International Women’s Day | The Wine Women

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What could be more fulfilling than a career in wine? For many it would be a dream career. Today is International Women’s Day so let these women show you how.
Vitalie Taittinger – Champagne Taittinger
1) What advice would you give to women considering or beginning a career in wine?
I would tell them to consider this choice as a life choice! The way of getting into wine is very long. You have many things to learn and to understand. It really has to be a passion! It is a fabulous world, working with nature, time and people, it is very exciting!
2) What is your ultimate wine and food pairing? My ultimate food pairing would maybe be a flute of Prélude Grands Crus with oysters…the minerality of this Champagne, its pureness and its energy really does match the saltiness and texture of oysters. I love the simplicity!

Taittinger Prélude Grand Crus NV, RRP £54.35, Stockists: Majestic Wine, JohnLewis.com Frost recommended. 


Laure Colombo – Winemaker at Colombo et Fille
1) What has been a key/memorable moment in your career so far?
The first time someone said “Jean-Luc Colombo is the father of Laure Colombo” and not being recognized as the “daughter of”, but for myself!
2) Who has inspired you in your career?
Jean-Michel Comme from Pontet-Canet! He taught me the fact that the vines are living beings. It needs to breathe, to feed from the earth, in order to open up.

Jean-Luc Colombo Saint Péray Belle de Mai 2016, RRP £23.25, Stockists: Pennistone Court Wine Cellars, Hedonism Drinks Frost Recommended.

Eva de Benito – Winemaker at Viña Real
1) What has been a key/memorable moment in your career so far?
The moment that I started working for CVNE and managing Viña Real, one of the emblematic brands of Rioja.
2) If you could live in another woman’s shoes for a day, whose would you choose?
In general, I admire women who, with their passion and willingness to improve, have been able to break myths and barriers – not only in the wine trade but also in any profession or aspect in life.

Viña Real Gran Reserva 2011, RRP £27.70, Stockists: Hailsham Cellars, D.Byrne & Co, Planet of the Grapes, The Whalley Wine Shop, Luvians Bottleshop, Wimbledon Wine C llears, The Solent Cellar, Old Chapel Cellars, Taurus Wines

Maria Larrea – Chief Winemaker at C.V.N.E
1) What advice would you give to women considering or beginning a career in wine?
It is important to surround yourself with a good work team, observe the vineyard, study about other viticultural areas of the world. In short, always learn, enjoy work and always try to make the best wine.
2) What has been a key/memorable moment in your career so far?
Undoubtedly the best moment was the award we received with Imperial Gran Reserva vintage 2004 as the best wine in the world for the Wine Spectator. It really was a prize for the long history of Imperial, more than 100 years as a wine of great quality.

Imperial Reserva 2012, RRP £26.00, Stockists: Majestic Wine, Wine Rack, Coop, Waitrose.com, Tesco.com


Helen Morrison – Chief Marlborough Winemaker at Villa Maria
1) What has been a key/memorable moment in your career so far?
As a winemaker 2017 was the hardest vintage I have ever experienced, so the reward of seeing the quality of the wines we managed to craft from this challenging season is truly memorable.
2) If you could live in another woman’s shoes for a day, whose would you choose?
Right now in New Zealand it would be fascinating to be Jacinda Adern for a day, as our recently elected Prime Minister, the youngest prime minister in 150 years, un-married, and a strong supporter of women’s rights and now she has recently announced her first pregnancy. What a great series of firsts to be experiencing, but also some very interesting challenges and adversaries she must be facing (even in this modern era).
Villa Maria Private Bin Riesling 2017, RRP £10.95, Stockists: Majestic Wine, Wine Rack

Catherine Corbeau Mellot – President of Joseph Mellot
1) What advice would you give to women considering or beginning a career in wine?
You will need to be very strong and be able to face lots of challenges. Passion and the wish to be successful are key. Go for it!
2) What is your ultimate wine and food pairing?
A two-month Crottin de Chavignol (our local goat cheese, which is AOP.) with a glass of Sancerre la Chatellenie!

Sancerre La Rabault Rosé 2015, RRP £22.60, Stockists: The Shenfield Wine Company, Refreshers, Park Lane Wine and Deli Frost Recommended. 

Audrey Braccini – Winemaker at Domaine Ferret
1) What has been a key/memorable moment in your career so far?
It was two or three years back. When I started working in Fuissé ten years ago, the welcome from the other producers was a little bit cold… and this continued for some years after. You can imagine my joy when some of them came to me and said, with kindness in their eyes, ‘good job, great wines, it is a good thing you came!’
2) If you could live in another woman’s shoes for a day, whose would you choose?
Marlène Soria – a pioneering organic winemaker from Languedoc.

