Category: Articles

Buckingham Palace launches Coronation “Royal Windsor Pink Gin”

Royal Collection Trust, a department of the Royal Household, has launched a pink gin, infused with raspberries grown around Windsor Castle, with a mix of sweet and fragrant botanicals.

The “Royal Windsor Pink Gin” is spiced with piquant pink peppercorns and warming cassia bark, along with orange peel and rose petals that add a subtle sweetness. The hand-picked raspberries from across the Royal Estate in Windsor were infused into the spirit, lending the gin a fruity finish and vibrant pink hue.

The royal gin pairs beautifully with ginger beer for a fiery twist on the classic Gin and Tonic. Garnished with fresh raspberries and orange peel, this rosy tipple will make the perfect accompaniment to Coronation celebrations in May!

All profits from sales go towards The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity, and help fund the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and access to the Collection through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational programs.

Royal Windsor Pink Gin can be purchased online from Friday, 17 February from http://www.rct.uk/shop at £38.00 and is available from Royal Collection Trust shops.

“A tipple fit for the King’s Coronation!”

Source:  Royal Collection Trust

#gin #ginlovers #pinkgin #buckinghampalace #theroyalfamily #theroyalcollection #theroyals #theroyalcollectiontrust #buckinghampalacegin #kingcharles #royalwindsor #royalwindsorgin #buckinghamgardens #ginloversunite #flavoredgin #pinkgin #coronationday #kingcharles #kingcharlesiii #royalnews

Clarendelle and Domaine Clarence Dillon Announce Partnership with the 2023 Oscars

The Chairman & CEO, Prince Robert of Luxembourg, is thrilled to announce a partnership with the Oscars®.  From the March 12th awards ceremony at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood to the Governors Ball and extending to all other Oscar®-related events, Clarendelle, Quintus and Haut-Brion will be the exclusive red and white wines poured. They are also named the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ official wine partners in 2023.

 

The Clarendelle “inspired by Haut-Brion” family of wines finds its roots in the 1935 acquisition of Château Haut-Brion by American financier, Mr. Clarence Dillon. Today, under the leadership of his great-grandson, Prince Robert, the mother company of Clarendelle has grown to include famed Paris restaurant Le Clarence (proclaimed one of the 50 Best Restaurants in the World), a fine wine merchant (Negociant) and a number of exceptional wine retail shops, launched in 2015 under the banner of “La Cave du Château”. While principally renowned for its excellence in the worlds of oenology and gastronomy, over generations the family company has also become a stalwart supporter of the arts.

Like the Academy Awards®, also steeped in a nearly century-long tradition, Clarendelle offers a resolutely contemporary expression of our times and the celebrated French “Art de Vivre”. This everyday luxury benefits from the expertise of the Haut-Brion winemakers, who oversee the blending process, vintage after vintage, as they do for the notorious La Mission Haut-Brion and Quintus estates. The bottles are then cellared before being released to the market when they are judged to have reached their apogee and can offer the finest expression of their Bordeaux terroirs to wine lovers around the globe.

Also featured at the Oscars will be Le Dragon de Quintus, a veritable rising star of the Bordeaux Right Bank, hailing from the relatively newly minted Saint Emilion estate. Backstage, a few lucky nominees and winners will also be able to relish one of the rarest white wines produced in Bordeaux, which is born from the Château La Mission Haut-Brion and Château Haut-Brion properties: La Clarté de Haut-Brion.

 

“Star Wine List” celebrates top wine lists in New York

“Star Wine List of the Year” is a celebration of the great wine lists in the world and the teams behind them. There are eight categories for the top wine lists in New York, and the category winners will qualify for the International Final in June 2023. The jury for the very first “Star Wine List of the Year New York” includes four highly respected sommeliers and wine professionals: Veronique Rivest, Best sommelier of Canada and the Americas, Doug Frost MS MW, Rajat Parr and Christy Canterbury MW.

“We are truly excited to come to Vinexpo America and reward the great wine lists of New York for the first time, and we are thrilled to see so many high-caliber entries!” says Krister Bengtsson, Star Wine List’s founder and publisher.

Star Wine List is the guide to great wine bars and wine restaurants, with recommendations made by top sommeliers and wine professionals. Since its start in Sweden in 2017, Star Wine List has grown to cover 36 countries on all continents. On starwinelist.com and the app, wine lovers can find over 2500 recommended wine bars, wine restaurants and wine lists.

