The flavor of melon in wine of Don Valley

The voice drops a little; the tone grows more reverential. Everyone knows; everyone understands. There will be wry allusions to a quest, perhaps even the grail. Sacrifice is expected en route; failure (always forgiven: a badge of honour) beckons on every side. Kitted up, your hopes armour-plated? I might be talking about planting vines on a cleared slope, or simply about taking the corkscrew to a ridiculously expensive bottle of wine, but you all know by now what’s meant. Pinot Noir. ‘Pinotism’ ...

Prima & Ultima – meaning ‘first and last’ – showcases whiskies that are exactly that: either the first or the last of their kind. The eight single malts in this year’s line-up were chosen by Diageo master blender Dr Craig Wilson, following in the footsteps of previous Prima & Ultima creators Maureen Robinson and Dr Jim Beveridge OBE. The whiskies include the final Brora bottling from 1981, and spirit from the last two casks of Port Ellen filled in 1980, as well as single malts from Royal ...

Having left the ranks of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) in 2008, Ukraine has again joined the leading intergovernmental institution. This brings the total number of member countries up to 49. The renewed membership is effective from 30 October and was formalised on Friday 4 November at the OIV’s General Assembly in Baja California, Mexico. The plenary session, which closed the institution’s 43rd annual congress, had its most symbolic and heartfelt moment when the Ukrainian ...