Beer is possibly the oldest form of manufactured beverage; certainly, the earliest documented. Over the last century or so, it has gone from home- and pub-brewed ales, through the industrial-made horrors in the 60s/70s, and now it's back among the small o

A new vintage of wine like CastelGiocondo Brunello di Montalcino is usually launched with a tasting and, occasionally, a party of some sort. These may be in highly prestigious city venues, in quirky Hoxton restaurants or at trade shows. While the tastings

Shochu is the newest thing at the bar. It's not a wine, it's not really a spirit as we understand it. It is Japanese but it is not Sake, so what it is and is it worth the effort of finding out? The Saki Bar and Food Emporium held a tasting of Shochu to he

You will probably have heard of organic wine production but have you come across biodynamics? It's the new kid in town, utilising homeopathy, astronomical charts and other practices that might seem odd at first sight. However, more and more growers are ad

If you really want to stand out in the world of wine, one thing you can do is get yourself qualified as a Master of Wine. This title is administered by the Institute of Masters of Wine. It's a difficult course to complete and MWs are generally respected a

Gin has been around since the mid 17th century. It has a chequered history and a huge influence on the social history of England and particularly on London. While I've been a fan of the stuff for many years, I realised I didn't actually know all that much

Sake. Most people will have come across Sake as a body-temperature alcoholic drink served in Japanese restaurants, usually with Sushi. Most people know it's made from rice and that it comes from Japan ... and that's usually where the knowledge ends. But S

A stroll through the wine section of your local supermarket or wine retailer will show shelves with almost equal space given to new and old world wines, to Italian and French, Chilean and South African. This is unrecognisable from 20 years ago, when the F

The 5th Champagne Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards ceremony took place in September 2009 in a glamorous event at the very top of The Gherkin in St Mary Axe in the City of London. A lucky few of the wine trade’s great and gathered to c

The wines of the south west of France or, in French, Les vins du Sud-Ouest, have, since the horrors of phylloxera, been fighting to get recognition on the international wine market. Cooperatives and wine makers have taken the region's local grapes, such a