Drinks News
Skills on show
Four top sommeliers will be doing their best in the Port Challenge 2000 on Tuesday 8 February at Hotelympia. The line-up has James Payne of the Sharrow Bay hotel in the Lake District, Matthieu Duval of the Putney Bridge restaurant in London, Alessandro Comin of the Riverside restaurant in Cambridge, and Claire Tissot-Merlot of Harvey's restaurant in Bristol. More than 80 papers were originally submitted to the Port Wine Institute and the competition sponsor, the Academy of Food & Wine Service, but now it's down to the above four to compete head-to-head in the final - in game-show format. This will feature blind tastings, food and port matchings, and a "nail-biting mastermind quiz". The prize is a five-day trip to the Douro valley in northern Portugal. Judges include Gerard Bassett MW and Roy Ackerman. Those wishing to attend the challenge should contact James Brown at the Academy of Food & Wine Service on 020 8943 1011 to secure a place.
Wine bottle warmer
Are your customers fed up with cold bottles of red straight from the cellar? Try the "Therm au Rouge", says creator CellarDine. This, it says, is "a new and innovative red wine warming sleeve that allows you to enjoy the full flavour and bouquet of red wine at the optimum drinking temperature". And no, you don't bung it in the microwave - a "unique" energising gel is activated when you flip the silver "clicker" and the gel then turns white. Allow five minutes for light-bodied reds, says distributor F Trauffler (020 7251 0240), and 10 minutes for full-bodied wines. To "re-energise" the sleeve, place it in a saucepan of boiling water until the gel becomes clear again. Prices start at £8.50.
Wine auctions on-line
US on-line wine auction house, www.Winebid.com, has opened a UK office headed by David Elswood (previously director of European sales at Christie's wine department), who is being assisted by another Christie's man, Chris Munro. Founded in 1996, Winebid.com has inspection facilities in Napa, Chicago, New Jersey and now London - in Covent Garden. Its first major Europe sale runs from 16 to 26 March. Unlike conventional auctions, the catalogue is free, and on-line bidding is open for two weeks. If you are outbid, you are told via e-mail, and the technology involved also allows you to split cases and bid for individual bottles, if you prefer. Apparently, some 5,000 bidders registered for the US December auctions alone.
