Alan's Ouija Board Outing, NTAs & Wine Making

20:48And then before that, I was a sommelier. And I worked all over London, fine dining, Michelin. How long does it take for you to kind of train to become a sommelier? There is no finite point. I mean, it's farming, right? It's fishiculture. It's ever-changing, ever-evolving. so there is no finite point. So I have the Diploma of Wine through the WSET, which I know you guys have done that. We've been there.

21:14Alan Carr:We've done that, yeah, we're qualified. Well, we're level one. We just about passed. So I've been in the industry for 10 years, but I studied theatre, a degree in theatre, and then like every struggling actor coming to London worked in the service industry and was like, well, wine is inherently theatrical, it's camp, it's fun, it's playful, it's buckets of innuendos. and then was like, okay, I'm fucked as an actor, so I'm going to go study wine. I don't know any of this. Part of your lore. Struggling actress, rags to riches. We don't talk about you when we're together, do we? No, we just talk about you, Vanity.

21:55Alan Carr:Binnacle drag queen. And is it true you create over 100 ,000 bottles of wine here? Is that right? We have the capacity to produce about 100 ,000 bottles. Wow. This year we're making just under 60 ,000 bottles. Now, I do have a little vat fermenting in the back that I really want to bring out and get you guys stuck into some winemaking. So without further ado... You're going to get your vat out? Yeah, don't worry, it's not HMRC. Do the voiceover. Get your vat out. Okay, so if you are listening... We're stood round a skip. A skip. It's like a wheelie bin. It is harvest time. Harvest time. Remember Harvest Festival?

22:44Alan Carr:Oh, yeah. You bring that beans in and apple chunks. It still happens. You just don't go to church anymore. No. We're going to flames, won't we? Struck my life then. So tell us why we are stood around this vat, is it? So this is one of our fermenting tubs or vats and it is full of Ortega grapes that are fermenting. as we speak. Right. So I'm going to lift the lid and I'm going to put you guys to work. Okay. And you vanity, you might want to take off. Do you want me to help? Am I going to do some heavy lifting? We are going to slip this over here.

23:23Alan Carr:Oh, this is not what I expected. Right. Looks like colours. Can I hold them up and show? Yeah, you can. Oh.

23:35So stick your head in there. No, no, it's all right.

23:42Alan Carr:I'm not motorboating great. The first hit of poppers on a Friday night in Soho. So that is CO2. Do you get it? Prickly sense. A little bit of a head rush there. It is actually. Yes. There you go. I can know you'd love it. Wait. Oh, yeah. Oh, it does. It's got a real king in it. It's got a hot face. Am I right? And there's almost a slightly festive aroma. There's like a little... There's a Christmas thing happening. Yeah, there is. Yeah, yeah. So these grapes are... They're white grapes. It's Ortega. It's a Germanic grape variety that does really well in England. Exactly, like a Riesling. Would have been planted in areas that were too wet and cold for Riesling.

24:27I do love a Riesling. But this is Ortega and England has sort of adopted this variety. Beautiful for still wines. We are going to taste the juice here and then we're going to taste two wines that we make with the Ortega variety. So the Ortega is the grape? It is indeed. Where's your vineyards? So we get grapes, we work with vineyards and vignerons all within sort of two hours of London. Really? So Oxfordshire, Kent, Sussex, Suffolk, Essex as well. There you go.

24:58Alan Carr:The fuck was silent. She said sussex as well. Did she? Did you say sussex? I did, yeah. Oh, I just heard the fuck. Yeah. Just listen to it all, not just the things you care about. So rather... Because I know my swag. So rather than pressing the juice straight off the skins, we're leaving the skins in contact with the juice to get more aromatics, a little bit of colour, a bit more gumption from the skins. I love the word gumption. It's a good word, isn't it? Now, what we have to do though is if the skins just sit at the top here, it just wants to turn to vinegar. So we have to do, we either stomp the skins.

25:39I don't think any of us are climbing into this fat today. I'm in neoprene. Would you believe the bottom half of this gown is in fact wetsuit material? So I could get in and go down, see if there's any life at the bottom. Like a beautiful mermaid. Yeah, something like that. But what we're going to do is we're going to do what's called a punch down. So we are all going to take our hands and push the skins into the juice that's fermenting. Go on, get in there. Elbow deep.

