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Jul 29, 2024 | 
cluboenologique.com | David Kermode |Louella Berryman |Kate Malczewski |Ciaran Griffiths
In episode 172 of The Drinking Hour podcast, David Kermode is joined by two key members of House of Hazelwood, director, Jonathan Gibson, and blender, Eilidh Muir. Kermode, Gibson and Muir discuss the unique model of House of Hazelwood, explaining how the brand has access to such an impressive collection of Scotch whisky.
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Jul 26, 2024 | 
cluboenologique.com | Kate Malczewski |Louella Berryman |Joel Hart
In the early noughties, the wine bar Le Verre Volé and merchant La Cave des Papilles began drawing in a new wave of pilgrims seeking out vin naturel. These institutions had been preceded by L’Ange Vin, a bistro opened by Jeanne-Pierre Robinot, who closed the restaurant after embarking, in 2001, on his journey to become the cult Loire winemaker he is today. A few other natural-wine focused restaurants opened in the 1990s but it was this third wave that instigated a thriving wine-bar scene.
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Jul 24, 2024 | 
cluboenologique.com | Sophia Longhi |Kate Malczewski |Louella Berryman
It’s considered the greatest inventory of aged Scotch whisky in the world. The Gordon family – the household behind William Grant & Sons, which is home to brands such as Glenfiddich and The Balvenie – has been laying down their own casks for almost a century. Since the Roaring Twenties, they’ve acted as custodians of some of the most precious liquids ever distilled.
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Jul 23, 2024 | 
cluboenologique.com | Sophia Longhi |Kate Malczewski |Louella Berryman |Mathilda Hill-Smith
Champagne has earned a special place in the hearts of many wine lovers for its extraordinary ability to transcend the vagaries of vintage using the art of blending. Though specific years have delivered the optimal conditions for notable vintage releases, the pursuit of a ‘perfect year’ – based on the finest vintages combined – has resulted in the creation of an icon by Laurent-Perrier in 1959: Grand Siècle.
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Jul 22, 2024 | 
cluboenologique.com | Sophia Longhi |Kate Malczewski |Louella Berryman |Millie Milliken
Throughout Scotch whisky’s existence, distilleries have opened and closed at the whim of economies, world wars, shifts in ownership and changes of fortune. As a result of such turmoil, many have lain dormant for decades, haunting the rugged Scottish landscape with their fading facades. Whisky lovers are perennially fascinated by these so-called ghost distilleries – where production has ceased, but bottles are still available.
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Jul 18, 2024 | 
cluboenologique.com | Kate Malczewski |Sophia Longhi |Louella Berryman |Joel Hart
Bordeaux has been enthusiastic about foreigners for a very long time, but as customers rather than guests. From at least the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s marriage to the man who shortly afterwards ascended the English throne as Henry II, Bordelais ships would load up with local wine and sail north. When the two countries weren’t warring (and Bordeaux was on the English side, when they were) visitors were welcome but only the very privileged would be invited to stay. Recently, that has changed.
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Jul 17, 2024 | 
cluboenologique.com | Kate Malczewski |Louella Berryman |Mathilda Hill-Smith |Joel Hart
It is fascinating how a wine often resembles its maker. To me, this couldn’t be closer to the truth than with the Champagnes of Vilmart & Cie. Fifth-generation winegrower Laurent Champs is quietly spoken, intellectual and reflective, and his wines carry an innate harmony and precision similar to the man himself. Instead of possessing a rockstar-like ego, Laurent Champs modestly insists that a winemaker must be ‘patient and humble’.
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Jul 16, 2024 | 
cluboenologique.com | Kate Malczewski |Louella Berryman |Mathilda Hill-Smith |Millie Milliken
There was a time where opportunities to drink sake in London were few and far between. At teppanyaki restaurants, you could order just one, low-quality sake, heated to the point of masking its flavour, or you could occasionally encounter a higher quality example on the wine flight with a tasting menu.
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Jul 15, 2024 | 
cluboenologique.com | Kate Malczewski |Louella Berryman |Mathilda Hill-Smith |Millie Milliken
In episode 170 of The Drinking Hour podcast, David Kermode is joined by Séverine Frerson, just the eighth cellar master at Perrier-Jouët and the first woman to hold the role. Their conversation begins with the origins of Perrier-Jouët, exploring how the philosophy of the house’s two founders, Rose Adelaide and Pierre Nicolas Perrier, still influences the winemaking today. The pair also discuss how the house incorporates art into its wine.
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Jul 10, 2024 | 
cluboenologique.com | Kate Malczewski |Sophia Longhi |Jim Clarke |Louella Berryman
It’s quite common for us to unwittingly drink our red wines too warm and our white wines too cold, which can often transform the profile of a wine and rob us of its alluring flavours and freshness. A fine tip to remember is the 20-20 rule: put red wines in the fridge for 20 minutes and take white wines out of the fridge for 20 minutes before serving to achieve the perfect serving temperature for both types of wine. This 20-20 trick is ideal for red wines from the Côtes du Rhône.
