Britpop now

A taste of Alex James’s first fizz and a look at the rise of food and music festivals.

Alex James always seemed like the weak link in the Blur line-up. How could he not next to the giant talents of Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon, ‘The greatest guitarist of his generation’ according to Noel Gallagher? James’ talents seemed to consist of being absurdly good-looking and being able to smoke while playing the bass - actually come to think of it, what else do you need to be a rock star? While Albarn collaborated with musicians in Mali, and Graham Coxon appeared on stage with Arthur Lee of Love (even if Lee didn’t seem entirely sure who Coxon was), James seemed content to play the buffoon, hanging out with Damian Hirst and Keith Allen at the Groucho club. He was a familiar face around Soho in the 00s. Meanwhile, most serious of all, drummer Dave Rowntree went into politics and we will not mention him again.

Smoking, still cool

James might not have had the musical talents of his bandmates but he was clearly not stupid. In 2002 James bought a 200 acre farm in the Cotswolds, not that unusual for a rock star to buy a huge farm but he was ahead of his time in seeing the link between food and drink, and music. This seems normal now that you can buy and £11 plate of artisan tacos and a £6 pint at a music festival in deepest Kent but in the ‘90s this would have seemed absurd. To be honest, it seems a bit absurd now.

Gig going was more rudimentary when I was growing up. The first time I saw Blur was at Aylesbury Civic Centre 1994. I drank tinnies pinched from my father on the train from Amersham and then lager at the gig. The band came on to ‘Self-preservation Society from The Italian Job’, and they were clearly having the time of their lives. ‘Parklife’ had just come out and they soon wouldn’t be playing in such quintessentially indie venues anymore. The support act was Sleeper so evening could not have been more Britpop.

The next time I saw Blur was at V97 at Roundhay Park in Leeds - the only beer on offer was Budweiser. We had backstage passes because our housemate was distantly related to Graham Coxon. We drank masses of free beer, shouted at an actor who may have been in Jossy’s Giants, and then I lost my shoe at some point during ‘There’s no other way’ and had to limp back to Headingley. Rock ‘n’ Roll!

Things hadn’t changed at gigs in the early 00s. You could see all manner of avant garde electronica at the Old Blue Last on Great Eastern Street but you column’t get a decent pint of beer. The food options weren’t any better. It’s hard to imagine today but when I lived in Shoreditch in 2002 about the best place to eat in the area was Pizza Express.

But change was afoot, thanks in part to Alex James. He launched his first cheese in 2006, and in 2011 he put on the first of his ‘Big Feastivals’ on his farm in the Cotswolds featuring music, food and drinks. James saw that the sort of middle class people people who went to festivals and concerts were becoming increasingly interested in food and drink. And the way London was going was away from clubs where you could dance until 8am, too noisy. Now you can't move for fashionable restaurants and natural wine bars in East London but I hear the nightlife isn’t what it was. Music festivals have changed out of all recognition from the ones I attended in the ‘90s and ‘00s: Daniel Dylan Wray writes in the Guardian:

At festivals such as Pub in the Park and Alex James’s Big Feastival, you can check out everyone from Judge Jules to Toploader and Craig David while you sample food, wines and cooking demos from the Hairy Bikers, Ainsley Harriott and DJ BBQ who has apparently coined the term “Catertainment”, “bringing food, fun and energy to his live cooking appearances.”

At Latitude this year you will find on-site sit-down restaurants with guest chefs that require reservations, along with morning paddleboard yoga sessions, while Lost Village offers up wood-fired hot tubs and Finnish saunas in their Energy Garden. Countless festival websites all now have sections called “experiences” or “extras” that, at places such as Wilderness festival, include wine tasting, cocktail masterclasses….

We’ve come a long way from a burger and a Bud at V97. In 2013 James trademarked Britpop (what else?) for a range of alcoholic drinks, preempting the big celebrity drink rush by a good few years. He’s taken his time but a cider appeared in conjunction with Westons in 2021 and now the first wine is here. There’s been a lot of attention given the cheerfully amateurish promotional video where he looks like he’s wearing an Alex James wig. Controversially he also suggests serving it on ice - one that’s got the wine press all in a tizzy. Ice in fizz, whatever next?

But anyone who has been following the Alex James story will realise that behind the clownish exterior, he’s deadly serious. The wine is a proper bottle-fermented blend of champagne grapes and it’s made by a good English wine producer: Furleigh estate in Dorset. A wine or cider from Alex James makes sense in a way that say a rosé from Kylie Minogue or a Tequila from The Rock doesn’t. He’s been doing this sort of thing for a long time now. As soon as I heard about it I was keen to try and thank you Laithwaite’s, who are selling it exclusively, for sending me a sample.

So is it any good? The answer is yes, it’s very nice. Not the best English Sparkling Wine you’re ever going to have but then it’s only £25. It certainly ticks all the ESW boxes being lean but not tooth-worryingly so, with nice appley fruit. Best of all there seems to be some maturity here as well with subtle biscuit and almond notes. It’s not quite as good as the Majestic own label wine from Hambledon which is currently £21.99 (when you buy six bottles of anything). But then again it doesn’t have the Alex James magic. Britpop is also surprisingly tasty served as Alex James suggests with lots of ice. I imagine it will be going down a storm at festivals next summer. So not just a pretty face.