For those of a certain age the words Beirut and Lebanon are shorthand for all that has gone wrong in the Middle East over the past generation; the cauldron of a preternaturally complicated Civil War is still simmering; checkpoints abound on the dusty roads and even smart buildings such as the famous downtown hotel Phoenicia are […]

It’s finally happened! Thirty years after launching the Berrys’ Own Selection range of ‘house wines’, a range that now numbers approximately forty labels, I’m very pleased to announce that we’ve found the ideal Nebbiolo wine to become our Berrys’ Barolo! Coming from the village of Verduno, the wine is a traditional blend made by the […]

It was only my second visit to Austria but my inaugural, and most satisfactory, encounter with the fine estates of Knoll, Nikolaihof, Ehmoser, Bründlmayer and Pichler-Krutzler; along with Prager, Schloss Gobelsburg, Moric and Wachter-Wiesler. I sense a most exciting offer beckons this autumn! Austria’s 2011 vintage, echoed across much of Europe, was characterised by a […]

Last week I nipped up north to Alsace from Barolo to touch base with domaines Ostertag, Weinbach, Zind-Humbrecht, Josmeyer, Rolly-Gassmann, Mittnacht, Trimbach, Schlumberger, Hugel and Deiss as I prepared the ground for Berrys’ September offer. Two issues: terroir, and in particular ‘Crus’, along with the sometimes sticky point of how to communicate the wine’s style […]