The winners will be announced at Vinexpo America on 8 March at 3:30 PM.

For further details: www.starwinelist.com.

#starwinelist #bestwinelist #bestwinelistnyc #wine #vino #vin #winelist #somm #sommelier #nyc #newyorkcity #winelovers #VinexpoAmerica #winebars #restaurants

Nebbiolo Prima 2023: Wines of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero and amazing wine destinations – Filippo Magnani

Each year the prominent arrival of Nebbiolo Prima has grown in importance and now represents the first opportunity to assess the new vintages of the champions of Piedmont: Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. The Albesia consortium (Unione Produttori Vini Albesi) has been organizing this event for 26 years now. Founded to promote the great wines of the Alba region to the world, Albesia has given its name to the uniquely shaped and marked bottle that dates back to the 18th century Piedmontese master glassmakers. The Unione Produttori Vini Albesi remains today the entity that regulates and promotes the usage of the bottle. Albeisa represents 301 members who produced 21 million bottles in 2020.

This year, Nebbiolo Prima has organized an exclusive tasting with four days dedicated to the noblest of Italian native grape varieties: Nebbiolo, and its expression in the Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero territories. The name Nebbiolo comes from the Italian word “nebbia” which means fog or mist. A demanding yet sensitive grape that can truly express its originality and complexity when grown on the right south-facing slope in a rich, calcareous tufa-based soil such as those found in Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero.

This year participants had the chance to review and taste 311 wines produced by the 180 wineries represented at the event. At the tasting, all denominations and sub-zones were presented blind: DOCG Barolo 2019 and Riserva 2017, DOCG Barbaresco 2020 and Riserva 2018, and DOCG Roero 2020 and Riserva 2019, all the wines were a revealing testimony to the multitude of features that make up our incredible terroir.

Roero 

Roero is that section of land located to the north of Alba town, in the province of Cuneo, on the left bank of the river Tanaro, between the plain of Carmagnola and the low hills of Asti. Compared to neighboring wine-growing areas it has a remarkable variety of landscapes with woods and orchards bordering the vineyards. Another unique characteristic of the Roero landscape is the Rocche, steep slopes dividing the territory from southwest to northeast, from Pocapaglia to Montà, separating the continental gravel and fluvial clay-based soils from those of marine origin, where the vine finds its ideal conditions.

wine denomination DOCG

(controlled and guaranteed designation of origin)

grape minimum ageing 

released 

on the market 

Roero Docg95% Nebbiolo

5% other

non-aromatic red grape

20 months, of which 6 in woodfrom the 1st July  of second year after the harvest
Roero Docg Reserve95% Nebbiolo

5% other

non-aromatic red grape

32 months, of which in 6 woodfrom the 1st July  of third year after the harvest

Barbaresco 

One of the first Italian Doc wines in 1966 and, in 1980, one of the first Docg wines. The area of production includes the entire territory of the villages of Barbaresco, Treiso and Neive, plus part of the territory of the Alba municipality.

wine denomination DOCG

(controlled and guaranteed designation of origin)

 

grape 

 

minimum ageing 

released 

on the market 

Barbaresco Docg100% Nebbiolo26 months, of which 9 in woodfrom the 1st January of third year after the harvest
Barbaresco Docg Reserve100% Nebbiolo50 months, of which 9 in woodfrom the 1st January of fifth year after the harvest

 

Barolo 

The Grand Italian wine by definition, Barolo is made in eleven ‘communes’ or village territories: Barolo itself, La Morra, Monforte, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto, Novello, Grinzane Cavour, Verduno, Diano d’Alba, Cherasco, Roddi. Unlike Barolo, these communes are only permitted to cultivate Nebbiolo for Barolo on a part of their territory.

wine denomination DOCG

(controlled and guaranteed designation of origin)

 

grape 

 

minimum ageing 

released 

on the market 

Barolo Docg100% Nebbiolo38 months, of which 18 in woodfrom the 1st January of fourth year after the harvest
Barolo Docg Reserve100% Nebbiolo62 months, of which 18 in woodfrom the 1st January of sixth year after the harvest

I really wish to thank  Liz Palmer, who kindly proposed for me to participate and report on the Nebbiolo Prima 2023, representing her website and blog together with Riccardo Margheri.

