Hugo and Ben welcome Karl Sjöström onto the podcast, our final instalment from filming at Karakterre wine festival in Vienna, Austria.

In the episode we discuss:

• Fruit wine as a category and what it actually is
• Fruktstereo, who they are and what they're getting up to in Sweden

Check out and subscribe to our Substack. We will be connecting you with our guests and developing our community. Expect wine recommendations, recipes from chefs and much more!

You can also follow @The_Premier_Cru on socials to keep up to date with future episodes and behind the scenes snippets.

Hugo and Ben welcome Henry Jeffreys onto the podcast. It's English wine week and we are delighted to be telling the story of how England became a wine producing country.

Henry is the author of "Vines in a Cold Climate: The People Behind the English Wine Revolution", which was awarded Drink Book of the Year at the Fortnum & Mason food and drink awards 2024. Nobody knows the people and stories underpinning England's growing wine industry better than Henry.

In the episode we discuss:

• How England became a wine producing country
• Politics between different producers
• The Sussex PDO
• The impact of climate change
• Adoption of regenerative viticulture

Check out and subscribe to our Substack. We will be connecting you with our guests and developing our community. Expect wine recommendations, recipes from chefs and much more!

You can also follow @The_Premier_Cru on socials to keep up to date with future episodes and behind the scenes snippets.

The Premier Cru are on tour, visiting Austria for a wine festival called Karakterre. This time Hugo welcomes award winning wine writer, Simon Woolf, onto the podcast.

Simon has been writing about wine since 2011, focusing on natural wine, and related themes such as organics, biodynamics, minimal intervention and orange wine. In this ep we discuss:

• Simon's book, Amber Revolution
• What orange wine actually is
• How to get stuck into more of them

About Amber Revolution:

New York Times best wine book of 2018

Louis Roederer wine book of the year 2019

https://amber-revolution.com/

Check out and subscribe to our Substack. We will be connecting you with our guests and developing our community. Expect wine recommendations, recipes from chefs and much more!

You can also follow @The_Premier_Cru on socials to keep up to date with future episodes and behind the scenes snippets.

The Premier Cru are on tour, visiting Austria for a wine festival called Karakterre! The festival lasts 2 days and showcases over 200 central and eastern European producers, who practice either organic or biodynamic viticulture. Throughout the week, producers open their doors to visitors, whilst bars and restaurants across Vienna provide tastings and parties alongside the main event.

Community is at the heart of Karakterre and we welcome Marko Kovac, Co-Founder of of the event, to The Premier Cru to tell us all about it. This week we discuss:

• What it's like to run a leading wine festival
• The community that underpins Karakterre
• Austria's most exciting wine producers and regions

Check out and subscribe to our Substack. We will be connecting you with our guests and developing our community. Expect wine recommendations, recipes from chefs and much more!

You can also follow @The_Premier_Cru on socials to keep up to date with future episodes and behind the scenes snippets.

This week is all about Gusbourne, one of England's leading wine producers!

Hugo and Ben welcome Laura Rhys MS, Head of Wine at Gusbourne, to discuss their success and acclaim since launching their first wines in 2006.

We discuss:

• What it takes to become a Master Sommelier
• Gusbourne's approach to viticulture and winemaking
• The development of English wine since the 80's
• And how English wine is perceived on the international market

And we tucked into these three wonderful wines from Gusbourne:

• Blanc de Blanc 2019
• Blanc de Noir 2019
• Pinot Noir 2022

Check out and subscribe to our Substack. We will be connecting you with our guests and developing our community. Expect wine recommendations, recipes from chefs and much more!

You can also follow @The_Premier_Cru on socials to keep up to date with future episodes and behind the scenes snippets.

Hugo and Ben welcome Honey Spencer to The Premier Cru.

Honey is the lady of the hour in the UK wine scene. Alongside her husband, she recently launched a fantastic restaurant called Sune, which has already been nominated for the best opening of the year as part of The National Restaurant Awards.

As if that was not enough excitement, Honey has also just released a new book called ⁠"Natural Wine, No Drama: An Unpretentious Guide"⁠. The book expertly does what it says on the tin.

On this episode we introduce you to both Sune and Honey's new book, whilst tasting three wines available on the restaurant wine list:

• Riesling, MIRA
• Vino bianco "Arcese", Vittorio Bera & Figli
• Les perles du Mont Blanc, Domaine du Gringet

Check out and subscribe to our Substack. We will be connecting you with our guests and developing our community. Expect wine recommendations, recipes from chefs and much more!

You can also follow @The_Premier_Cru on socials to keep up to date with future episodes and behind the scenes snippets.

In contrast to last week's ep with Corney & Barrow, this week we continue on the theme of Bordeaux but this time looking at New Wave Bordeaux - what the &*%$ is that I hear you say!

Hugo and Ben welcome Benedict Butterworth, founder of Benedict Butterworth Wines, onto the podcast to give us an overview of the modern state of play in Bordeaux. BBW is an independent wine importer and retailer with a focus on the innovative, wacky, and creative superstars you wouldn't usually associate with the most famous wine region in the world.

We discuss:

• China and climate change (sounds like a Trump special!)
• Snarky Bordelaise politics including Cheval Blanc and Angelus
• Grape varieties you've never heard of
• And Ben attempts a Geordie accent, hawey the lads!

And we tucked into these three beauties for Benedict's portfolio:

• ⁠Chateau Cazbonne, Comme en 1900⁠
• Vielles Chapelle, Les Amuse-Gueles⁠
• Chateau Tapon Saint Emilion Grand Cru ⁠

Follow @The_Premier_Cru to keep up to date with future eps and behind the scenes snippets.

Subscribe to our ⁠Substack⁠ as well to access more exclusive content with our guests.

It's May, which can only mean one thing. The Bordeaux 2023 En Primeur Campaign has officially kicked off.

Hugo and Ben welcome Ida Weatherall, Sales Executive at Corney & Barrow, onto the podcast to provide an introduction to Bordeaux as a wine region and buying wine En Primeur. Corney & Barrow are one of the UK's oldest wine merchants. There is no one better to provide an introduction to Bordeaux, one of the most historic and prestigious wine regions globally.

We try 3 fantastic wines all available as part of their En Primeur campaign:

• L'Aurage 2018
• Chateau la Grave a Pomerol 2017
• Chateau Rocheyron 2015

Follow @The_Premier_Cru to keep up to date with future eps and behind the scenes snippets.

Subscribe to our Substack as well to access more exclusive content with our guests. This week we will be providing a vintage report and some en primeur recommendations shared directly from the Corney & Barrow team.