First things first, I want to say what an utter joy it is to be writing a new edition of Pedley’s Picks. We published the previous edition in March 2020 just before the first Covid Lockdown. Since then all of us in the drinks trade and hospitality industry have had to cope with the pandemic, turmoil in our business sector and the economic uncertainties of the last three years. I don’t want to tempt fate, but let’s hope that in 2023 we can look forward and start to return to some degree of normality (whatever that looks like these days).
Following the creation of Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company in 2020, we have been able to consolidate the original wines and spirits interests of the parent firms into an expanded Crown Cellars. Victoria Chapman is now well settled in as the new wine buyer, having already done a heroic amount of work bringing the two ranges together.