26:10Alan Carr:Oh, it's a bit lying. It does feel like you're going in. Oh, I can feel it. What are you going to feel? Bubbles! It's fermenting. So that is CO2. There's alcohol being created. There's a bit of heat. You might get a bit of warm. Yeah, it's hot. Is it hot? Is it hot? It's hot. You've gone deeper than I have. I know. Oh, God, yes. And there's different colours down here as well. Oh, it's coming in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a bit like... Oh, it's yellow. Yeah, unexpected. Like, there's so many different textures going on all the way down, right? Yes. So what is this... Yeah. I think the fumes. So what...

26:52Alan Carr:Yeah, man. Cut off my tits. So what is this doing other than making us look like idiots? What is this? Do you remember Paul Burrell in I'm a Slough?

27:09We are essentially making a cup of tea. We're steeping the tea bag, which is the grape skin. Right. To get more colour, more air match. We're pushing it down.

27:19Alan Carr:Get all the juice out. It is funny, isn't it, how was even wine sort of invented really back in the day when you think all this hassle for it? No, honestly, you'd never think, would you? I know, I always wonder, like, how do they just know to do that or start? It's a culture. Every single culture in history in every part of the world has tried for very long times to calculate how they once got drunk from that rotten fruit they ate years ago. Yeah. So it's literally like it's in every civilization. It's like milk. Who was the first person to look at a cow and go, I'm going to wank that off. Yeah.

27:58Alan Carr:And then they went up a bit and got milk.

28:06How deep do the grapes go? So if you really get your arms in it, you can feel where this sort of juice is. This is a thousand liters. So this is made about sort of 900 bottles. So a couple of nights for me and Alan. A couple of nights for you.

28:21Alan Carr:Just give us a straw. 1 ,000 litres, or as we call it, a Saturday. And this is going through sort of wild fermentation. So this stage... Does it taste nice yet? I've got to get on the tube like this. Shall we? I shouldn't lick. Shall we taste it? Ah, Hazel, you dirty bastard. I didn't put it back in. Don't double dip. We're going to taste it. So hold five. This episode is brought to you by Born in Roma fragrances by Valentino Beauty, the iconic fragrance duo. Donna Born in Roma Eau de Parfum is a feminine fragrance featuring juicy blackcurrant, central jasmine, woody cashmere, and warm vanilla.

29:02Its masculine counterpart, Womo Born in Roma Eau de Toilette, has notes of fresh violet leaf, aromatic sage, green vetiver, spicy ginger, and mineral salt. Shop at Macy's.com. This episode is brought to you by SoFi, the all-in-one finance app where you can bank, borrow, and invest. It's time to achieve your financial ambitions. Earn more on your savings with a SoFi Bank high-yield savings account. Ditch your higher interest credit card debt with a SoFi personal loan, or start investing on an easy-to-use platform with SoFi Invest. Wherever you are on your financial journey, SoFi has got you covered.

29:40Learn more at SoFi.com slash Spotify.

29:49Alan Carr:This episode is brought to you by Chase. Oh, Lee, I don't know about you, but I just keep spending, spending, spending. I was saying this the other day, like it gets to midday, only midday, and I've tapped, tapped, tapped morning coffee, breakfast. It's like I'm always just paying for something. Well, I'm the same in the evenings. Takeaways, then I go to the cinema. Oh, my God, it's too much. Well, I think with all that spending, we deserve a little something back. Well, that's where Chase comes in. Chase gives you 2 % cash back on everyday car spending. That includes spending on groceries, restaurants, everyday transport and fuel.

30:26Alan Carr:Well, restaurant sounds interesting. You can have a nice dinner, glass of wine, you get 2 % cash back. The perfect evening, basically. Search Chase Bank. 18 plus UK residents, Chase current and saver accounts required max£20 per month. eligibility, qualification, exceptions, and T's and C's apply.

30:49Alan Carr:Take a glass, eat. No, I don't want to taste it. You will taste it. Ah, you will. Don't put the glass in. That looks disgusting. No, no, no. Don't put your glass in. For the purpose of the listener, we should say... Don't put the glass in. It looks like... We should say... It looks like someone shat in a bowl of chickpeas. It does look like... That's what it looks like, chickpeas. I'm not sure about the shitting part. Show us your ass. Oh. Oh, yeah. Oh, it's cloudy. What would you pair this with? A and E. It's a stretcher. It's cloudy, so is that no shit? Why is it cloudy again? Is this what we would call a pet nap?

