The Winery Ca'del Porco of Colli Euganei of Vénétie

Having joined The Wine Society’s team in 1973 as promotions manager, Payne became the head buyer in 1985. He stepped down from this position in 2012, when Tim Sykes took over, but has remained on the buying team ever since. As part of his responsibilities, Payne has bought in every region throughout the years but, in recent years, focused mainly on Italy and Bordeaux. He was also instrumental in introducing wines from Eastern Europe and Greece to the portfolio. The Wine Society described Payne’s ...

An electronic dart was tossed at us recently by Decanter reader Tim Frances from Kent. It landed on the screen of our magazine editor Amy Wislocki; Amy lobbed it across the virtual room to me, suggesting a column-length reply. ‘Here’s a poser,’ Tim began. ‘How do your experts grade a wine that they find intellectually well made, but that they truly madly deeply dislike? I’ve tasted wines I can admire dispassionately, but would stab my feet with forks rather than drink them. Must be a conundrum f ...

Titled A Life in Wine: Gérard Basset, the World’s Favourite Sommelier, the one hour-long film is produced by leading London wine club 67 Pall Mall’s on-site 67pallmall.tv studio and production team. ‘I was introduced to [Basset’s wife] Nina and [son] Romané in October 2021 where we sat and discussed a potential tribute, lovingly made by those closest to him, that would inspire people and tell the story of his incredible life,’ said 67 Pall Mall producer Kiki Hopkins. ‘We worked on a list of trea ...