Cultural Elevation

by Tom Hewson
I couldn’t find the right polish for my tan suede shoes that morning, so they’re looking a bit unloved as they sink into the expensive taupe carpet. Nobody is sitting...

Do It The Hard Way

by Tom Hewson
“You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians”. Miles Davis   The story feels good. The noble vine, eking out its existence on an...

Burrowing

by Tom Hewson
A confession: I’m pretty sure I used the term ‘Kafkaesque’ before I’d read any Kafka. In itself this could count as faintly Kafkaesque in its admission that authenticity and the...

2022-2023 Champagne Special Report

£20.00

Champagne is frequently the subject of coffee-table books and articles. Superficially, it can seem as glossy and unchanging as its adulation. But the myth of the ‘consistent blend’ is crumbling:...

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2022 England Special Report

£15.00

English wine is changing at a bewildering pace. Spurred on by the sparkling wine successes of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the fields of Southern England have seen plantings...

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Collecting Flavour

by Tom Hewson
Every trade has its sartorial call-signs. The wine trade plays host to the fraternity-of-the-red-trouser, its membership made up of legs that appear to have filled, loafer-to-belt, with decades of luncheon...

An Easy Ride?

by Tom Hewson
You’re standing in the wine shop, a crisp £50 in your pocket. No agenda, just prospecting for something serious. To the right, the shelf which ought to be labelled ‘good...

The Colours Of Infinity

by Tom Hewson
“In everyday language, when we say that something seems complex what we typically mean is that we have not managed to find any simple description of it… what we are...

Dreamland

by Tom Hewson
The closer we get to the Turner Contemporary, the smaller it seems. From across the bay its modernist, factory-like form stands like a monument to industriousness next to Margate’s grungy-chic...

England 2021 Special Report

£10.00

English wine is changing at a bewildering pace. Spurred on by the sparkling wine successes of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the fields of Southern England have seen plantings...

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The Mysteries of the Mousse

by Tom Hewson
Why is it that some sparkling wines glide like fluffy meringues whilst others seem to fizz and froth like an angry jacuzzi? The route to the finest bubbles is one...