Berry Bros. & Rudd

We've set ourselves a rather large target for fundraising this year. By the end of 2024, we're hoping to have raised £100,000 for our charity partner, My Name'5 Doddie Foundation - and for our latest fundraising venture, we're opening the doors of No.3 St James's Street to welcome you in. For just a few days, we'll be offering guided tours of the extensive cellars and historical rooms in our centuries-old home. During the tour, you'll discover how our Directors' Dining Room once housed the Texan Embassy, stand where Lord Byron once stood with his equally famous friends, and see the cellars where Napoleon III once plotted his return to the French throne. Each tour will conclude with a glass or two of something delicious in our Sussex Cellar. 25% of all proceeds from these tours will be donated to the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, which helps provide support for those living with Motor Neuron Disease, as well as funding those searching for a cure. If you'd like to join us, you can view all tour dates and options here: https://bit.ly/3WdzXHX

Meet Iain, from our Spirits Shop team. For him, becoming a Spirits Advisor at Berry Bros. & Rudd was a small step on a very long road. His great-grandfather ran an illicit still in the Highlands; his grandfather was the landlord of the Prince Alfred pub in Maida Vale (and appreciated a good dram); and his father introduced him to Berry Bros. & Rudd itself, inviting him to a whisky tasting event in the cellars at No.3 St James’s Street. Iain recalls “I was working as a brewer when I first stepped foot in the Napoleon Cellar, but I left with a suspicion that the time had come to leave beer behind and start moving up the ABVs. Luckily, this was at the time that Berry Bros. & Rudd was plotting to open a new, dedicated spirits shop.” He argues (and we’d very much agree) that it’s an exciting time to be working in the spirits industry. There are a whole range of wonderful spirits being produced – whiskies, Tequilas, Cognacs and more. Crucially, he says, “two of a distillery’s finest tools are patience and time and, as we see an increase in each distillery’s stock of aged liquids and in different types of wood, we should see an even greater variety of high-quality bottlings appearing.” His own particular favourites are rum and Bourbon, and he confesses to “having been fortunate enough to sample some incredible bottles during my time at Berry Bros. & Rudd.” “With so many new distilleries and releases available, sampling and learning about spirits has never been more necessary. Indeed, we have an excellent selection of bottles open in-store which are available for anyone to sample.” If you do wish to try any of them, then the store is open Tuesdays to Fridays, 10am to 7pm and Saturdays, 10am to 6pm, at No.1 St James's Street. #finespirits

Did you know that between 1836 and 1845 the Republic of Texas maintained legations in London and Paris, in an attempt to build international ties? And the location chosen in London (for a few years at least) was none other than St James’s Street. You can see the plaque on the side of our historic home here. Although we no longer house legations, embassies or any other diplomatic missions in our offices at No.3 St James’s Street, we remain extremely welcoming to international visitors; and our two shops on this site (our Wine Shop at 63 Pall Mall and our Spirits Shop at No.1 St James’s Street) are always worth a visit for anyone in the area – no matter which republic, state, territory or constituency you’re from. Image: Joakim Blockstrom

If you’ve been past No.3 recently you’ll have spotted that we currently have a different flag outside our historic home. It’s been specially created for us by internationally acclaimed artist Martin Firrell, as part of a nationwide public art project, to coincide with Pride 2024. Martin’s ‘All Varieties’ series celebrates the labels that help people express their individuality and define their place in the world. Berry Bros. & Rudd is proud to sponsor Martin’s project; you can learn more at socialart.work

A huge congratulations to Nick Kemball DipWSET who has won The Best UK Sommelier competition 2024. The event, held at Haberdashers’ Hall, involved a written exam, blind wine tasting and wine pairing in the morning, followed by service, wine and spirit identification, opening and decanting, and wine and food pairing. Crucially, alongside extensive knowledge, precise tasting skills and brilliant service, sommeliers need to be excellent communicators, ultimately ensuring their guests enjoy the perfect wine for their meal. Anyone who’s been to a wine tasting hosted by Nick will know he is brilliant at conveying his knowledge; nevertheless, this is still an incredible achievement, beating talented competitors from three-star Michelin restaurants. Congratulations Nick; fortunately, you’ll know just the perfect wine to pair with this celebration. UK Sommelier Association

Today is the day: Bibi Graetz and Berry Bros. & Rudd officially kick-off the new partnership for UK and global exclusivity for one of Bibi's rarest gem! I am thrilled about this new partnership. Berry Bros. & Rudd is the right partner for representing our wines in the UK given their values and excellent portfolio. Thanks to their distribution expertise and our high quality wines, we have the foundation for a successful venture that will establish Bibi Graetz as a leader in the global wine scene!

We were delighted last week to win Best Healthcare and Wellbeing Benefits for a small employer at the Employee Benefit Awards 2024. Ben Lynn, who has been responsible for overhauling our benefits at Berry Bros. & Rudd, was particularly pleased. He’s worked incredibly hard on our health and wellbeing proposition and redesigned it with our colleagues’ wants and needs at its absolute centre. “I’m really proud of the award, it provides recognition that our health and wellbeing changes have had a real impact. It’s always risky to make changes, but this award shows that we made the right decision.” Finding a balance with health and wellbeing is difficult when you work in the alcohol industry but we’ve worked really hard to offer a variety of initiatives to support our colleagues, including working with charities like The Drinks Trust and Drinkaware. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how fantastic our (lovely) producers are, or how delicious their wines and spirits, our colleagues are always our number one asset. To learn more about working at Berry Bros. & Rudd, and view our current vacancies, head to https://lnkd.in/eHKQsWTN. 

If wine is a blend of both art and science, then describing a wine accurately needs both creativity and precision. And, crucially, that description needs to resonate with your audience. Charlie Geoghegan explores how the language of wine has evolved over time, and what still needs to change, in the new issue of No.3 magazine. 

Last week, 13 of our colleagues gathered at Weston Shore in Southampton. Armed not with their usual glasses, decanters and corkscrews, but with gloves, bin bags and litter pickers they were there to take part in a beach clean in support of world environment day. Keeping our beaches and oceans clean helps to protect precious marine life from illness, injury and death as well as protecting these resources for future generations. By tackling rubbish alongside estuaries, we can stop it before it reaches the sea. Fortunately, despite the less than stellar weather in the UK over the past months, the sun was on our side, and we managed to collect plenty of full bags of rubbish. All of our colleagues are encouraged to take paid volunteering days every year. They can volunteer for a cause close to their heart, a charity they are already involved in, or join one of the many outings we organise throughout the year. It’s all part of our aim to be a force for good in the world. 

Meet Nick Kemball DipWSET. One of our wine educators, he specialises in building and hosting events in our cellars. Coming to wine by way of hospitality and pâtisserie, he’s worked in wineries and vineyards (though concedes that one season of winter pruning in Ontario was enough for a lifetime). He’s worked to build wine lists at some incredible restaurants and wine bars, and led tasting experiences and masterclasses too. And at Berry Bros. & Rudd Nick brings all of this experience together in our beautiful surroundings, alongside fantastic food (his words, not ours, and high praise indeed from someone once found in the kitchen at Eleven Madison Park). Nick’s a huge fan of grower Champagnes, but also loves the classics, and is often to be found geeking out about Bordeaux. In a couple of weeks, Nick is hosting a deep dive into the Cabernet Sauvignon wines of Bordeaux’s Left Bank, including not one, but two vintages of famed first growth Ch. Mouton Rothschild. If you want to learn about these awesome wines, guided by Nick’s expertise, there’s still a couple of tickets left; link in the first comment. #finewine #wineeducation