Domaine Ferret Pouilly Fuissé 2016, RRP £33.40, Stockists: North and South Wines, Taurus Wines, Penistone Court Wine Cellars, Luvians Bottleshop, Planet of the Grapes, Handford Wines, Eagle Wines, Partridges of Sloane St, Loki Wines

BUSINESS OF BOOKS: FIRST, LAST, EVERYTHING – EBOOK PROGRAMME MANAGER MEGAN LOCKWOOD-JONES

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Megan Lockwood-Jones is the Ebook Programme Manager at my favourite assisted publishing house, Matador. She is the first point of contact for ebook authors and her knowledge is second to none. 

What was the first piece of publishing advice you were given?

The first piece of publishing advice I was given was to ensure self-publishing authors are choosing the right company and right services for them. At Matador we assist over 500 authors a year to publish physical and ebooks. However, it is important that authors do their research to ensure that they are using a reputable company and that the company they choose can offer the services that are right for them – not every author will have the same requirements or aims when publishing. Some may only want a few copies of a book for family and friends, others want to see their book stocked in bookshops, others only want an e-version. Read testimonials to find out what other authors’ experiences with that company were like. If you are new to the world of publishing then you’ll want to find a company that are easily contactable via telephone rather than one that can only be contacted by email – as a first time author, you may not even know the kinds of questions you should be asking so sometimes a phone call can be more reassuring.

What was the most recent piece of publishing advice you gave?

I spend the majority of my day talking to authors about ebook publishing options – as well as speaking at events such as The Self-Publishing Conference and the Experience Days we run at our offices.

The most recent advice I gave was in regards to ebook distribution. There are many different routes that authors can take, for example if you have a non-fiction ebook, why not consider making it available for pre-order? Readers are more willing to pre-order and wait for an ebook on a subject that interests them, rather than a fiction ebook where they can simply browse and select ebooks in similar genres that are already available. If you make a lot of sales during a pre-order period then these accumulate and count towards the total number of sales made on the release date, which boosts your ranking on retailers’ sites, in turn making your ebook appear earlier in search results.

If you’re interested in making your ebook available for free for a short period of time, Amazon’s KDP Select programme could be a good option for you. To be eligible, your ebook has to be exclusive to Amazon for 90 days, so it’s worth bearing this in mind if you’re considering selling the ebook through other retailers too. During the KDP Select period, you can make your ebook available for free for up to five days, and any downloads during this time can increase your ranking in the Free charts!

 

What is the piece of advice you would most like to pass on?

One of the aspects of my job I enjoy the most is cover design but if designing your own cover, think about how it’s going to be viewed by customers. Ebook jackets will be seen as thumbnails on retailers’ sites so you need to ensure that the title can still be read. A small, thin font in a colour that doesn’t stand out isn’t the best and don’t clutter your cover – try to keep it simple and avoid too much text.

If you’re paying for a professional cover design, be open-minded about the designer’s ideas. Designers spend a lot of time researching trends and amazing covers can be created if they are given a little freedom. As the author, of course you know the book best so do share any ideas or thoughts with the designer so that they can incorporate them, but let them use their expertise! Remember, you’ve paid for a professional designer for a reason, so have faith in them and trust that they aren’t going to design a cover that will be detrimental to sales.

 

 

 

Her Mother’s Daughter By Evie Grace | Recommended Reads

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THE SECOND SAGA IN EVIE GRACE’S MAIDS OF KENT TRILOGY.

‘One of the most gifted saga writers writing today’ Bookish Jottings

Will she break free and change her future?
Canterbury, 1853

Agnes Berry-Clay might have been born into rags but she is growing up with riches.
Given away as a baby by her real mother, she was rescued and raised by her darling Papa and distant Mama. Agnes wants for nothing, except perhaps a little freedom.

But as times goes on, her life at Windmarsh Court changes. New arrivals and old resentments push Agnes to the peripheries, and finally the consequences of one fateful day shatter her dreams for the future.

Heartbroken and surrounded by the threat of scandal, Agnes is faced with a terrible choice: stay and surrender, or flee and fight to keep her freedom.

 

Why Does Inequality Matter? By T. M. Scanlon Book Review

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Inequality is widely regarded as morally objectionable: T. M. Scanlon investigates why it matters to us. Demands for greater equality can seem puzzling, because it can be unclear what reason people have for objecting to the difference between what they have and what others have, as opposed simply to wanting to be better off. This book examines six such reasons. Inequality can be objectionable because it arises from a failure of some agent to give equal concern to the interests of different parties to whom it is obligated to provide some good. It can be objectionable because it involves or gives rise to objectionable inequalities in status. It can be objectionable because it gives the rich unacceptable forms of control over the lives of those who have less.

