The Scotch whisky industry has been built on a bedrock of blends. Yet single cask bottlings are becoming more prevalent. Barbara Drew MW explains what single casks are, and why they’re so special.   Whisky, it’s said, is about the art of the blend. Around 90% of all Scotch whisky is blended whisky and there is […]

Almost every wine, regardless of region or brand name, has a year on the label – the vintage. This is the year the grapes were grown, and those four numbers contain a multitude of information: whether the spring was cold, with frost, leading to a small harvest; whether the summer had heat spikes, resulting in […]

Our inaugural Sustainability Forum in June considered the prospects of a carbon-free glass industry. Barbara Drew MW examines the arguments and debates how much still needs to be done.   After a lively panel discussion spanning Bordeaux to the Barossa valley, digging into sustainable ways of working in the vineyard, you’d be forgiven for thinking a […]

Last week, our Pickering Cellar was the setting for a masterclass on Super Tuscan wines. Covering a range of styles, from 100% Sangiovese wines to those using solely international grapes, and across a broad span of sub-regions and vintages, it beautifully illustrated the diversity of this category. Here, Barbara Drew MW picks out a trio […]