1. What was the first wine that really captured your attention and where were you at the time?
The first wine that really captured my attention was Picpoul de Pinet many years ago when it was little known outside of Sète the great seafood port of Languedoc. I had an exhibition there and everyone was so friendly we ate the delicious oysters, razor clams and mussels whilst drinking this delicious local wine I had never heard of before. Nowadays of course it's on the list at many restaurants and bars all over the world One local delicacy of Sète which hasn't become ubiquitous is the Tielle - a spicy little octopus pie – delicious.
2. You travel a lot when your works are exhibited. What is the best location to appreciate art and wine?
It is difficult to beat France for the combination of art and wine. I had a very big exhibition in the town of Poitiers a few years ago which must rank as one of the most pleasant pairings of wine art and food. I am as you know a big fan of the wines of the Loire valley - Vouvray and Saumur particularly - thus and the combination of local delicacies Tourteau Fromage and Fressure - a kind of boudin noir - oysters Charentais - all of which are described in the book documenting my Safari Gastronomique in Poitou Charentes...
3. You spend a fair amount of time working in Greece. What is the wine scene like there?
There is a delicious white called Pine Forest - asyrtiko wutha dash of retsina - unusual but a real find. My good friend Rachel Howard - who is an expert on Greek bars and restaurants says Tinos is the new wine frontier - Volacus and Domaine de Kalathas and Toinos wineries all high up in the granite mountains producing some fantastic natural and organic wines - small production so hard to find outside of Tinos at the moment but up and coming Hatzidakus - who produced some of the best Asyrtiko on Santorini sadly just died quite suddenly so this will now be very precious. On the red side there is Mavrotagano by Sigoles - an ancient grape recently started cultivation again on Santorini; Tsabourbnakos grape is very similar to Cabernet Franc and perfect for chilling with fish or meat; Agiorgitiko - is the equivalent of Pinot Noir.
4. Do you have a favourite grape variety or region?
I am myself drawn to Cabernet Franc and in moments of wild abandon the superlative Condrieu. Also it would be remiss not to mention the delicious wines at Château la Canorgue in the Côtes du Luberon. After a wonderful visit there some years ago it will always have a place in my heart. Also - as a Chevalier in the Confrèreie de Pineau des Charènte it is my bound duty to extol the virtues of this delicious aperitif wherever I travel!
5. What is the signature dish at 'Baxter Towers' and what do you serve with it?
Rabbit in Armagnac Prunes and Mustard - a French regional classic which I serve with a decent Pic Saint-Loup or Saint-Chinian.
6. Do you have any say over what wine is served at exhibition openings?
Sadly not but usually I am so distracted I don't really care until the serious business of the meal AFTER the vernissage when I rely on the gallery to placate me with something delicious.
7. You show work in the States and France. Does your palate lean more to the New or Old World?
Afraid I gravitate towards the Old World in moments of stress...
8. Does wine aid your muse or is it best saved for celebrating when a piece is completed?
I try to avoid wine when working preferring to enjoy the fruits of the vine when my work is completed.
9. If Baxter Towers was engulfed in flames would you try and save the cellar or the artwork?
Baxter Towers had a very efficient sprinkler system and independently radio controlled metal doors to avoid such an emergency.
10. Is there a style or type of wine you activiely try to avoid?
Pinot Grigio - it's an aberration.
Jason Yapp and Colonel Baxter
Back in the olden days before Facebook and YouTube, when we could still coerce our progeny into communal craftwork, we decided to resist the commercialisation of Christmas and create an in-house Christmas card. What began as a bit of a lark has now become a labour of love and as the festive season looms we struggle to come up with a new idea and then execute it. Looking through the roll call of previous efforts some don't seem too bad while others are definitely best consigned to the recycling bin.
Here are a few highlights:
This early effort was nice and simple and a surprising number of friends and relatives actually made paper-chains from the template.
This homage to Aardman Animation was more fiddly than it looks but was well received at the time.
This effort was inspired by the great credit sequence from Casino Royale – perhaps it would have worked better as wrapping paper!
Lego™ was the order of the day back in 2010!
This simple line drawing has a certain je ne sais quoi but it was Alfred's mistletoe that really finessed it.
Of course, if you want a really good card design you need to call upon a professional and not a bunch of amateurs. Our friend Glen Baxter never fails to raise a smile with his annual Michaelmas missives.
