine rarely vanishes – the truth about cooking with alcohol

It is a claim often whispered across chopping boards and tasting menus alike – don’t worry, the alcohol all cooks off. But as with so many culinary myths, this one dissolves under scrutiny.

While heat certainly causes alcohol to evaporate, the idea that it disappears entirely during cooking is far from accurate. Depending on how and how long you cook, a considerable proportion of the original alcohol may remain. For the home cook, the professional chef and indeed the thoughtful drinker, this is...
The Drinks Business •

Why Vatican City is the world’s top wine importer per capita

Tucked behind the colonnades of St Peter’s Basilica lies the world’s most surprising wine powerhouse. With sacred rites, papal palates and duty-free Prosecco all in the mix, James Bayley investigates how Vatican City became the globe’s top wine importer per capita – and why Italy’s grip on its cellar remains unshaken.

The Vatican City imports almost every drop of the wine it consumes. According to trade data from the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS), in 2019 Italy supplied an astonishing...
The Drinks Business •

Medieval Wine Tour of London: a Bacchic binge through time

London: a city of soaring ambition, blue-eyed boys in finance, and – in the 14th century – a place where one could be legally force-fed soured wine as a punishment for tampering with the nation’s most sacred import. 
Dr Matthew Green’s Medieval Wine Tour of London is an intoxicating romp through the city’s oenological past, a masterful blend of history, theatre and just the right amount of alcohol to make medieval hygiene standards seem tolerable.
While modern Londoners associate alcohol with mi...
The Drinks Business •

Why raising taxes on wine won’t solve the UK’s drinking problem

If there’s one thing we Brits excel at, it’s a contradiction. We queue religiously yet love to complain about the waiting. We champion free speech yet deplore those with opposing views. And now, we drink less than ever, yet alcohol-related deaths have reached record levels.

For all the handwringing in Westminster about the perils of alcohol, the numbers tell an awkward story. In 2023, the UK registered 10,473 alcohol-specific deaths, yet alcohol consumption has been on a steady decline, especia...
The Drinks Business •

Shaken, stirred and still standing: James Bond’s six decades of drinking

As the world eagerly speculates about who will next don the tuxedo and holster the Walther PPK, another question looms: will the new James Bond have the requisite taste for the finer things in life? Because, according to two detailed studies into the drinking habits of the world’s most famous spy, 007’s appreciation of well-crafted drinks is truly something to admire.

An exhaustive content analysis of 24 James Bond films from 1962 to 2015 (Wilson et al., BMJ, 2018) presents a picture of a man w...
Attaboy! •

Dear England review: The perils of a political football

James Graham’s Dear England, which opened at The National Theatre in June 2023, follows the trials and tribulations of the England men’s football team between 2016 and 2022, amidst a backdrop of Brexit, Covid and identity politics.

It’s a promising premise for a play, presenting the state of a nation through the lens of the beautiful game. Despite this, I have always found football’s inability to translate to stage or screen, aside from one or two notable exceptions (The Damned United, Bend It
Harpers •

Government consumes 1,400 bottles of wines and spirits between 2020-22

Government consumes 1,400 bottles of wines and spirits between 2020-22

The cellar, which is stored in the basement of Lancaster House in central London, provides guests of the government, from home and overseas, with wines of, “appropriate quality at a reasonable cost”.

As expected, usage of the cellar fell significantly in 2020 to 2021 (by 96%) to 130 bottles of wine. This figure increased to 1,303 bottles of wines and spirits in 2021 to 2022, but still 60% less on pre-pandemic levels.

Accor

Gorgona prison project celebrates 12th vintage milestone - Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

During a visit to the island in the Tuscan Archipelago, Harpers toured the 2.3ha vineyard and tasted the latest vintage of the Gorgona Bianco, a wine from Vermentino and Ansonica grapes, yielding approximately 9,000 bottles.
40km off the coast of Livorno, Gorgona is a small, serene island, with pastel-coloured houses and an eerie silence. If it wasn’t for the sight of Jeeps labelled ‘Polizia Penitenziaria’, one could easily mistake the island for a tropical oasis.
Gorgona is Italy’s last remai...
Harpers •

The Comfort of Another Round

The Comfort of Another Round

Thomas Vinterberg’s tale of midlife crisis, Another Round, begins with a booze-fuelled lakeside run that features beautiful teenagers sprinting and drinking in total abandonment.

Like it or not, alcohol brings people together – it is a facilitator for love and friendship. According to Norwegian psychiatrist Finn Skårderud, it also unlocks man’s potential. He suggests that humans are born with a blood alcohol level that is 0.05% too low (the equivalent of 1-2 glasse

Sales and temperatures rise in tandem for UK wine industry

Sales and temperatures rise in tandem for UK wine industry

According to WineGB figures, there are now 3,758 hectares under vine in England and Wales, with 879 vineyards and 197 wineries (195 in England, two in Wales).