See you in Piedmont!

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The Comité Champagne Announces 10 Year Investment Plan

The Comité Champagne today lifts the veil on the sector’s plan for the next decade, defining a global trajectory to face the challenges of the next 10 years. The main objective of this plan is that Champagne is always available, always desirable and always exemplary. In addition, the Comité Champagne will increase its annual budget by an additional €10 million ($10.72 million), which will be invested in areas including R&D, the sustainable development of the Champagne industry and strengthening its foundational missions.

Champagne Remains the Standard

The results for 2022 confirm the overall dynamism of the Champagne market, with 326 million bottles shipped globally in 2022 (up 1.6% from 2021). Champagne has quickly recovered from the shock of the 2020 health crisis and unquestionably retains the unique place that it holds in the hearts and minds of consumers.

An Interprofessional Committee that Meets the Challenges of Tomorrow

However, the vineyards are fragile; they suffer from unpredictable weather patterns and the development of diseases that cause the vines to wither, such as flavescence dorée, which has been referred to as the 21st-century phylloxera. Faced with these new challenges, and because the power of Champagne is based on the collective efforts of the industry as a whole, the Champagne winegrowers and houses once again take their destiny into their own hands.

A Revamped Research, Development and Innovation Center

To meet the challenges of production and quality, the Champagne sector will be equipped with a new center of research, development and innovation. This new site, which will be launched by 2025, will increase the surface area of the existing laboratory by 40%. It will also contain state-of-the-art equipment, including a new resized fermentation room/experimental cellar, a new tasting room twice as large as the existing room, and a new one-hectare experimental platform.

Preparing the Viticulture of Tomorrow While Preserving the Character of Wines in a Changing Climate

Grape varietal research is a strong tool for adapting to climate change and a response to societal expectations for the reduction of phytopharmaceutical products. In response, Champagne joined the INRAE varietal innovation program in 2010 and created its own regional program in 2014.

To sustain the availability and quality of its wines, Champagne is experimenting with new varietals, researching new techniques to combat the various forms of decline in the vineyard, defining new soil maintenance protocols, and implementing new oenological strategies to anticipate the effects of climate change while also meeting the requirements of the agroecological transition.

An Ambitious New Sustainable Development Plan Towards “Net-Zero Carbon” by 2050

Champagne has been at the forefront of sustainable development in the wine industry. In the 1980s, the Comité Champagne began work on wastewater treatment, biological control in the vines and vineyard zoning. The Champagne sector has fought against a changing climate and adapting to new conditions is a key priority. As such, the sector is particularly proud of its results to date: 100% treatment of wine effluents and more than 90% of industrial waste, a 20% reduction in the carbon footprint per bottle since 2003 and 63% of the vineyard areas receiving environmental certification (with a target of 100% certified by 2030).

That said, this plan must also reinforce the economic and social ambitions of Champagne. These ambitions go through improving the resilience of the sector, its workforce and the attractiveness of the region.

“It’s not just about responding to changing consumer demands, it’s about ensuring the productivity and sustainability of the Champagne vineyards, designing and promoting a viticulture in balance with the ecosystem and producing a sufficient quantity of quality grapes” said Maxime Toubart, President of the Syndicat Général des Vignerons and co-president of the Comité Champagne. “This is the goal of our industry plan and the course which we are setting for ourselves.”

The plan also aims to strengthen the training mission with the establishment of a large, coherent and impactful education ecosystem, with the goal of being recognized as the gateway and key player in Champagne training and education.

Today, Champagne has offices in 10 of its largest export markets, including the United States, which are responsible for promoting the appellation in their respective countries. This network of Champagne embassies will expand to make Champagne stronger globally.

“The investment we make embodies the social responsibility of our sector,” said David Chatillon, president of the Union des Maisons de Champagne and co-president of the Comité Champagne. “It is an absolute priority that Champagne remains an exceptional wine supported by a united, responsible and committed industry. It is a new goal at the service of new ambitions for our appellation and our terroir.”

#champagne #champagnelovers #wine #winelovers #comitechampagne #vin #champagnecellars#champagnemoments #winenews #winebusiness #wineeconomics #terrior #winemarkets