You can never go far wrong with a really apposite photograph.
My Dad took this snap of a statue of Saint Nicolas in Auxerre back in the 1970s. I really like the terracotta tones and the serendipitous letter sticking out of the letter-box.
At the time of writing we've just taken delivery of some glorious ‘Grapevine' greetings cards by graphic artist Emily Burningham at our shop here in Mere.
I think it might be time to put away the coloured card and PVA glue and leave things to the professionals. Incidentally, if you're stuck for last-minute gift ideas we've also got some luxurious cushions in the same fabulous print.
I first became acquainted with the work of Glen Baxter as an impoverished, young graduate when I secured (not very) gainful employment distributing incoming faxes around the labyrinth offices of Arthur Andersen’s Management Consultancy at the Temple, London WC2. My lowly position provided ample time to moon about the corridors admiring the magnificent modern art collection that was presumably part of some elaborate investment or tax avoidance scheme. I was particularly taken with the Glen Baxters with their lovely ligne claire outlines, outrageous scenarios and witty captions in distinctive, hand-written, serifed block capitals.
A rare public sighting of Mr Yapp and Colonel Baxter
Decades later, long after my short-lived career in the Facsimile Department had finished, I was serendipitously introduced to Glen in one of Soho’s last remaining Dickensian drinking dens. They say you should never meet your heroes but ‘Colonel’ Baxter is the exception that proves the rule. I soon established that he was both a keen Francophile and oeonophile and, having providentially procured his contact details, subsequently managed to cajole him into illustrating our 2008 wine list. The resultant catalogue was a triumph, entitled ‘Adventures in Wine’ - which has somehow stuck as our strap-line. It featured fearless explorers in pith helmets scouring the viticultural backwaters of France in search of hidden gems accompanied by Glen’s inimitable captions. Visitors to our HQ in Mere can view the originals in our boardroom where they take pride of place on a wall bereft of any other artwork.
Happily, a year ago I managed to once again persuade Glen to take on the task of providing the artwork for our annual list (the Baxter cellars must have been at a terribly low ebb at the time) and as the ‘Yapp 2014’ list rolls off the presses I have to say he has excelled himself. From cheeseboards worn as headgear to grape-crushing accordions it is stuffed with brilliantly bonkers Baxterisms that have had our team here in Mere laughing out loud as we’ve proof read the copy.
We very much hope you enjoy Glen’s new illustrations as much as we do and will raise a glass to his on-going health and happiness.
You can keep up to date with Glen's work on his website here: www.glenbaxter.com
When I was demobbed from University in the late 1980s with an ill-deserved 2.2 in Social Policy & Administration (I know – no wonder they introduced fees) the country was in the midst of an economic downturn (plus ça change) and, in desperation to secure the £40 per week rent for my box-room in Brixton, I found employment in the monolithic Surrey Street offices of Arthur Andersen's Management Consultancy at the Temple. Not as a highly-remunerated graduate trainee I must stress. I took on the more humble position of fax delivery person. The premises were so vast that it was (almost) a full-time job to distribute incoming 'facsimiles' throughout the building. Of course, it was deadly tedious and poorly paid but it kept me fit and off the streets and I had licence to be pretty much anywhere within the confines at any given moment. Thus I spent my time mooning about reading other people's 'Top Secret' correspondence and admiring Arthur Anderson's extensive modern art collection that was liberally distributed throughout the building. I had a particular penchant for the Glen Baxters, of which they had several, with their hilarious ligne claire portrayals of uncles sawing their legs off and girl guides with hand-grenades. Happily the job didn't last – Oddbins lured me away from the red braces brigade but my Baxter-fandom was set in stone.
They say you should never meet your heroes but I suppose there is an exception to prove every rule. Decades later after a long lunch in the Academy Club in Soho (me not him) I was introduced to Glen and after several minutes of unavoidable gushing managed to engage him in something akin to conversation. It transpired that he was a keen Francophile and oenophile with a wealth of knowledge about Gallic gastronomy and tradition. In short we found we had lots of common interest and over the course of a few more lunches I managed to cajole Glen into illustrating our 2008 wine list.