In addition, hectarage has more than doubled in just eight years and quadrupled since the turn of the millennium.

This increase in plantings has coincided with the UK’s ten warmest years on record, which have all occurred since 2002.

Heatwaves like those experienced in 2018 hav
Harpers •

Blind Ambition Review – rags-to-riches story is important lesson for wine industry

After fleeing their homeland following the Zimbabwe crisis of 2008, the four men – Joseph Dhafana, Marlvin Gwese, Tinashe Nyamudoka, and Pardon Taguzu – find themselves working up the South African culinary ladder, at first as gardeners or waiters before emerging as top sommeliers in the country’s finest restaurants.

This in itself would be a rags-to-riches story worthy of Hollywood adaptation – but the film soon enters into Cool Runnings territory as the quartet join forces to form Zimbabwe’s

Wet stones and other WSET befuddlements - Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

I was hired, I think, because of my skills as a journalist rather than my knowledge of wine.
Since then, I have put my experience in news reporting to much use, and there has been no shortage of headlines in the world of wine, from the government’s VAT increase to New Zealand’s chronic Sauvignon Blanc shortage. 
When I heard I was going on a wine crash course to bring my knowledge up to speed, I was filled with the same dread my teenage self felt month after month arriving at the driving theor...
Daily Mail •

The world's WORST white elephants, including £6m Marble Arch Mound

The idea that a newly built 'landmark' can become an instant cultural phenomenon is a bit absurd, but that doesn't stop councillors, mayors and architects from investing in doomed vanity projects.

A white elephant is a possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness.

In this case, we are looking for over-budget, unsuccessful, and embarrassing tourist attractions.

The infamous Marble Arch Mound has become a c
My London •

Big Issue seller 'has been depressed' as he faces challenges of lockdown

As a result of the third national lockdown, 1,386 Big Issue vendors cannot sell the magazine.

Big Issue sellers are self-employed, buying magazines for £1.50 before selling them on for £3.

This means they aren't eligible for furlough and they cannot work from home.

Martin Mckenzie, 40, is a familiar face to those on his Finsbury Park patch, but over the last year, he has only been able to sell the magazine for a total of six weeks.

He told My London : "Credit where it's due, The Big Issue ha
MyLondon •

'I wasn’t showering or eating properly' - Gaming addict played 12 hours a day

A former video games addict who would "fall asleep on his keyboard" during daily 12 hour sessions is now helping young people who are struggling, as stats show an NHS clinic for gaming disorders is seeing more patients than ever before.

It comes after the (W.H.O.) endorsed an initiative entitled #PlayApartTogether, to encourage people to stay indoors and play video games during lockdown.

Since then, the number of teenagers playing video games around the country has soared.

The NHS clinic for
My London •

London couple met during lockdown and got married 4 months later

Since the emergence of coronavirus, there has been a significant surge in dating app usage across London.

A spokeswoman from the popular dating app Bumble told My London: "During the lockdown in March and April we saw a big increase in video calls with Brits looking to meet digitally in the absence of physical dates.”


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In these troubling times, more people have been looking for meaningful connections, a
Attaboy! •

Brexit and other daddy issues

United by lockdown but divided by Brexit, this first person feature explores the relationship between a son and his father in strange circumstances.

Families invariably fall out, but when politics is the cause of that rift things go up a notch. To disagree with your loved ones on how the world should be ordered conjures up all sorts of emotions, as many have discovered since lockdown.

After the Brexit referendum result, I couldn’t bear to look at my father. As a family, we epitomised the UK’s
Attaboy! •

The experiences of men in female-dominated roles

Attaboy spoke to three men who are soon to embark on a career in a female-dominated industry, to find out why so few men have followed in their path.

Women have made significant progress entering male-dominated jobs such as finance, law and medicine over the last few decades. Men, on the other hand, have made far less progress entering female-dominated jobs like those of primary school teachers, nurses, and social workers. To address this imbalance, society needs to motivate more men to pursue
Attaboy! •

Should we celebrate Dennis Rodman?

Rodman is back in the limelight, but can we celebrate the former rebounder's legacy and acknowledge his flaws? Attaboy did some digging to find out.

Thanks to the hit Netflix documentary The Last Dance, there is a wave of nostalgia for the 1990’s Chicago Bulls, one of the most dominant teams in the history of basketball. At the centre of this is Dennis Rodman, the enigmatic power forward for the Bulls between 1995 – 1998.

The series was watched by 23.8 million households during the first month
Attaboy! •

Diego Maradona Review

During the lockdown, many of us have had to adapt to life without football. Thankfully, we are in the midst of a golden age for sports documentaries, and Diego Maradona by Asif Kapadia is as good as it gets.

Kapadia has produced the most significant portrait of a footballer ever committed to screen. Using a treasure trove of archive footage we meet Diego, a shy mummy’s boy confined to a shantytown on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. He has nothing to offer but his capacity for resilience and burg
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