this week we’re joined by caroline gilby mw for a wide-ranging conversation on the remarkable transformation of eastern european wine. from forgotten indigenous grape varieties and emerging fine wine regions to the commercial realities of bringing these wines to the uk market, she explains why countries such as bulgaria, croatia and slovenia deserve far more attention.
we also cover the latest english wine trade news and finish with a visit to chile’s limarí valley to explore cool-climate chardonnay on the edge of the atacama desert.
we don’t talk politics, but a rare piece of positive news for hospitality, with may insolvencies falling by nine per cent. dan questions whether seasonal trading patterns may have influenced the figures, but brad welcomes any sign of improving stability after months of difficult headlines.
it’s award season, adn the winegb awards have just been released, the results show growth in the experimental and still wines in recent vintages. while english sparkling wine continues to dominate international attention, we highlight increasing numbers of gold medals for still wines. there’s greater confidence from producers and judges, while rosé styles and pét-nats demonstrate that experimentation continues alongside technical refinement.
finally, the collaboration we’ve all been waiting for, between sir ian botham and sir geoff hurst. rather than dismissing celebrity branding, some blokes have a genuine long-term engagement. botham is oddly someone actively involved in blending and production while working with balfour, fergus’s winemaking continues to wine more awards then dan’s.
originally studying horticulture during her doctorate at the university of bath, she discovered wine through university tasting competitions before deciding that the wine trade offered a more rewarding future than scientific research. her scientific background proved invaluable, leading to an unusually rapid progression through the wset qualifications before completing the master of wine in only three and a half years, while dan is already on five.
caroline explains that her specialisation in central and eastern europe was initially more circumstance than strategy. as the junior buyer, she inherited responsibility for eastern european wines while senior colleagues managed the more prestigious classic regions. an unexpected invitation from tom stevenson to contribute eastern european content for a new publication created the opportunity that ultimately established her reputation as one of the world’s leading authorities on the region.
caroline suggests that varieties like furmint have succeeded partly because it combines exceptional versatility with a name that english speakers can comfortably pronounce and remember. more obscure varieties often require knowledgeable retail staff or sommeliers to communicate both pronunciation and provenance, making them natural candidates for independent merchants and specialist restaurant lists rather than mass retail.
tourism is also reshaping consumer awareness. destinations such as croatia and slovenia are introducing millions of visitors to local wines that they subsequently seek out at home. countries without strong tourism sectors, including moldova and north macedonia, lack these informal ambassadors despite producing increasingly impressive wines, making market development considerably more difficult.
as chair of the balkans and eastern europe panel at the decanter world wine awards, where bronze medals once represented success, the region now regularly achieves golds, platinum medals and best in show contenders. perhaps more importantly, the baseline quality has risen dramatically, with genuinely poor wines becoming increasingly rare.
she also discusses the annual central and eastern european tasting, designed to connect serious trade buyers, journalists and educators with carefully selected producers across the region. the event was, though, on june 16th, so if you’ll have to wait to next year now if you want to pop along.
as always we like to find out what guests get up to outside of wine, caroline is also a master of running up mountains. we’ve also got a new entrant for the wine trade band as she loves singing.
we also managed to grab five minutes with marcelo papa, technical director for concha y toro and viña amelia in chile’s limarí valley. marcelo explains how vineyards flourish on the edge of the atacama desert through the cooling influence of the pacific and carefully managed irrigation supplied by andean snow melt.
with viña amelia, he believes limarí should establish a clear identity centred on chardonnay and pinot noir. at 10am we tried the latest released of his single-vineyard chardonnay from quebrada seca, brad loves the focus on mineral character, salinity, restrained barrel fermentation and persistent freshness.
finally, a busy future dan ponder on what the remains of english wine week might bring, and perhaps another bottle of world cup themed wine.
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https://winecom.co.uk/cee-wine-fair-2026/
the ultimate cee wine fair returns on 16 june 2026 for its third edition, simply the best opportunity to explore the vibrant and diverse wines of central and eastern europe in one place.
chilean producer viña concha y toro has announced the creation of viña amelia as an independent subsidiary within the group. the brand will focus exclusively on premium pinot noir and chardonnay from chile’s limarí valley.
buy viña amelia from the wine society:
Concha y Toro Amelia Limari Chardonnay 2023
Concha y Toro Amelia D.O. Limarí Pinot Noir 2022
https://wineindustrydigest.com/
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by hamish graham
the wine gb awards winners has been unveiled by the trade body, with still wine entries and medals surpassing sparkling for the second year on the trot.
this year’s wine gb awards saw 372 entrant wines. medals were awarded to 181 still expressions and 158 sparkling bottles.
by richard siddle
sir ian botham explains what the “legends series” is all about and how the two “sirs” got to work together on this new wine.
by hamish graham
the most recent company insolvency statistics can reveal that in may month on month hospitality insolvencies were down 9%, following a difficult start to the year for the sector.
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