31:32No, not necessarily. So, I mean... Just trying to help. So, I mean, this is the very beginning. You have all of the grape skins, you have the pips, you have the seeds, you have the stems, a few of the stems in there, and you have the yeast, the dead yeast. It's only a matter of time. You've really sold it to us. Dead yeast. Your favourite. The yeast is alive, in fact, I believe. It is. It is a living culture. Shut up. It does die and then we leave it in there with the wine.

32:06Alan Carr:I know, but that's a strong life. What is yeast? Get it. What is yeast? Now, listen, it's only a matter of time. Every wine tasting that we do, Beth will at some point start talking to the audience about yeast. Oh, I love yeast. Women of a certain age start nodding along sagely.

32:25This sort of stage of production, it's kind of like having a feral child. Yeah, what level are we at? in terms of like one to ten ten it being made what level of production is this? This is one to this is a very start Oh early days We just picked these grapes last week they've just started to ferment and we go through what's called wild fermentation or spontaneous fermentation so yeast is all around us and you can either Yeast is all around us I love that song

33:00We both taste it at the same time. It's almost like we're not taking this seriously. All right. There won't be much alcohol in this yet, right? Oh, well, forget it. No, okay.

33:16Can you have it a little? I'm joking.

33:19Alan Carr:We'll have a bit more. It is just like a kind of fruit juice. Okay. Give it a little taste. Okay. Oh yeah, it is. It's like pear drops. That's not bad. But there's still alcohol in this. It's kicking off. It's kicking into gear. So every day we're measuring the density of the juice and the temperature to see how fast it's sort of fermenting. Again, it's like having a feral child. It can sort of, the wheels can come off. We need to make sure it's happy. Wheels can come off. Your wheels can't. What's this job? The wheels have come off, my feral child.

34:08Okay. I told you, rural Ireland. It wasn't a lot to do. So the wheels can come off in a sense of, if it's too cold, the yeast will sort of just hunker down and just stop fermenting. If it gets too hot, things go too fast. It starts kicking up a fuss. If it doesn't have the right nutrients, it starts letting out a little bit of a stinky kind of character. So we sort of monitor. And how long, you reckon, this is early days, right? How long will it take for this to ferment into the best wine? Well, it takes about two weeks to ferment. We'll press this off the skins after about 12 days and then pop it into barrels.

34:49But we've had a really hot summer. Has that affected it? Well, it's affected the sugar levels and the acid levels. And I mean, it's been great for the development of fruit character and everything's been really ripe, but we've ended up picking a lot earlier. So if the weather affects the sugar levels in the grape and stuff, does that then affect the time it needs to take to ferment?

35:12Let us know. Next week. It's not necessarily. So, for example, right, hold on. I'm putting my glass down. So at the start... These questions might get harder. So the grape's life. So it kicks off as a young little grape. The acid is up here. The sugar is down here. Right. And then as it goes through the season, the sun's shining through the summer, the sugar rises, the acid drops, and we hit this like Goldilocks point. Oh, I see. Perfect. They're all in balance. So actually you pick it when it's right for that. Exactly. Oh, okay, sorry, I didn't realise. So we pick based on that Goldilocks point.

35:55So actually, if it's sunnier, you'll probably pick it earlier than usual. And we have picked earlier.

35:59Alan Carr:Well, they say because we had that really odd summer. Exactly. I just saw on the news, grape the harvest has moved earlier because of so much sun. Bang on. So we usually pick mid-September. One nil. So usually harvest is mid-September. It's last week, which was the start of September. Really twisted silver lining of climate change, but there you go. And it's a wonderful thing, climate change, isn't it? Oh, God. Yeah. Bringing the wine industry to the south of England. But we are going to now taste some finished product, the actual wine. I saw you do that. I didn't necessarily want to finish that.

36:41No, it's gone. There were bits in it. So we're going to get rid of the vat. We'll all rinse our little paws off. Yes, I feel like I've been on one of those veterinary shows trying to find that thing the cow swallowed, you know. Oh, OK, thank you, please.

36:58Alan Carr:Enough now. Bottoms up.

