Vines in a Cold Climate wins a prize

It's been a busy week.

No proper post today as I was out two nights this week at awards ceremonies. I don’t think I’ve been out two nights in one week since about 2010. On Monday it was the André Simon Awards where I lost out to Jon Bonné’s New French Wine. It’s always a shame not to win these things but Bonné’s tome, a two volume tour de France, is one of those once in a decade works that prizes were founded to celebrate, so I’m not too bitter even though he did once call me a ‘pretentious git’ on Twitter a few years back. I’ve got over it.

Me with top chefs Angela Harnett and Andi Oliver

Then last night was the Fortnum & Mason Awards where this time I did take home the trophy for Drink Book of the Year which I am extremely delighted about. There’s a proper big party where I got to swank about with my award, drink champagne and generally feel very important. It makes a change from sitting in the basement writing, and contemplating whether or not I should have another biscuit.

But there’s more! Last week I also learned that my book had been shortlisted for the James Beard Awards in America. This is something my Californian wife encouraged me to enter, telling me it was a huge deal. I had heard of it but didn’t realise quite how important it was until I was nominated in the not entirely appealing sounding ‘beverage without recipe’ category. Once again I’m up against Jon Bonné. The other book on the shortlist is Agave Spirits by Gary Paul Nabhan and David Suro Piñera.

To be honest, against such competition, I don’t think my book stands a chance. I probably wouldn’t fly out to the final on 8 June in Chicago even if I didn’t have an event that day at Chilham Castle (Wine Garden of England summer bash. Tickets still available). But to have a book on English wine on the shortlist for America’s most prestigious food and drink awards is unbelievable. It’s something I never could have predicted when I was commissioned by my publisher to write this book. I thought it sounded niche to say the least especially as there were already some good books on the subject by Oz Clarke and Stephen Skelton.

But I suppose it shows how far English wine has come on even in the last two or three years. It’s no longer a joke. I really want to thank all the people in English wine who were so open and generous with their time and their wines. I wanted to make Vines in a Cold Climate as far from a typical wine book as possible, make it about people, conflict and ambition, rather than grapes and soil. It’s been wonderful hearing exactly this unbidden from other people. A writer really can’t ask for any more. Except maybe a big royalty cheque. And some more prizes. And maybe a TV adaptation.