It does not matter how frequently you visit the harsh and exacting landscape of the Douro, nor what time of the year you are there: it is stark and haunting. Perhaps because you know something of what to expect you believe you will be inured to it. So when you come across a place where the brutal stone and bleak vegetation is softened by a gentleness of spirit which imbues the terrain and the structures perched precariously upon it, all world-weariness is washed away.

Tío Pepe has been named the Top Trending and Best Selling Brand of 2018 according to Drinks International’s Annual Brands Report. 39% of the world’s best bartenders voted Tío Pepe as their number one Sherry brand and 65% put it in their top three.

Michael Fridjhon recently returned to Marques de Riscal in Rioja after 25 years and came away hugely impressed by the quality of the wines despite the increase in production.