The Winery Contino of Etna of Sicile

Andrea Franchetti, one of the most talented and visionary Italian producers, has died at the age of 72 in Rome. In 30 years exactly, he positioned his superTuscan Trinoro among the top Italian references, producing a wine with stylish elegance and outstanding potential for ageing. Franchetti’s Bordeaux blends were without the over-extractions that were on-trend in the 2000s, nor the excess of fruit following phenolic maturity. He followed a precise idea to produce classic wines for the long haul ...

Be Inclusive Hospitality (BIH) is a not-for-profit organisation, born out of the lack of representation of Black, Asian and minority groups at all levels of the hospitality, food & drink industry. Founded by Lorraine Copes in 2020, its mission is to accelerate racial equity in the industry.  The Spotlight Awards is the first of its kind for BIH, aptly named as it will shine a spotlight on businesses and individuals from Black, Asian and minority backgrounds by recognising their talents. Not ...

How’s the weather been this year? Awful. ‘La nature m’écoeure’, one of my wine-growing friends posted on Facebook on 8 April, having been out to look at the frost-crippled shoots on his vines that morning: ‘Nature disgusts me’. It takes a lot to make a wine-grower feel that. He wasn’t alone. Jeremiads echo around the northern hemisphere as 2021 closes. It’s been the year of all the miseries. None suffered more horribly than the growers of Germany’s Ahr valley, where floodwaters caused by the fou ...