If the New Age nutters currently camped-out on top of the Pic de Bugarach, near the vineyards of Limoux, who believe the Mayan myth that world is going to end on 21st December 2012 are correct you won’t be reading this and I might as well not have bothered writing it. If, as seems […]

As a self confessed oenophile and melomane this time of year throws many a swerve ball – the wine that I both know and love is flying out of the doors here at Yapp HQ and the staples that I habitually imbibe during the year are getting thin on the ground or await re-stocking from […]

Today is my last day in the office before I head off for the habitual family two weeks away up in the wilds of North Wales, so last night I started to scribble down my list of holiday essentials. Times have certainly changed, my children are now a little older (as we all are) and […]

Last weekend, myself and three colleagues had the great honour of being invited to Champagne to visit Gilles Dumangin (our man in Champagne) for the dual celebration of his 40th Birthday and 10th Anniversary of taking over the reins of the family business from his father, Jacky, at J.Dumangin Fils. Although I have been lucky […]

A straw poll around the office generated lively discussion as to what colleagues will be drinking once we have closed our doors on Christmas Eve. We hope that our selections inspire your Festive food matching! While there was unanimous agreement that any of the excellent J. Dumangin Fils Champagne would feature strongly over both Christmas […]

A recent reunion of an unofficial lunch club saw me dropping in on old friends at a new venue. Michelin-starred chef, Alexis Gauthier and sommelier supreme, Roberto Della Pietra (ably assisted by Damian Sanchez) have opened Gauthier Soho in the attractive town house formerly frequented by Richard Corrigan. The layout over four floors and steep stairs is […]

Like many other families we found our Easter holiday break involuntarily extended due to the closure of UK airspace at the end of last week. Having had a terrific week in Rome (more of which at a later date) we were enjoying dinner in a restaurant with friends on Thursday evening (which we believed to […]

Designed by Inigo Jones for James I and being the last building that Charles I walked through to his execution on the scaffold outside, Whitehall's Banqueting House is steeped in history. The surroundings of the Main Hall are truly majestic, with a Rubens painted ceiling looking down over proceedings below it is perhaps apt that […]

Following an extensive and extremely informative morning tasting of J Dumangin Fils Champagnes, some colleagues and I entertained Gilles Dumangin to lunch at the beautiful Howard's House Hotel in the quaint Wiltshire village of Teffont Evias. Neither the village nor the hotel could have looked more stunning on such a glorious Spring day and I felt […]

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 […]