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1 month ago | 
cluboenologique.com | Adam Lechmere |Ciaran Griffiths |William Morris |Pip Mortimer
Venturing out to the distilleries of central Kentucky can feel like a scene from a cowboy movie: fields of wheat and hay whip past, and then you pull into a gravel lot next to a pasture filled with glistening thoroughbreds and climb out of the truck. Inside a huge building filled with leather sofas, you are greeted by the occasional roaring fireplace or bronze statue.
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1 month ago | 
cluboenologique.com | Adam Lechmere |Ciaran Griffiths |William Morris |Pip Mortimer
In episode 206, David Kermode meets Yann Munier, who joined G.H. Mumm as cellar master in April 2022. A native of Champagne, he talks about his passion for Pinot Noir, the grape that defines Mumm, and reflects on the 2024 vintage. Kermode and Munier start by paying their respects to Munier’s predecessor, Laurent Fresnet, including his work in regenerative viticulture and on G.H. Mumm’s new tasting experience.
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1 month ago | 
cluboenologique.com | Louella Berryman |Ciaran Griffiths |William Morris |Pip Mortimer
‘Every Georgian wants to make wine,’ Sandro Kurdadze tells me when I ask what inspired his father to plant grapes. Spend any time in this extraordinary, fertile country and you realise the answer was obvious. Kurdadze, a slightly built classical philosophy graduate with fluent English and comprehensive knowledge of Georgian wine, might be emblematic of the new Georgia. He’s winemaker at Papari Valley in the Kakheti region, where his parents made the first vintage in 2015.
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1 month ago | 
cluboenologique.com | Louella Berryman |Ciaran Griffiths |William Morris |Pip Mortimer
The quality of English wine has never been higher and, as the industry matures, so too does the experience for visitors to the country’s vineyards. There are now more than 900 and many estates offer much more than a simple tasting room experience, having evolved into destinations where guests can immerse themselves in the landscape, the wines and even stay the night.
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1 month ago | 
cluboenologique.com | Adam Lechmere |Ciaran Griffiths |William Morris |Pip Mortimer
For over 200 years, the whisky made at the Loch Lomond distillery has been something of a well-kept secret. Tracing its roots back to 1814, the Highland distillery was originally singularly focused on making spirit to be used in blended scotch. Perhaps with a desire to be all things to all blenders, the family owners of the 20th century made the decision to make Loch Lomond Scotland’s most adept and capable distillery.
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1 month ago | 
cluboenologique.com | Louella Berryman |Ciaran Griffiths |William Morris |Pip Mortimer
Everyone wants a piece of Rías Baixas. This rainy corner of Galicia, its jagged granite coastline sculpted by the Atlantic, has the most sought-after, and expensive, vineland in Spain. Some of the country’s biggest producers – Vega Sicilia, Cune, Ramon Bilbao, La Rioja Alta – have been snapping up parcels of land. In 2022, Vega Sicilia announced a €20m investment in 24ha of vineyard; last year Cune bought a bodega called La Val, along with 100ha of vineyard.
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1 month ago | 
cluboenologique.com | Nina Caplan |Ciaran Griffiths |William Morris |Pip Mortimer
Johnnie Walker, the world’s biggest selling Scotch whisky, has opened up access to its award-winning master blender for an exclusive in-person blending session that sees participants leave with a one-off, bespoke blend. This new, luxury experience is one for any true Scotch whisky fanatic, and it takes place inside the Johnnie Walker Vault, a hidden, secretive subterranean space under the streets of Edinburgh that honours the roots of the iconic label.
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1 month ago | 
cluboenologique.com | Joel Hart |Ciaran Griffiths |William Morris |Pip Mortimer
Cocktail creator, writer and consultant Sammi Katz and interdisciplinary designer and illustrator Olivia McGiff have created Spirited Women: Makers, Shakers and Trailblazers in the World of Cocktails, a book that shines a light on 55 women who are redefining the spirits industry. From distillers and blenders to mixologists and educators, the guide explores the stories of these inspiring figures and pairs them with an original cocktail that reflects their journeys and contributions.
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1 month ago | 
cluboenologique.com | Joel Hart |Ciaran Griffiths |William Morris |Pip Mortimer
The listening bar has arguably never been more popular as a concept, a point perfectly demonstrated this month by three new London venues all serving drinks to a vinyl soundtrack. A multifaceted pub in Maida Vale that’s welcoming a second-floor cocktail bar is one of them, along with a bar in London Bridge serving Tequila with tunes and another in east London from founders with plenty of hospitality experience in the capital.
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2 months ago | 
cluboenologique.com | Nina Caplan |Ciaran Griffiths |William Morris |Pip Mortimer
If rooftops could talk, the distinctive twin cupolas that have presided over Strathisla since at least 1786 would have quite the stories. Scotland’s oldest continually operating distillery, a stone’s throw from Speyside’s River Isla, has been privy to the secrets that come with generations of whisky-making for centuries. Now, present-day owner Chivas Brothers is inviting whisky lovers into the hallowed buildings like never before.
