Posts by Chris

Recently, the UK’s National Police Chief Council (NPCC) had to publish a clarification on what was considered a reasonable excuse to leave home during the coronavirus lockdown.  Among other things, they noted that ‘the purchase of snacks and luxuries is still permitted.’ If a shop is open – and this includes, in the UK, off-licences (liquor stores, for Americans) – as an essential business, you can go there. While this may seem...

Here’s the thing. Despite what would probably seem the common-sense view of the relationship, approaches to sustainability and veganism, at least in wine-making, don’t necessary overlap. Indeed, depending as always on how you define things, at times they are in opposition to each other. This is an observation worth exploring. I am not taking sides in the issue. Rather, my goal here is to point out that things are, as always,...

A spectre is haunting the wine world – the spectre of labels. My apologies to Marx. His spectre – that of communism – was something feared and resisted by the old guard, and thus to be welcomed. The spectre I am referring to is the old guard and thus perhaps a spectre to be exorcised. The terms we use to describe wine – the labels – are a spectre I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. To be blunt, are they more limiting than...

Recently the LSH gave a radio interview to a local station, Cambridge 105, on sustainable insects and wine. Charlotte Payne, the insect half of the I&W team, did most of the talking. I’m LSH for a reason, after all. At any rate, here’s a link for those who want to give it a listen: Friday Foodclub: Insects and...