Wine, beer & cider

Joe Wadsack's Champagne Bar Crawl

Joe Wadsack is tasked with finding the best champagne-imbibing spots for the festive period.

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19 December, 2024

Wine, beer & cider

Australian wine’s second coming

Once the undisputed champion of popular wine, Australia’s star has been waning in recent years. But Joe Wadsack says it’s worthy of more investigation now as a new generation of winemakers are making it interesting again.

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26 November, 2024

Wine, beer & cider

Legs 11 - are there tasty, concentrated, lower-abv wines?

The new duty rules have pushed producers to make wines at 11% abv for the UK market. But can tasty, concentrated wines be made at cut strength? Joe Wadsack looks for naturally lowabv wines – with legs

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09 May, 2024

Wine, beer & cider

Joe Wadsack on fizz without fuss

Joe Wadsack hunts down the best value bubbles from the shadows of the likes of champagne and prosecco.

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11 January, 2024

Wine, beer & cider

Matching wine to the most popular bar food

We tasked our wine expert Joe Wadsack with tasting his way through London’s best bar food – and naming his favourite matches.

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27 November, 2023

Wine, beer & cider

Why cold red is hot

You don’t have to ditch the red wine on hot days. Take Joe Wadsack’s lead and chill it down – the results may surprise you.

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23 August, 2023

Wine, beer & cider

Joe Wadsack: why it's time to dive into Eastern European wine

As economic pressures bite, Joe Wadsack says it’s a good time to consider some of the cheaper but still delicious wines that have been produced across Eastern Europe for thousands of years.

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26 April, 2023

Wine, beer & cider

Playing the Spain game - how beer from the Med became big business

Beer brand Madrí’s claim to be ‘Madrid’s modern-style European cerveza’ is untrue – but does anyone really care, asks Pete Brown.

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26 April, 2023

Wine, beer & cider

The case for France's answer to Port - Vins Doux Naturels

Joe Wadsack turns to the country where fortified wines were invented to look at the sweet versions that likely came about in the 13th century.

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11 January, 2023

Wine, beer & cider

The Portuguese fortified you haven't tried: Moscatel de Setúbal

Port isn’t the only world class fortified from Portugal. Joe Wadsack has another up his sleeve – and the best bit is Moscatel de Setúbal is great value for money.

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14 November, 2022

Wine, beer & cider

Born to be mild: Pete Brown on craft beer's next trend

The big beer style of this year is one of the least likely Pete Brown could contemplate – nevertheless it’s one that he feels is actually worthy of revival.

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11 July, 2022

Wine, beer & cider

Why wine is underused in cocktails

Joe Wadsack challenges bartenders to drop their preconceptions and be more experimental in their approach to using wine in cocktails.

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04 July, 2022

Wine, beer & cider

Is it time for ethical wine?

Joe Wadsack asks whether it’s time the making of wine doesn’t involve animal products.

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30 March, 2022

Wine, beer & cider

Rioja: the tale of the ubiquitous wine born of chance

Rioja is a go-to red in the on-trade, but this grand Spanish wine was born out of a large degree of chance. Joe Wadsack tells the tale of Rioja.

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10 February, 2022

Wine, beer & cider

Craft cider is our history but will it be our future?

Misled by the use of the word ‘craft’ and seduced by foreign imitators, UK consumers are missing out on some great British ciders, says Pete Brown.

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02 February, 2022

Wine, beer & cider

What you need to know to navigate prosecco

Joe Wadsack isn't exactly the biggest fan of prosecco but his dim view of the Italian fizz isn't without cracks of light – there does exist properly good prosecco, he says.

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01 February, 2022

Wine, beer & cider

Five champagnes for Christmas and New Year Eve

Joe Wadsack gives us his Christmas list of five champagnes everyone should know.

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24 November, 2021

Wine, beer & cider

Why apple juice content is cider's core issue

Pete Brown lifts the lid on cider-making practices, revealing the shocking truth about juice content.

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04 November, 2021

Wine, beer & cider

Beyond bubbles: a guide to English still wines

English still wines have famously lagged behind their fizzy counterparts, but Joe Wadsack says things are on the cusp of change.

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14 October, 2021

Wine, beer & cider

Does size matter? Growth and acquisitions in craft beer

Should craft breweries be vilified for selling out to established players? Pete Brown thinks not.

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20 September, 2021

Wine, beer & cider

The other fortified: Madeira wine explained

In researching Madeira, Joe Wadsack debunks some of the myths to find a rich, fresh wine that complements many cocktails.

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20 September, 2021

Wine, beer & cider

Natural wine - is it a must?

Joe Wadsack offers a definition of what ‘natural’ really means when it comes to wine – and debunks a few myths along the way.

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05 August, 2021

Wine, beer & cider

Creating a pandemic-era wine list

Joe Wadsack revisits some early advice on how to compile a wine list and finds his approach has changed substantially.

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10 June, 2021

Wine, beer & cider

New, different, but not better: how beer is changing

Is innovation in beer happening too fast? Pete Brown catches up on the trends of the craft movement.

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29 April, 2021

Wine, beer & cider

Why Cava is the most undervalued sparkling

Cava - made using the traditional method - is a value alternative to champagne. If you know what to look for, there’s treasure to be found, says Joe Wadsack

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25 March, 2021

Wine, beer & cider

Why there's no shame in being a lager drinker

Lager is somehow seen as an inferior beer, but that’s far from true, says Pete Brown, who here explores the drink’s image problem.

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14 February, 2020

Wine, beer & cider

Why fortifieds are the spirits lover's wine

Go on, you deserve it – buy yourself a bottle of something special this winter. If you switch your attention from spirits to fortifieds, 30 or 40-year-olds don’t have to cost the earth, says Joe Wadsack

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11 January, 2021

Wine, beer & cider

On and off-trade? Increasingly it's just trade

The on and off-trades aren’t two neat halves of the drinks market anymore – the blur between them has never been clearer, says Pete Brown

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21 September, 2020

Wine, beer & cider

Lockdown legacy - has wine consumption changed?

Wine consumption was entirely at home for a chunk of 2020 – so how might lockdown trends have translated into the trade, asks Joe Wadsack

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14 September, 2020

Wine, beer & cider

Fine cider - the UK's answer to Champagne

The best ciders are a match for any top wine, says Pete Brown, and it’s about time they were given the credit they deserve.

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04 March, 2021