It can be objectionable because it interferes with the procedural fairness of economic institutions, or because it deprives some people of substantive opportunity to take part in those institutions. Inequality can be objectionable because it interferes with the fairness of political institutions. Finally, inequality in wealth and income can be objectionable because it is unfair: the institutional mechanisms that produce it cannot be justified in the relevant way. Scanlon’s aims is to provide a moral anatomy of these six reasons, and the ideas of equality that they involve. He also examines objections to the pursuit of equality on the ground that it involves objectionable interference with individual liberty, and argues that ideas of desert do not provide a basis either for justifying significant economic inequality or for objecting to it.

Why Does Inequality Matter? is an important book which asks the right questions. It is intelligent without being condescending and full of facts while still being entertaining.

Why Does Inequality Matter? By T. M. Scanlon is available here.

REBORN SURVIVOR: WHAT SIX YEARS IN A CHRISTIAN CULT TAUGHT ME

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Rhys Hagan was drawn into an alleged Christian cult which left him broke and alienated from friends and family. He finally cut ties and rebuilt his life after surviving six “long years of hell” but the emotional scars remain. Here, he explains how it feels to be brainwashed and warns of the destruction that cults can cause. His new book, Sovereignty, is out now.

When most people hear the word cult their minds’ probably jump to a scene from a movie of hooded figures chanting around a cauldron, not a small Baptist church with singing and a potluck. While that first scene would most definitely depict a cult, the second can be just as likely a culprit. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of community churches which provide a support network that’s healthy and beneficial for all, but there are those—tucked away in a remote part of town—masquerading as a harmless, almost apathetic congregation which dismiss the wellbeing of its members for the sake of power and wealth.

Only a few years ago I was a member and youth leader in one such church, but once my family and I witnessed the leader physically attack a small boy, we were forced to confront the nature of what we’d become a part of. In the coming years, the rehabilitation I underwent set me on a path of critical thought and independent living which has resulting in me writing my novel, Sovereignty.

While I managed to fit my most valuable philosophies into my novel, I could write volumes on the lessons I took away from my time in the church, but they all have a common theme. It’s that theme I’d like to share with you now. And it’s a tale as old as time, or at least as old as John Dalberg-Acton: Power corrupts.

To have power over your own life is self-control. To have power over another’s is oppression. Now, I’m not saying you should go to your boss and tell them to stick their authority up their holiest of holies; after all, they don’t have power over your life, only your work. No, the power I’m talking about is the power for one person to dictate what another will believe. The power to insist a child stop associating with their parent or for a parent to kick their child to the streets for not conforming to the leader’s demands. The power to make a single statement and say it means one thing while also meaning the opposite (a principle called ‘doublethink’ by George Orwell in 1984).

When someone establishes this kind of control, or even desires to, a group crosses the line from being a community gathering to a cult. How do you tell? In a fair community anyone can challenge anything and anyone if they choose without formal consequence. In a cult, any criticism of the leader(s) or the ideals they uphold ends in reprisal or excommunication.

I know, it sounds confusing, as if I’m suggesting you be involved in your community while being sceptical of everyone in it. But, like monitoring what you eat, it’s important to have balance. A healthy level of scepticism goes a long way and, if you’re ever unsure about whether or not someone in your circle is healthy or radical, just remember what the bible says, “Judge a tree by its fruit.”

Sovereignty by Rhys Hagan is out now in print and as an eBook priced £11.97 and £4.79. It is available from Amazon . For more information about Rhys’s story, go to www.rhyshagan.com/

 

The Academic Archers’ Conference 2018 by Michael Rowan

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‘And this? asked the tall broad security guard, clearly more used to checking bags at Nightclubs than at the third Academic Archer’s Conference.

‘It’s a crochet hook’ said the woman in front of me in the queue with a small sigh of exasperation.

The security guard locked eyes with me, having already let in a variety of knitting needles, pinking scissors and even a Voodoo Doll.

The typical Archers’ listener is female, University educated, over 50 and according to the market research, resolutely middleclass.

The men form a smaller group and are clearly incapable of listening to the conference papers and knitting, crocheting and embroidering unlike the women who multi task throughout the day. In fact, one woman not only listened and knitted, but even ran up and down the aisle with a roving microphone.

 

We were at the British Library where an audience of over 200 people had converged and an almost messianic fervour is palpable in the room.

