Welcome to the home of Drinking Well, the podcast designed to help you enjoy and shape your wine and spirits collection.
Our fourth series explores the future of wines and spirits with our in-house experts and some industry friends. Covering topics from English spirits to the trends in fortified wines, we'll be opening a bottle with each of our guests to further explore these themes.
Recorded in the Bourne room at our historic home, No.3 St James’s Street, join us in conversation hosted by Barbara Drew MW.
In the first episode of our fourth series, we speak to Cotswolds Distillery founder, Daniel Szor.
With an Own Selection bottling of 2018 Cotswolds Distillery English single malt whisky, Daniel discusses the rise of English spirits, his journey from New York to the Cotswolds and why the best barley is always local.
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In this episode, we speak to Buyer Yoan Bernard about the Loire Valley and why it’s a collector’s region of the future.
With a bottle of 2020 Saumur-Champigny, Les Coudraies from Domaine des Closiers, Yoan talks to us about the new style of Cabernet Franc emerging from the Loire and those bottles you simply must have in your cellar.
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For this episode of Drinking Well, we speak to Berry Bros. & Rudd CEO, Emma Fox. Emma has had a finger on the industry pulse in many CMO and CEO roles since becoming a wine buyer after university.
Over a bottle of Hambledon Classic Cuvée Rosé, Emma and Barbara Drew MW discuss the future of the industry, what it’s really like running a family business and where English wine might be heading.
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Mark Pardoe MW is our Wine Director at Berry Bros. & Rudd. Having bought over 40 vintages in his career so far, he is no stranger to the nuances of vintage variation and how climate change is affecting them.
With a bottle of Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair’s Bourgogne Rouge, Les Grands Chaillots from the hot 2020 vintage, Mark and Barbara explore how warmer years are becoming the norm and what this means for your wine collection.
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In this episode, Account Manager (and self-confessed Italophile) Chris Pollington talks to us about all things Tuscan – from the dominance of the Sangiovese grape to the region’s Bordeaux-inspired Super Tuscan wines.
Over a bottle of 2019 Poggio Valente from Fattoria Le Pupille, he and Barbara examine the origins of Super Tuscans and what the rebellion of their creators means for the future of the region’s wines.
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In the final episode of this series, we speak to Rob Symington, Marketing Director at Symington Family Estates and part of the fifth generation of the family business.
With a bottle of Graham’s 40-Year-Old Tawny Port from Rob’s own cellar, he and Barbara discuss the changing fashion for fortified wines and new, exciting ways we can enjoy them today.
Barbara Drew MW
Barbara joined the wine trade in 2011 knowing, in hindsight, very little about wine. She became a Master of Wine in 2018, one of 414 MWs worldwide. For 10 years she worked in Berry Bros. & Rudd’s events team, hosting many of our dinners, masterclasses and courses. She now leads our content team, working on new ways to educate, inspire and support our customers as they build and enjoy their wine collections.
For our first series, you’ll hear from our expert Buyers and Account Managers as they discuss which vintages to withdraw from your cellar this year. We also explore the most exciting developments in key fine wine regions, as well as revealing our team’s favourite wines and producers.
Find out moreOur second series is broadcast from our historic home in St James’s. We’ll be uncorking and discussing wines which our experts have pulled from their own collections. These bottles come from a wine region you may not have discovered, but which undoubtedly deserves to be on your radar.
Find out moreThere’s no magic formula for building a fine wine collection. It takes time. Like a painting, it’s created in layers – brushstrokes – some things added, some taken away. But when, at last, you savour a bottle you love at its peak maturity, it is one of life’s great pleasures.
We talk to Commercial Manager Martyn Rolph about how – and why – we manage our customers’ allocations
Many of our colleagues are avid collectors of Burgundy. But they’ve also made their fair share of mistakes along the way. Here, they open up about some of the things they’d do differently if they were to start all over again.
We asked members of the team from across Berry Bros. & Rudd to share their personal experiences and advice for collecting Bordeaux
It’s been around for centuries, but recent investment and innovation make this Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate one to watch. Here, we take a closer look at La Nerthe’s upward trajectory.
