The people at Grand Marnier have created this lovely cocktail, The Grand Esprit, a long fruity drink to enjoy with friends on a lazy summer’s day. We tried it at a gathering recently and it went down very well with everyone, so much so, that we had to make a few batches up!

The summer social season would be incomplete without a spot of polo accompanied by champagne cocktails. This year’s Cartier International Day, the most prestigious polo event in the world, takes place at the Guards Polo Club on the 25th July.

Following on from its Wimbeldon afternoon tea, Swissôtel The Howard is offering a range of cocktails for sharing…

I have never been a real fan of Beaujolais, my experience has mainly been the race each November to get and drink your first glass of that year’s vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau as soon after its release as possible. So having been invited to ‘Fabuleux Beaujolais 2009’ in Paris, how fortunate that I accepted, my eyes were opened to the great diversity of the produce from this part of France.

To compliment the Finlandia dishes on our recipe page, how about trying one of the many delicious cocktails from Finlandia Vodka. With five variants in the range, each dish can be perfectly matched to an easy-to-create cocktail to tantalise those taste buds whilst chilling out on the picnic blanket.

We meet Peter Gago, British born Australian winemaker of Penfolds in the deliciously cool, candlelit cellars of Mayfair’s Stafford Hotel…

Chateau Thivin has an attractive deep ruby/claret colour in the glass. This is a lovely wine that is great to drink on its own, or with food, this wine’s smooth fruity flavious with a slight acidity would work equally well with cheeses and dishes that have a richness to them.

Originally designed for the iPhone App, Berry Brothers and Rudd’s iPad gizzmo is a powerful, free tool featuring updated vintage charts, wine producer profiles and critics’ ratings and tasting notes…

Over a not so light lunch at ‘Apsley’s’ at The Lanesborough, the wine world’s literati congregated to taste the wines of Manuel Fariña from the not so known Spanish wine region, Toro…