In which our Spanish specialist wins a prize and has his first meal at Heston Blumenthal's Dinner, eventually.
When we heard the news we could hardly believe it. Our book, The Finest Wines of Rioja and Northwest Spain, was shortlisted for the 2011 André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards, the most prestigious awards in the field. The bad news was the competitors: three books that I have to admit that I own, like and admire. I bought two of them prior to knowing they were shortlisted, the third only afterwards, because I had not heard that it...