We welcome Carole Bryon to The Premier Cru! Carole is the Founder of The Lady of the Grapes, a restaurant and wine bar based in the heart of Covent Garden. On top of serving fantastic food, their wine list exclusively showcases wines produced by female winemakers. The 2023 Women in Wine survey revealed that 78% of respondents (women working in the trade) agreed that sexism, gender bias and harassment were serious issues in the industry. Initiatives, such as The Lady of the Grapes, represent important efforts to make the wine trade more inclusive. The best way to support is to get yourse ..read more

We welcome Joe Haynes to The Premier Cru! Joe is the Founder of Penzer Wines, which he set up after studying wine at Geisenheim and completing a stint working for the legendary Klaus Peter Keller. All the wines as part of the Penzer portfolio are delicious as Joe seeks out wines from sustainable producers that represent great value. More recently Joe Co-Founded Cloth Restaurant in Farringdon. Cloth has already been receiving brilliant reviews from critics due to it's wonderful wine list, food and charming interior. It is a great addition to London's diverse and rich restaurant landscape. On ..read more

This week is all about Palestinian food, culture and wine, yes there is such a thing! Hugo and Ben welcome Fadi Kattan, Founder of Akub restaurant, and Anna Patrowicz, Consultant and Sommelier, onto the podcast. Akub is a Palestinian restaurant celebrating the rich diversity of ingredients and culinary traditions from the region, while working with locally sourced British ingredients. Fadi Kattan is a Franco-Palestinian chef living in Bethlehem and London. He has two restaurants: Fawda (in Bethlehem) and Akub (in London). He also has a boutique hotel in Bethlehem, as well as a Youtube series p ..read more

This week is all about Palestinian food, culture and wine, yes there is such a thing! Hugo and Ben welcome Fadi Kattan, Founder of Akub restaurant, and Anna Patrowicz, Consultant and Sommelier, onto the podcast. Akub is a Palestinian restaurant celebrating the rich diversity of ingredients and culinary traditions from the region, while working with locally sourced British ingredients. Fadi Kattan is a Franco-Palestinian chef living in Bethlehem and London. He has two restaurants: Fawda (in Bethlehem) and Akub (in London). He also has a boutique hotel in Bethlehem, as well as a Youtube series p ..read more

It's all about sake this week. Somewhere between a beer, a spirit and a wine, there is a mystique when it comes to sake as people rarely understand what it is, the range of styles and therefore the possibilities it offers. This week we change that! Hugo and Ben welcome Tom Wilson, Co-Founder of Kanpai, onto the podcast. Kanpai is the UK's first sake brewery based in Bermondsey beer mile. They produce a range of styles and are open to the public via tours and their amazing taproom. In the episode we discuss: How Kanpai was founded What sake is made of How sake is made We also taste 3 sakes ..read more

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 ..read more

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 sub ..read more

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 o ..read more

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 sub ..read more

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 ..read more