37:08Right then, it is time for a very special segment

37:12Alan Carr:brought to you by Tesco. Over the summer, we listened to your wine dilemmas and we spoke to the wine experts at Tesco to try and solve some of your wine problems. Well, that was called the Summer Wine Up. Well, guess what we got now? The Autumn Wine Up. O-M-G. Well, we had a jingle, didn't we? Yeah. Summer Wine Up, Summer Wine Up. So what's the autumn one? We need a new one. Autumn Wine Up. Autumn Wine Up. Autumn Wine Up. Autumn Wine Up. Autumn. Right, today we're taking a trip to South Africa. We've got a dilemma sent in by Rhianne. Hi, Alan and Lee. Rhianne here. First time caller, long time listener.

37:53Thank you very much, Rhianne. Loved the William Hansen episode. We loved that too. I laughed so hard I wet myself a little. Too much information, Rhianne. Is it too soon to have him back round for another bottle of vino, she says. Earlier this year, I spent two weeks dutty whining through the Franschuk wine region with my two best friends. Have you ever ridden the Cape Town wine? Is it Rhianna or is it Rhianna? Oh, yes. Fancy wine. Yes. She says, have you ever ridden the Cape Town wine trams? It's like Disneyland for adults. And all I can talk about is my time in South Africa. Take me back. We love South Africa.

38:28We love Franschuk as well. I've almost completely depleted my Franschuk wine stock. So here I am asking for any great South African wine recommendations for these autumn nights. That first sip should take me back to my heady days floating through Cape Town vineyards. All my love, Rhianne. Well, unfortunately, we can't carry on with this segment because it was such a long message. We've run out of time. No, let's do it. So we have three South African wines. Right, what should we start? Let's start with that one then. A Sauvignon Blanc. All right. So actually, you pour and I've got... Oh, have you got some of the notes?

39:03I've got the notes. I've got the notes.

39:04Alan Carr:This is amazing. It's a£10.50 bottle. And if you've got your club card, it's only£9. Until the 5th of October. These club card prices are a dream. All right. So let's have a taste of this. It's from the Bochendale estate. Oh, yes. Which is between Franchuk and Stel & Bosch. Anyone who hasn't been to Franchuk, I will say it is one of the most magical places. So let's go for this. Bright and crisp Sauvignon Blanc with zesty lime and fig notes. Can I just say, I don't love a Sauvignon Blanc. There, I said it. That is delicious. How do you really get the fig? It's not as acidic as usually a Sauvignon Blanc is.

39:44that's really nice and I'm getting that zesty lime and what did you say that's£9? with a club card until the 5th of October okay here we go so let's go next so that's

39:57Alan Carr:let's rate them at the end shall we okay Project Pinot Noir strawberry scented Pinot Noir legendary winemaker Duncan Savage I have I think this podcast one of the things has made me love a Pinot Noir I never used to go for it But now, because of the lightness of Pinot Noir, I love it. Especially because we've been having a lovely summer, but we are going into it. And it's still quite warm. And this is from an artisan winery in Cape Town. Anything artisan, I'm sold. I don't even know what artisan means. I know, neither do I. Just stick it on the front, I'll buy it. Yeah, artisan bottoms up. It's like organic, organic.

40:31Alan Carr:Yeah, yeah, totally. It's a£10 on top, I don't care, it's organic. Salted caramel, I always do that as well. I don't really know what it is. It's caramel that's salted. Oh, brilliant. You should have, this is a juicy red wine with notes of cherry and cranberry. Can you get that? That is so drinkable. I like this Duncan bloke. Duncan Savage, he's got vineyards all over the Western Cape so he can source the best fruit. Amazing. That's where the juiciness comes from. Yeah, and you've got the cherry. He's got the best fruit. Okay, Graham Beck Brute. I think I've had this before and it is delicious.

41:06Okay, so this is a sparkling, obviously. It's made in the same way as champagne. Yeah, because I was going to say it's got Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, which is similar to champagne.

41:16Alan Carr:And it comes from the slightly warmer inland region of Robertson. Oh, you get lots of bright, warm peach fruit. See if you can taste the peach. Yeah, peach. But also typical brioche and toast. Oh. And this is£14.50. Again, so drinkable. And actually, if you're going for something that is like a celebration, then for 14.50 all these bottles are under 15 pound I think that's amazing and for 14 pound 50 for a nice fizz when you usually pay you pay for a bottle of champagne 30 pound minimum that's amazing that's half you get two bottles for that Rianne let's be honest she's Rihanna we know that yeah this is clearly Rihanna thank you so much I can't wait Rihanna's got in touch thank you Rihanna I would take all three because they're all delicious However, one thing I'll say.

