after a turntable week where dan plays rugby and brad goes to a gig, we're joined on the show by elizabeth gabay mw and her son ben bernheim who together run pink.wine, a platform for events, tastings and masterclasses in their specialist subject of rosé wines, in all shapes and sizes.
we dive straight in with a look at natural wines, and their protected status in wales of all places. while there’s the established scene in france with the syndicat de vin nature and other associations, no such thing exists in the uk or gb wine laws at the moment. but that may all change in wales, is it marketing, is it a real focus for the producers in wales? only time will tell.
we take a brief look at another acquisition in the trade, with jascots wine merchants being sold by freixenet copestick, to a relatively unknown, newcomer to the trade in the uk, a food and dry goods distributor based in italy. perhaps a strange move, but we’ll see if they’re going to retire the jascots name in favour of a distribution deal, or if jascots will remain.
finally, the worldwide story, affecting vineyards globally with more wildfires, as a result of climate change, with issue surrounding both viticulture and winemaking likely, particularly recently in bordeaux, and madrid so far this summer.
how much fun it was to have the mother and son duo on the show to discuss all the pink wines. just chatting to them you can tell they’re related, there’s that conversational dynamic you only get between mother and son, and brad and dan just tried to keep up with the flow.
after an interrailing trip around the world and a brief jaunt in publishing, liz ended up in provence. like many in the trade, liz was welcomed into the trade by the late stephen spurier, through events and tastings, and encouraged to pursue her wine qualifications, but perhaps not trying to sell wines. after a reluctant commission for an easy book on rosé, led to the pink wine revolution, and rosé taking hold on the family. ben finally joining in properly after jumping in to cover for liz, while food poisoning took hold in the middle of a masterclass.
we chat through the changes in the styles, reputation and innovations in rosé wines, and how they moved from the wild west of rustic local wines, to globally accepted, and widely favoured. while based near nice at the edge of provence, liz and ben aren’t at all limited to the wines of their local villages.
apparently it takes a lot of bad rosé to turn to the global audience onto rosé. and while liz agrees that provence had a pivotal role on the category, there’s a good chance that strong, clear and consistent marketing and tourism may be one of the key attributes to their domination, something that other regions forget.
liz and ben are always impressed by other amazing rosé wines from around the world, and the breadth of style is dazzling, from ben’s love of rosé vermouth in spain, and the array of grape varieties in portugal (perhaps not baga, though). liz suggests rosé d’anjou is underrated, as is ‘natural’ rose, with texture and complexity.
we asked both what they get up to outside of wine, and while ben is off walking in the mountains, liz laments the amount of travel required in the industry, and much prefers a simple afternoon at the village cafe in her downtime, then spending her evenings drinking champagne alongside a bowl of chips.
what a turn of events, brad putting up with the dodgy sound at wembley stadium to see luke combs, while dan was running about on dodgy astroturf playing touch rugby with cambridge touch association as part of a charity work day out, coming out of retirement for one day, and then recovering for a week before retiring again.
while we’re both having a relatively wine-free summer, with holidays in season, we’ll see you after a couple of weeks or r&r (rosé & relaxation).
feel free to share with a friend
https://academieduvinlibrary.com/
The Wines of Provence explores the region beyond its famous rosés, highlighting terroir-driven reds, whites and serious rosés from both historic estates and innovative producers. Gabay and Bernheim trace Provence’s winemaking history, grape varieties and terroirs, dividing the region into distinct coastal, inland and northern zones. Featuring producer profiles, maps and practical appendices, the book reveals the diversity and character of one of France’s most iconic wine regions.
https://academieduvinlibrary.com/
Rosé: Understanding the Pink Wine Revolution is an authoritative exploration of the global rise of rosé wine. Beginning with its history, economics and viticulture, the book examines Provence’s pivotal role in shaping the modern rosé market before surveying pink wines from France and around the world. Combining industry analysis with wine expertise, it is essential reading for wine professionals, students, collectors and serious wine enthusiasts.
https://pink.wine/report/provence-report-2026/
ben on ‘good-cop, bad-cop’: “where if we’re tasting wines that we don’t like, one of us is really encouraging [them] to tell us more about what sort of oak were you using, and the other one is able to be a little bit more… brutal? honest, perhaps.”
liz on her first book: “i got commissioned to do the first rosé book. and the first thing my husband said is, ‘you don’t like rosé.’ i said, ‘but it will be so quick. i can just write the book, you know, and then we can go back to proper wine.’”
ben on his first big rosé tasting.“it was a wonderful wild west of wine back in 2017, 2018, where we all take rosé for granted now. and back then, nothing was the same. it was different producers and different regions and different styles, and people were still breaking free of the shackles of what rosé used to be. and so it was a very, very, very different world.”
liz on underrepresented styles of rosé: “i’m particularly keen on quite natural rosé, but there are producers in provence doing that style. and they say, ‘we can’t sell them because everyone wants provence style’. you end up in this sort of dystopian world where we have provence style as one style, and then everyone forgets the other style.”
https://wineindustrydigest.com/
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/
published 27 july 2026, by barnaby eales
britain could become home to the world’s first appellation dedicated to natural wine, with welsh producers seeking protected status for wines made without synthetic chemicals, additives or industrial yeasts. the proposed natural wine of wales pgi would also require grapes to be grown and spontaneously fermented in wales.
published 5 august 2026, by andrew catchpole
gredos producer el reventón has confirmed the extent of the damage to its san gregorio vineyard following the horrific recent wildfires to the west of madrid.
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/
published 3 august 2026, by arabella mileham
italian food company compagnia del gusto holding has acquired jascots wine merchants from freixenet copestick, it was announced this morning.
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