 

The Archers is the world’s longest running radio soap opera piloted in 1950, with a remit to educate agriculturists and which still performs this role today, though with much more dramatic tension.

One speaker explained that in the mid- 1970s audience levels had dwindled and the BBC was considering cancelling the show. The advent of a woman producer and women writers gave the Archers a much-needed boost and the show has continued to increase its audience ever since.

Our worth as fans is measured in how long we have been listening and at thirty- six years I have only just shed my newcomer status.

Speakers who have only listened for a few years begin with an apology to the all forgiving audience.

The bond between fans is strong and the Speakers – all academics are all fans themselves and clearly relishing the opportunity to impart their, not insignificant knowledge with fellow devotees.

The highlight of the day takes place when one of the show’s actors, Charlotte Martin, took the platform for a wide -ranging discussion. Her character is that of a social climbing busy body that we all love to hate, but by the end of the debate we had agreed that she was in fact the Greek chorus and we sneered because she was an older working- class woman. Food for thought indeed.

The papers covered a variety of Archer related topics, the most surreal about how the featured village would fair if a revolution took place. What appeared on paper to be a whimsical piece had the audience on the edge of their seats as the speaker worked for NATO and had served in Afghanistan. Suddenly this cosy soap was not quite so cosy and yet the delivery had us roaring with laughter.

Michael Rowan and Charlotte Martin

In jokes are shared and before we know it the day has passed and many more new friends have been made.

Last year’s conference has all the papers featured in a book entitled Custard Culverts and Cake and is still available to fans and none fans alike.

I leave with a kindly looking lady who could easily be typecast as the perfect grannie, white hair, glasses and a kindly smile. As we leave she reaches into her bag to remove the voodoo doll she has made of one of the characters in the Archers whom she hates with a passion.

She waves the doll at the Security Guard who again locks eyes with me.

I merely shrug, before waving my companion goodbye and arranging to meet up again next year.

 

A Healthy Alternative to Easter Eggs by Dr Kathleen Thompson

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Easter eggs are delicious, I cannot lie, but sometimes our kids get just too many, don’t you think? So maybe they would prefer an ‘eggy’ themed game, instead of at least some of the chocolate this Easter?

First established in 1919, the family-owned company, Gibsons, use well-known artists and illustrators to produce high quality traditional games and jigsaws. These are something to treasure and make a welcome change from computer-based games (Yes, I am showing my age, and proud of it).

In fact Gibsons’ fun card game, Chicken Out! won the Indoor Toys & Games Creative Play Award 2017. For 2-6 players, aged 7+ it is beautifully illustrated by Clare Elsom. Players aim to reach 21, but cheeky fox cards can sabotage chances of winning. The chicken and egg theme makes it perfect for Easter.

 

The Easter Egg Hunt 500-piece jigsaw is also great for older children, or even adults who are watching their waist line.

 

 

But their large collection of beautifully-illustrated jigsaws are not confined to Easter. In fact I was given the ‘Keep on Dancing’ jigsaw myself for Christmas. It is a fabulous scene of dancers at The Blackpool Tower, home of ballroom dancing – and it certainly challenged the old grey matter as I tried to sort the sequins from chandeliers.

Gibsons also produce accessories for jigsaw enthusiasts and other games. So why not re-experience the pleasure of traditional games and remind ourselves how great they can be this Easter?

 

By Dr K Thompson, author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co,uk

 

Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice

 

Religion vs. Science: What Religious People Really Think

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At the end of a five-year journey to find out what religious Americans think about science, Ecklund and Scheitle emerge with the real story of the relationship between science and religion in American culture. Based on the most comprehensive survey ever done-representing a range of religious traditions and faith positions-Religion vs. Science is a story that is more nuanced and complex than the media and pundits would lead us to believe.

The way religious Americans approach science is shaped by two fundamental questions: What does science mean for the existence and activity of God? What does science mean for the sacredness of humanity? How these questions play out as individual believers think about science both challenges stereotypes and highlights the real tensions between religion and science. Ecklund and Scheitle interrogate the widespread myths that religious people dislike science and scientists and deny scientific theories.

Religion vs. Science is a definitive statement on a timely, popular subject. Rather than a highly conceptual approach to historical debates, philosophies, or personal opinions, Ecklund and Scheitle give readers a facts-on-the-ground, empirical look at what religious Americans really understand and think about science.

Religion and science have always had an uneasy relationship. In fact, there are times when the two have been at war. But the two can coincide. This book is a myth-busting, highly accessible and well-written book. It is US centric but still very interesting. A fascinating read. 

Religion vs. Science: What Religious People Really Think is available here.