Joe Fattorini and Jancis Robinson team up for The Wine Show

Two IWSC Wine Communicators of the Year join forces for the second season of the successful television series. Nominations for this award are now open for 2018 - enter here.

As popular television show The Wine Show returns for its highly anticipated second season on Friday 12 January, wine expert and IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year Joe Fattorini will be joined by broadcast veteran and wine critic Jancis Robinson.

Jancis Robinson MW is an internationally-respected wine journalist and critic. A former IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year herself, she endowed the IWSC’s Jancis Robinson Trophy for Riesling, which was this year awarded to Australian Vintage for McGuigan Shortlist Riesling 2010.

Robinson will be judging the efforts of actors Matthew Goode and James Purefoy as they travel the south of France searching for the perfect case of wine to match a six-course meal cooked by Michelin starred French chef Stéphane Reynaud.

Robinson told the IWSC, “I admired the first series of The Wine Show, so when they proposed I join them for a day’s filming in the south of France for the second series, I was happy to accept.

“Joe [Fattorini] has proved himself a real pro in front of the camera – much more engaging than I ever was in the 80s and 90s when I made so many TV programmes about wine – and Amelia [Singer], of course, is so much more glamorous”, she said.

The new season will meanwhile see Fattorini and his team of experts, including wine educator Amelia Singer and head brewer for London microbrewery Wild Card Jaega Wise, visiting countries from the USA and Canada to Spain, Argentina, Bosnia and Germany to learn more about the different wines around the world.

Fattorini added, “We knew we had to dig deeper into our stories, and perhaps challenge ourselves more – and the team certainly challenged me with a wine marathon, performing standup comedy and a blind tasting contest with Amelia Singer on a mountain top in the Canadian Rockies. We went to the cradle of winemaking in Georgia and saw some of the world’s newest fine wine vineyards in Argentina.”

“I hope people will love it. And like series one, it will inspire people to try new, different and more interesting wines, and discover the remarkable stories behind so many of the wines we enjoy.”

Season 2 of The Wine Show is already available to watch in the US via online streaming service Hulu, and is due to be aired in the UK on Friday 12 January at 7pm on Channel 5.