The English Wine Diaries

Send us Fan Mail Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Mark Sainsbury founder of Candover Valley Wines. Mark has enjoyed a 25-year hospitality career, opening some of London’s most successful venues including Moro Restaurant, Zetter Hotel & Townhouses and the Grain Store. In 2011 he co-founded the Sustainable Restaurant Association, whose Food Made Good standard operates in 48 countries helping to shape sustainable food service globally. A year later, in...

Send us Fan Mail After a slightly longer than planned break - we're back and joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries are Adrian and Galia Pike from Westwell Wines in Kent. Their small, family-run winery sits beneath the Pilgrims Way and has about 70 acres under vine across two sites with plantings of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay, Regent and their signature grape, Ortega. Before turning to English winemaking, Adrian and Galia both had successful car...

Send us Fan Mail This very special episode of the English Wine Diaries is brought to you in partnership with WineGB and Heathrow Airport, supported by Coravin and Uncorked Magazine. The UK wine sector is one of the fastest growing agricultural industries, with rising vineyard numbers (there are now over 1,100 would you believe?!) expanding wineries, and record harvests – a staggering 16.4 million bottles were produced in 2025 alone. But it’s not just about quantity, UK wines are gaining globa...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to this special episode of the English Wine Diaries, in partnership with London Wine Fair. The 2026 London Wine Fair – taking place at Olympia London on 18th to 20th May – will, for the first time, showcase a specific country or region as the centrepiece, and this year it’s Great Britain! There will be the largest presence of British producers in the show’s 45-year history and, of course, that includes plenty of English wine. Visitors will be able to taste hundreds of...

Send us Fan Mail Joining me on this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries is British sommelier and entrepreneur Emily Lambert. Emily was the first female sommelier at The Ritz in London when she was just 19 years old and was affectionately known as the Belle of English bubbles. She rose to wider prominence after winning BBC Two’s Million Pound Menu in 2018, with chef Ruth Hansom, after pitching their British-only restaurant concept to investor Atul Kochhar. A year later...