42:09What? Is she says, a South African wine recommendation for these autumn nights, which is why I'm edging to that Pinot Noir. Because it's not winter. Because with winter, you'd probably want a heavier red. Yeah. But it's autumn. You are easing yourself in with a nice, lighter Pinot Noir.

42:28Alan Carr:And it's only£9. What's not to love? Exactly. That's it. You're sorted now. you can head back to South Africa from the comfort of your own room with this delicious bottle of Pinot Noir. Only£9. Head to Tesco.com or pop into your local Tesco to pick up these bottles and explore the full range. Drink Aware 18 Plus products are available in the majority of larger stores and online UK only. Excludes Express, Stores and Woosh. Drink responsibly.

43:02Alan Carr:so Beth Vanity we've punched the grape can we drink that sounds like a use for this punch the grape can we sip the grape yes we can indeed so you poured two glasses right two glasses we're going to do these side by side so this is the same grapes from the previous vintage so this was our 2025 release of two wines that were made in very different methods I was going to say, because they're very different colours. Exactly. So from the same grapes that we were just hand punching. And one is, has been pressed straight off the skins. So the juice has just fermented without the skins. The other wine in your right-hand glass has had time macerating with the skins.

43:48That looks more of an orange wine. Exactly. And that's what we were doing right there. I don't like orange wine. Oh, good. Well, I love it. But I'm not going to judge it. I'm worried. Judge, we love a divisive wine. Yeah, I love that. Keeping an open mind, but I'm worried.

44:06Alan Carr:But that's the wrong one, love. Oh. Well, if you lift them both up, go on. You'll see, one is very clear. Well, test your skills. Go on, get the old double fisting going. Oh, yeah. Go on, get the... Our fists are exhausted. It's like, get your cabaret. Why can't I do it with my right? Some people lack the skilly. So just give the left-hand glass a sniff first. And this is the lighter coloured wine. Lighter coloured wine. Now this is made with stainless steel and a little bit of oak, but old oak. So it doesn't impart oakiness. Yeah, it's not, there's a touch of oak in there, but it's not too oaky because I don't like a Chardonnay as much when it's too oaky.

44:45But that's, is that this one? It is indeed. So this is about the purity of the fruit. And do you know that Holly Willoughby told us that if her friend Lang, her friend said that if there's a an animal on the bottle it always tastes nice and what's that a fox? it's a fox the ultimate vagabond apparently you're 50 % more likely to buy a bottle of wine if it has an animal on it is that like the chicken wine the chicken wine what's that chicken wine code? chicken wine is it called chicken? no and there's one there's the filthy pig or something isn't there there is a wine that's like the filthy pig the slushy pig that's not a wine I think it might be It's just you on a Sunday morning.

45:27Is this got a fox on it because we've just been rooting through the bin?

45:37Vagabond is all about sort of adventure and exploration and the fox is the ultimate vagabond.

45:43Alan Carr:Because you actually do workshops here, don't you? Is it vagabonds.co.uk and you do masterclasses and wine tasting and everything? Exactly. Tours, masterclasses, wine blending, workshops, all of the above. So come... I don't know, do you do this here or just in our wine tastings? Do you do the whole, you've got to grip it by the shaft, spiel at the start? Shall we do our house? Do you know about this? It tastes like a professional. Yeah. Okay. Everybody can do this, by the way. Everyone... Oh, look, I want an audience everywhere. Grip your glass firmly by the shaft. The shaft, yeah. That's right.

46:16and it is bottoms up so let's pop a pinky up the bottom of our glass. No, that means you've got chlamydia. Syphilis. Syphilis. Sorry. Sorry, guys. What? The good news is you haven't got chlamydia. The bad news is you've got syphilis. Why does that mean you've got syphilis? Because it was a thing back in the day. Oh, really? Ask William Hansen. But we want to give our glass stability. Now, this will help you with the wrist actually exactly it's all in the wrist which is a skill that you can use at threesomes foursomes and more yeah okay I can't do that and then we'll give it a good sniff practising one of our our vanity's favourite pastimes now this I'm getting a glimpse into what you two do together basically it's a roast isn't it you just slag each other off you're like a sordid Ant and Depp you guys have been friends for a long time right yeah yeah yeah but that's the thing people come They come for the wine, but they do quite enjoy it.

