Anyone who has visited our attractive premises in Mere can’t help but notice the two vintage Citroens that adorn (decorate) the courtyard. The rakish black 1955 Traction Avant (produced 1934 – 1957) originally belonged to the doyen of Champagne, Bruno Paillard. In his pre-Master of the Universe days when he was a cash-strapped Champagne negoçiant, […]

Back in March we finally fulfilled a long-held ambition, to order a portion of Quenelle de Brochet au Salpicon de Homard, at Condrieu’s legendary Beau Rivage restaurant, right beside the Rhône in the middle of the town. This is not a venture for the faint-hearted (at 38 euros as a starter) especially if it is […]

An aperitif of refreshing rosé Bandol: Mas de la Rouvière 2007 was accompanied by a delicious amuse bouche of pissaladière. The dry, coral-pink, berry-scented wine was the perfect foil for the warm, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth pastry topped with anchovies, olives and caramelised onions. On my table we fought over the crumbs. Next up was an equally […]

On Day 3, we were up and at ‘em with a climat by climat barrel-tasting of the 2007 Hermitage at the Rhône valley’s most prestigious address – Domaine Jean-Louis Chave in the village of Mauves. The Chaves farm just under 14 of Hermitages precious 131 hectares and have an unbroken ‘de père en fils’ lineage […]

On Day 2 of our Rhône trip, we schlepped north to Côte-Rôtie for a protracted barrel tasting with our old chum Patrick Jasmin. Harvesting here was a tough job in 2008 and Patrick had to pick his grapes in 3 different stages to obtain optimum ripeness. An early sampling of Patrick’s 2008 revealed a lightish, […]

On April 20th my co-director Tom Ashworth and I embarked on a whistle-stop tour of the Rhône valley in the august company of the Weekend Telegraph’s globe-trotting wine-hound Jonathan Ray. The aim of the trip was to get a broad overview of both the Northern and Southern Rhône and an insight into recent vintages and […]

Plaquemusephilia may well sounds like a rare dental condition which might be apt considering that Yapp Brothers was started by Robin Yapp, whose profession BW (before wine) was that of a dentist. But in fact, it is the name used for collecting Champagne cork capsules. I hadn't realised that these were so collectable until my recent visit to see our […]

At the beginning of March I had the pleasure of hosting an evening dedicated to the wines of Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, an estate widely acknowledged as being at forefront of the Rhône valley’s wine making elite. I was at Le Café Anglais on the invitation of the chef-patron, Rowley Leigh, who is passionate about wine […]

Ronan Sayburn is a long established supporter and friend of Yapp Brothers. Now Head Sommelier at The Greenhouse Restaurant, Mayfair, Ronan has developed an extensive expertise in wine and his years in the business means that his address book reads like a Who's Who of the UK restaurant trade. Every now and then Ronan likes […]

A weekend visit from a friend in London provided an excellent excuse for an excursion to the recently opened ‘At the Chapel’ restaurant in the quaint market town of Bruton, Somerset. The cosmopolitan London pal has certain expectations when dining out so I was rather regretting my suggestion that we venture any further than my […]