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6 days ago | 
thedrinksbusiness.com | Louis Thomas
The tiny enclave of Vatican City might just be the world’s most secretive wine market. Louis Thomas investigates. The year 2025 is already proving to be a milestone for Vatican City. The death of Pope Francis, aged 88, on 21 April coincided with it being a Jubilee Year, which is typically celebrated every quarter of a century. More than 30 million pilgrims are expected to flock to Rome, and to the microstate housed within it, over the course of this year.
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1 week ago | 
thedrinksbusiness.com | Louis Thomas
Willamette Valley-based business Vinovate Custom Wine Services has acquired traditional method production specialist Radiant Sparkling Wine Company.
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1 week ago | 
thedrinksbusiness.com | Louis Thomas
Scotland’s Programme for Government 2025-26 has deemed the alcohol ban on the country’s railway network to be “counterproductive and ineffective”. The prohibition of alcohol on ScotRail trains was originally introduced in November 2020 and was justified as a pandemic-related measure to curtail the spread of Covid-19.
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1 week ago | 
thedrinksbusiness.com | Louis Thomas
Although Chianti Classico is world-renowned for its Sangiovese, the region is also capable of producing characterful Chardonnay. Louis Thomas discovers how one estate has spent the last four decades honing its production of this white variety.
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1 week ago | 
thedrinksbusiness.com | Louis Thomas
This week’s Real Italian Wine & Food at Lindley Hall in London offered a showcase of Italian food and drink products, many of which have not necessarily hit it big in the UK yet. db gives its roundup of some of the key takeaways from the show. The basics of wine tasting are transferable to olive oil tastingWhen we taste a wine, we swirl, we sniff, we slurp, we (occasionally) spit, and then we say that it’s “balanced”. When it comes to tasting olive oil, it’s a fairly similar procedure.
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2 weeks ago | 
thedrinksbusiness.com | Louis Thomas
Alaska will become the first US state to introduce signage with health warnings linking excessive alcohol consumption to colon and breast cancer. The new legal requirement goes into effect from 1 August and was allowed by Governor Mike Dunleavy without need of his signature after it received a unanimous vote in the state senate.
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2 weeks ago | 
thedrinksbusiness.com | Louis Thomas
Adolfo De Cecco, the chef behind the Michelin-starred Casa Fofó, opened Bianca’s in Stoke Newington last week. db finds out why it has a natural wine focus and some of the recommended food pairings. Taking its name from De Cecco’s first child, Bianca’s opened at 175 Stoke Newington Road on 24 April. The list features around 100 bottles, with a strong leaning towards lower-intervention wine styles. “Natural wine is simply what we drink.
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2 weeks ago | 
thedrinksbusiness.com | Louis Thomas
The moderate consumption of white wine and Champagne could lower the risk of a sudden cardiac arrest, according to a new study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. There is mounting evidence that a moderate degree of alcohol intake can be good for cardiovascular health, and the newly-published study further supports this view.
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4 weeks ago | 
thedrinksbusiness.com | Louis Thomas
Craig Johnston, head chef of Angler Restaurant in Moorgate, has been announced as the winner of this year’s edition of the Roux Scholarship after a final held at The Waterside Inn earlier this week. Johnston was one of six finalists who competed for the title of Roux Scholar at the three-Michelin-starred Waterside Inn in Bray on Monday. The Roux Scholarship was established by Albert and Michel Roux in 1983, and is now overseen by their sons, Michel Roux Jr and Alain Roux respectively.
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1 month ago | 
thedrinksbusiness.com | Louis Thomas
Veeraswamy, which has been based in Victory House in Leicester Square since 1926, could be forced to move as The Crown Estate prepares to refurbish the building. Founded by Edward Palmer, the great-grandson of the first Governor General of India, Veeraswamy has existed on 99 Regent Street for 99 years. An advert for its opening, in March 1926, described its offering as “clean Indian and English food, good wines, and oriental coffee”.