47:17Beth and I really have been so close for so many. I was there at the time you managed. Remember you used one of these as a butt plug, a whole bottle of wine? Fell out. It fell out. She's up to it. Fell straight out. Magnums now. Who's gone to Magnums? Next up, Jerobo. Wait till we get to the Nathusa. Oh, fuck. Right, so we're giving it a sip.

47:39Alan Carr:I've already drank it. So this one's my one. I like this one. It's fruity. it's lovely and pure and peach it's quaffable you might like this as an orange does this count as an orange wine? it does indeed it does count certainly so this is an orange wine and this is called what? Selena? Selena it's already making I think it's going to be too syrupy for me well taste it because you know what we call it clack we call it clack clack is whack again what vanity has on a Sunday morning you're one over there she's got the clack I hate the smell Okay, so we hate slime. What do I do? Let's give it the taste.

48:18I'll try a couple of tasty notes. It's nice. It's nice. I thought I was going to hate it. You come to like that slight, it veers left or right suddenly. It's Flair Boynton for you there.

48:30Alan Carr:Flair. Flair. I love it. I love it. I love it. There you go. It smells awful. But it tastes amazing. So again, if we just talk about that smell a little bit. Again, it's challenging. That's it. That is the wine. So this is a wine that has been to seven. It's exactly what we're making in that tub that you guys had your balls on. But do you put it in a barrel for a bit and then move it to the stainless steel? Well, this wine is actually a multi-vintage Solera system wine. So it is a blend of 2018 through to 2025. And 50 % of it was aged under floor. Have you ever heard that term? No, no, no. Not underneath our floor, but floor is spelled F-L-O-R.

49:15And it is under certain conditions, generally a little bit of warmth and moist air. Barrels, if they've evaporated a bit, will develop a layer of yeasty floor. And under these conditions... I'm telling you, it all comes back to yeast. You can't keep saying moist and yeast. Well, that's one of people off. what you end up getting are these lovely sort of Moorish nutty characters a little bit of spice that comes into play and the blend of multiple vintages means we get these sort of layers of character that come through the wine all the way up to that 2025 lovely sort of jasmine floral fruity character through to the Moors That is the nicest orange wine I've ever tasted There you go I got lured into a false sense of security because you did give me an orange wine like four years ago it was so delicious and I started to think, well, I'm going to look so impressive at dinner parties as the lover of orange wine.

50:14And I would take orange wine to places and then when I would taste it, I was like, this is not what I liked the first time. But this is like that one. It's kind of, it's clean somehow. Yeah, it's smooth. It's very crisp. I like it. Can I ask a very off-topic question? Yeah, go on.

50:34Is it about the green carnation that night in 2014? the glasses are returning no although i do remember it well drag queens yeah when you know like when inequity when you're an actor and you don't have certain names you can't be the same name as another registered actor how do you choose your name for a drag queen some people i believe i have a friend called topsy redfern who did it from one of those internet email you remember like chain emails which said your drag queen name is the name of the street you grew up on and your last cat. Yes. She was topsy red for an avenue or something. And I mean I don't think that's necessarily how an artist should choose their name.

51:17How did you choose yours? Mine is far more highbrow. I was a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Right. There was a character on it called Glory and I thought, isn't that cool to have a name like a thing? And I went to school with a girl called Justice. Justice? Oh my goodness. And she was gorgeous. Total ****. But her name was... And I thought, I thought, I want a name like Glory. Yeah, Glory Justice. So I became Vanity because I thought, you know, Vanity's not a thing we should celebrate, but it is something that I have. There you are. It is. Yeah, Vanity. And then Von Glow. Von Glow to give it some European sort of...

51:52Oh, je ne sais quoi. Van Glow, not Von Glow. Yes, nobility, Von Glow.

51:56Alan Carr:Von Glow. Like Von Trapp. Yes. Yeah. And where do you do your stuff? Is it at the Phoenix Arts Club? Yeah, yeah, so... And that is a real celebrity haunt, isn't it? People go there because it's theatrical, underground. Yeah, and because we service the West End, officially we're a member. Service.

