Winery Francois DiligentCuvée Anastacia Champagne

I’m a massive fan of English sparkling wines, which are getting better with every vintage, aided by the changing climate, of course – the grapes are filling up with sun, and you can taste that in the glass. So how can we convince consumers not to overlook English sparkling wine, and show them that it is a real contender: often just as good, if not better than Champagne? Perhaps by pitting the two against each other in a special blind tasting by the experts, Judgement of Paris style. Judgement of ...

The 95th Academy Awards, more usually known as The Oscars, saw the usual glittering array of award-winning stars thanking their agents, managers and occasionally screenwriters. One former member of that last profession, though, made a cameo role in a very different capacity this year. Prince Robert of Luxembourg worked as a screenwriter in a past life, but this year he attended the Oscars to raise a glass to the film industry instead. And the wine in that glass was from one of the estates within ...

There’s a reason why heavily-applied perfume ranks highly on most wine lovers’ list of pet peeves. It overpowers your senses, conceals aromas and distorts your perception of a wine. In professional tastings and wine exams the wearing of perfume is banned, if not thoroughly frowned upon. You just don’t do it. What then, if we applied the same logic to music, controlling the sounds we hear, or don’t hear, while tasting wine? There’s no doubt that a chaotic environment can clog your synapses, makin ...