The results were spectacular, a wonderful comic-strip narrative of the Yapp brothers wine-seeking adventures in darkest viticultural France. Happily Glen is still susceptible to the lure of a glass of Condrieu and some quenelles de brochet or a bavettes frites and a bottle of Pic Saint-Loup and thus it is that I have managed to persuade him to come to the aid of the party once more and illuminate our forthcoming 2014 catalogue. Anyone who doubts the affinity between wine and art should look no further. 'Facsimile for Mr Baxter!'
You can find more information about Glen Baxter on his website here.
Serving liqueurs to guests might seem rather old-fashioned, but we’re backing them for a comeback. Rather like cardigan-wearing, you’ve got to get it just right to avoid looking like you’ve just stepped off the set of ‘Ashes to Ashes’ but, done well, they’re deliciously enjoyable.
So out with the Blue Bols and cheese footballs, in with the Kingston Black apple apéritif, served ice-cold with Montgomery Cheddar, Floc de Gascogne with Foie Gras or Pineau des Charentes with melon skewered and a sliver of Bayonne ham.
All three of the above are produced by exactly the same method, where distilled grape spirit is added to lightly fermenting grape juice (or apple juice in the case of the former) to arrest fermentation and create a marvelous admixture. This year we discovered Domaine Gardrat’s fine ‘Reserve’ Pineau that is cask-aged and is dangerously decadent, as memorably described by Victoria Moore in The Guardian:
"This one is stunning. It feels like a caress and when you take a sip is so good that you stop talking. It tastes gloriously mellow, of plump, alcohol-soaked raisins, of prunes, walnuts and the smell of freshly ground coffee, of preparing for Christmas but also of late summer sun."
A few years ago I had the good fortune to be introduced to the artist Glen Baxter after a rather long lunch (me not him) at the Academy Club in Soho. I am sure I gushed on at length about what a great admirer of his work I am but fortunately Glen has a tolerant disposition and I managed to procure (and not lose) his e-mail address.
I’ve been big on Baxter ever since I graduated with an enormous overdraft in the late 1980’s and found (almost) gainful employment delivering faxes around the vast offices of Arthur Andersen's management consultancy on Surrey Street off the Strand. The up-side of working in such a capitalist stronghold was the chance to admire their superb collection of modern art as I toured the labyrinth of corridors delivering uber important missives and smutty jokes to the power-brokers therein. Andersen’s owned lots of Glen Baxter paintings and I loved their nostalgic imagery of cowboys, girl guides, and explorers in pith helmets - all in mad-cap scenarios coupled with hilarious captions in the distinctive Baxter font.
There is an old maxim that one should never meet ones heroes but after gingerly exchanging e-mails with Glen I soon discovered that he was a keen oenophile and Francophile and something of a kindred spirit. To cut a long-ish story shorter I eventually managed to cajole Glen into illustrating our 2008 wine list which he did with aplomb inspired by bottles of his personal favourite - Christine Vernay’s ‘Le Pied de Samson’ Viognier. The finished list, which was verging on being a graphic novella, was a great success and by popular demand we also produced a set of ‘Adventures in Wine’ postcards and a limited edition poster both of which are destined to become collectors’ items.
Glen’s distinctive and witty work is not only popular on these shores he regularly contributes to Le Monde newspaper in France and his paintings are widely exhibited all over the world. This summer the attractive University town of Poitiers, in mid-west France played host to a major exhibition of Glen’s work celebrating the rich gastronomic culture of Poitou-Charentes. Colourful images depicting all-manner of culinary specialities from Macarons de Montmorillon to Chevreau à la Poitvine were displayed in the principal libraries and galleries and huge monochrome images were hung to dramatic effect on the sides of municipal buildings. This Baxter-fest was too good an opportunity to miss so at the end of our summer holidays I re-routed our 700 mile return journey through Poitiers so that we could marvel at the biggest Baxters known to man. To have the tedium of a long drive broken by an artistic treat was terrific and I even managed to send Glen one of his own postcards to prove we’d made the pilgrimage.
If you want to find out more about the weird world of Glen Baxter then I would heartily recommend that you pay a visit to his website: www.glenbaxter.com
‘Adventures in Wine’ postcards are available from Yapp Brothers at £4.95 per pack of 10 postcards (including postage and packaging) and signed ‘Adventures in Wine’ posters are available at £45 (including postage and packing).
