Agostino Perrone

Apr 22, 2024 | cluboenologique.com | Louella Berryman |Joel Harrison |Agostino Perrone |Aleesha Hansel

In episode 158 of The Drinking Hour podcast, David Kermode marks Earth Day by talking to winemaker Christopher Carpenter, who has led the transition to organic farming with a focus on regenerative viticulture at Jackson Family Wines. Carpenter is also a founding member of International Wineries for Climate Action. An  influential figure among winemakers, Carpenter is passionate about addressing the impact the wine industry has on the environment.

Apr 11, 2024 | cluboenologique.com | Louella Berryman |Joel Harrison |Agostino Perrone |Millie Milliken

Uji, a city to the south of Kyoto, is the birthplace of Japan’s tea culture. At its height, during the Ashikaga shogunate, it had seven tea plantations. Of these, only the Okunoyama plantation remains. Growers have cultivated tea here for 600 years, making it the oldest plantation in Japan. At an age when most of us would hope to be retired, Chotaro Horii, the current owner, still tends to his plants and serves tea to visitors in his shop. Or, if they’re lucky, a nip of Ki No Bi gin.

Apr 10, 2024 | houseandgarden.co.uk | Agostino Perrone

Only journalist-cum-globetrotter Charles H. Baker could unearth a champagne concoction at the home of a friend who lived in the French Concession of Shanghai, which he imported from Russia when the aristocracy took flight eastward in advance of revolutionary forces. Baker documented this rare find in his 1939 drinks travelogue The Gentleman’s Companion. The vision of a drink that he recounted conjures up images of beautifully regal Russian princesses with every sip and inspired this modern twist.

Apr 10, 2024 | houseandgarden.co.uk | Agostino Perrone

A delicate waft of saffron smoke caresses the rich flavours of rum and rye whiskey in the Vieux Connaught. Inspired by the signature Vieux Carré cocktail created in 1938 by head bartender Walter Bergeron at the Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans, the Vieux Connaught offers a balanced, modern experience. A buttery sweet Guatemalan rum instead of the vanilla and stone fruit character of cognac pairs with the spicy, peppery rye whiskey, softening the woody notes of the spirits.

Apr 10, 2024 | houseandgarden.co.uk | Agostino Perrone

‘Betty is a joy … she is far the best cocktail mixer in the West End’, wrote  a journalist in the 1940s about the Connaught Bar’s head bartender.  She first learned her skills working for twelve years behind the bar at the Hind’s Hotel in Bray on Thames. With her well-honed talents she served Connaught Bar customers for fourteen years from the wartime years  to a little beyond. This salute to Betty of the Connaught was the very first drink to appear on the refurbished Connaught Bar’s opening menu.