52:15Alan Carr:Is any of this usable? Is any of this? And then you start the show. Then I start the show. So where we are, so many, there's 56 theatres in the West End. They've all got cast, they've all got crew. They've got people that were in the cast and crew, people that are just part of theatre and showbiz. They come down to us because we've always got musical theatre sing-alongs and you'll see theatre people. But it does mean when there's a big show in town and there's like a Hollywood actor in it and they don't know where the one place can they go where they're not going to be photographed or bothered, they'll come to us because I will treat them like shit.

52:46No, it's so lovely. We also have our own shows and I've been there for like 10 years, stood at the end of the piano with a glass of wine or I play as well, so I'll be sat at the piano with a glass of wine.

52:55Alan Carr:And what was your drag gateway? What was the one drag gateway song that you did first and then you went, oh my God, I want to be a drag superstar. I want to be a star. Well, I feel like it was just as a kid to me, I saw like Celine Dion and Elizabeth Hurley. And I was like, what if we blend them like this wine? And so for me, it's the big power ballads. It's Celine Dion stuff. Yeah, yeah. You know, there were nights when the wind was so cold. That's what I want to do in those shows. Oh, love. Very nice. it's about drama and that's I think the thing why we have a laugh because drag is really about set up the drama and then make it stupid set up the drama and then make it stupid and that's how you host wine tastings that's why we do the wine tastings yeah well in the honour of Celine Dion maybe drink twice maybe drink twice yes did you did you prefer the orange to the did you I would like you I was like oh my god that's going to be disgusting really liked it but this is okay I will say for the orange wine a couple of glasses if you're just going to have a couple and I'm done for this the Vagabond one the Ortega I could drink that bottle like bam bam bam bam one is coiffable one is gastronomic I want a big old cheese board with the Soleno yes I want blue cheese and that wine do you prefer because some people love coiffable and then they don't realise how drunk they got but I quite like the other way I like a wine that slows me down does that make sense?

54:25Alan Carr:I've never met a wine that slowed me down no I'm like yeah I'll drink the wine and then I get up and then I'm like yeah get up to go to the bathroom yeah yeah yeah thank you so much how can people find out about you is it at Vagabond.co.uk no but for your Dragabond is it Dragabond no it's Dragabond we should think of that though I said Vagabond I think I just thought of a new name so the wines and my day job Vagabond wines indeed Vanity and I then can be found at Drag and Wine. Yes. We do call our show now Drag Queen Wine Tasting because everyone kept going, what's dragon wine? They thought it was a dragon.

55:05You said that. I said that. No, it's exactly what it says on the tin. It's Drag Queen Wine Tasting. It's the two of us. Yeah, but you can come and, to your listeners that come to our show. Yes. It's a real show, but it's a real wine tasting. So it's both. And we're actually doing one at the Phoenix Arts Club in November. I think we're lining one up for Christmas. We have a little Christmas one somewhere else, but I don't know if we're ready to put that on sale. So we'd love for people to come.

55:26Alan Carr:So if you take wine seriously, but you want to be entertained, then that's the place to go. Even if you don't take it too seriously, because there are some tastings that really lean on Beth's knowledge and there are some tastings that just lean on getting drunk. It's removing the proverbial white tablecloth. It's showing quality wine, having a bit of crack, big show tunes, raucous tasty notes. Not that crack. Irish crack. Irish crack of crack. Not like that. When in Soho. Oh, well, thank you so much. Beth Brickenden and Vanity Fonglow everyone Thank you so much Thanks for having us Well that's it for this week Don't forget to head to YouTube and press that subscribe button Yeah and do please leave us a review It really really helps And get in touch We want to hear your questions Your dilemmas Anything you want us to drink Or just get in touch generally At Bottoms Up Show On socials Or bottoms up at listen.co.uk Please drink responsibly Don't forget to go to drinkaware.co.uk Bottoms Up with Alan Carr and Lee Peart is a platform media production.

56:29There's only one thing left to say. Bottoms Up! Woohoo!

56:40Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light. And slowly the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress. A hoodie slips beneath a blazer. An old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it layer by layer until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.

57:08Hi there. I am fully charged. And here to tell you, Toy Story 5 is now on Disney Play. It's been too long, cowboy. Woody, Buzz, and Jesse are back for a brand new adventure with some seriously cool new tech. What? Holy butterscotch! You said it, Jessie! So, save your batteries and watch the global phenomenon at home. And the best part? It's perfect for the whole family. Power up your movie night and watch Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5, now streaming on Disney Plus. Rated PG.