Hello everyone and welcome once again to the Leadenhall Amathus Drinks newsletter, bringing you all the

updates on wines, spirits and liqueurs plus any news on events and celebrations covering the next fortnight. As the build up to Christmas commences we dont want you to miss out on whats going on in and around Amathus here in the city. So while the irons hot lets plunge straight in with the latest on upcoming masterclasses being held here at Leadenhall Market. At the time of writing, we still have just a few spaces remaining for our Chivas Art of Blending Masterclass on November 18. This is the amazing opportunity to learn all about the closely guarded secret of whisky blending and try hands on for yourselves to master the technique in a bid to discover just what goes into creating one of the worlds best blended drinks. Blended whisky has taken an unfair beating recently by the somewhat purist slant of the single malt drinker. While nothing compares to the quirky yet beguiling qualities of single malt, the appreciation of the complexities that result in a truly magnificent blend must remain. Just as the finest cognacs are blends it follows that the same can be applied to whisky. In a bid to reach a wider audience Chivas search both smoothness and complexity and this is by no means a simple affair. If you cant make it to this wonderful occasion, well fill you in with all the details post-op so to speak and possibly let you know just a tantalising hint of what goes on! For those of you who cant for one reason or another attend this Masterclass, fear not, maybe armagnac is more your source of solace. If you didnt get the opportunity to read last fortnights newsletter we wrote that we will be hosting Chateau de Laubade on Tuesday 19th November. We still have spaces remaining for this event too, so call, apply online or pop into our city branch to book a place to learn all about this amazing producer, after all you could in some way consider this akin to a single malt as opposed to cognac a blend? Whichever way you look at it, these are two great offerings so book now as the remaining spaces are bound to fill quickly. Now on a slightly different tack, if youre looking for events of a slightly more sedentary nature the Lord Mayor Christmas show takes place on Friday 22nd November. The show includes the switching on of Leadenhall Markets Christmas lights between 4.30pm-6.30pm with music from both the Lloyds and City Chamber Choirs. You can be sure that Amathus City will be participating with something festive to taste, so join us and all the other market outlets as we celebrate the first event of Christmas. As usual, weve something new to sample from our enomatic, including the recently awarded Decanter magazine gold medal winner Domaine de Prince. Indeed what stunners these wines are, both red and white! From the very south of the Rhone Valley in the area known as the Costieres de Nimes, long warm summer days and cool breezy evenings produce wines of great elegance and balance. The whites have a mineral and light apricot quality, while the reds are surprisingly restrained with a chalky black fruit and freshness of acidity. We also offer you a wonderfully dry English white by Wickham, a full and mineral Gavi and an absolute peach of a pinot gris by Elk Cove of Oregon. By way of reds apart from the Domaine du Prince we have the ever popular Friends Red, a great accompaniment to comfort food, a Valpolicella Ripasso by Ca di Mori and the stalwart Rhone red Chateauneuf du Pape by Jacumin.

Naturally, theres a lot more besides; a whole wealth of rum, a world of whiskies a plethora of tequilas and mezcals and a heap of gins and liqueurs, theres no going thirsty here! And whats more you can try many before you buy.

So see you all soon Diosa and Tom