We welcome Nick Gibson to The Premier Cru!

Nick is the Founder of The Drapers Arms, a pub based in the heart of Islington. They have a ridiculously good (and good value!) wine list showcasing 300+ bottles many of which have some real bottle age.

Nick set up The Drapers Arms in 2009, following a career in finance, and believes that treating staff well is the cornerstone of a good business, with fantastic food and a great wines the rest should take care of itself. The Drapers Arms also have a strong social impact supporting charities such as The Trussell Trust, Refuge and Action Against Hunger.

On this episode we discuss:

• Moral values of running a business
• Restaurant culture
• The pub, food and wine list
• And how Nick's created one of London's best wine lists

Follow ⁠@The_Premier_Cru⁠ on socials and subscribe to our Substack⁠ to keep up to date with future episodes and behind the scenes snippets.

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 yourselves a reservation and try their amazing array of wines.
On this episode we:

• Introduce you to The Lady of the Grapes
• Discuss inclusivity in the wine trade and Carole's experiences
• Taste 3 wines made by female producers on The Lady of the Grapes wine list

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

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 this episode we:

• Introduce you to Penzer Wines and Cloth Restaurant
• Discuss Germany's changing wine culture
• Taste three wines from the Penzer portfolio

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 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 profiling Palestinian grandmothers and their food knowledge and traditions. Anna is supporting Fadi at Akub and doing exceptional work to bring awareness to Palestinian producers.

Fadi has become an authority and an ambassador for contemporary Palestinian cuisine and recently released a cook book titled Bethlehem: A Celebration of Palestinian Food

In the episode we discuss:

• Akub as a restaurant and how it was started
• The intrinsic link between Palestinian food, wine and culture
• Fadi's new book

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.

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 from Kanpai that you can purchase online:

• Sora Honjozo
• Kaze Junmai Ginjo
• Hana Yuzu Fruit Sake

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 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.