Food & Drink

For those of us who spend our working lives around whisky, tasting the annually released Buffalo Trace Antique Collection remains a rarity. It is cited regularly, chased relentlessly and yet rarely seen. Bottles appear in specialist shops on release and disappear almost instantly, later reappearing at auction with price tags that bear little resemblance to their intended purpose (to be drunk). Tasting even one of them is unusual. I have never managed to. Tasting all six in a single sitting is almost unheard of.

The World’s 50 Best Vineyards for 2025 have been announced, following an international awards ceremony in Margaret River, Western Australia, where the world of wine converged to recognise and celebrate this year’s winners.

As ever, there are a few surprises in there, with a picture emerging that the top tier no longer belongs exclusively to the ‘old world triangle’ of France, Italy and Spain, with the Americas, South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Lebanon continuing to make gains in this higher end of the market. 

If you’re a food lover looking to elevate your dining experience, look no further than D.O. Cava—Spain’s iconic sparkling wine crafted using the traditional method. Born under the Mediterranean sun, Cava combines freshness, complexity, and elegance, making it one of the most versatile wines in the world.

Rifai’s story began in Beirut in 1948, when a small family business started roasting nuts using a dry roasting technique  that quickly became a reference point across Lebanon. Over the decades the brand grew steadily, not through marketing, but because families simply adopted it as part of everyday life. For many Lebanese people, Rifai is tied to memory. It appeared on the table during gatherings, visits and celebrations, and it became a quiet marker of quality that carried through generations.

The alcohol-free sparkling wine category has exploded in recent years, attracting everyone from health-conscious millennials to Michelin-starred sommeliers. Among the names making waves is French Bloom, a brand with undeniable pedigree. Founded by Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger and linked to a Champagne house, French Bloom promised glamour and refinement in a space often dismissed as bland. The branding is chic, the bottles look the part, and the price tag reflects its luxury positioning.

Autumn has arrived with that familiar mix of darker evenings and the cold setting in this week. The past few weeks have delivered plenty worth talking about. England continues to set its own pace, from West Sussex to Kent, with new releases that feel increasingly confident in their identity. Weyborne Estate’s Oriana Golden Spur shows just how far the South Downs has come, while Silverhand is quietly proving that sustainability and ambition can sit comfortably at the top end of the market.

This year marks a remarkable milestone for House of Arras: three decades of redefining Australian sparkling wine. To celebrate 30 years of craftsmanship, Ed Carr—the visionary and Chief Winemaker behind the brand—hosted an intimate lunch that showcased the elegance, complexity, and longevity of his creations.

As a whisky writer, I’m acutely aware of how fortunate I am. Bottles arrive at my door with frequency. Invitations to distilleries and dinners appear often. Some I politely decline, others I gratefully accept. But once or twice a year, an invitation lands that changes everything. It gives the feeling I must imagine those that receive notification of being given a MBE feel. A date that you might move existing commitments for, such is the rarity and importance. 

Scotland’s whisky landscape has rarely stood still, but the pace of innovation and reinvention is apparent at the moment. From the opening of a gleaming new distillery on the banks of Loch Lomond to the return of one of Speyside’s great family names to global travel retail, the country’s distillers continue to balance heritage with forward thinking. There are fresh releases from rising independents, mythical bottlings from cult retailers, and even a clear spirit that challenges our very idea of what whisky should look like.

Autumn has a way of coaxing us toward comfort with the warmth of a slow roast (I cooked lamb shanks over the weekend), the glow of a fire, and the kind of wines that bring a little light to darker evenings. This month’s selection travels from the Provençal slopes of the Rhône to the limestone valleys of the Loire, pausing in Rioja and Germany’s Pfalz along the way.