The tech community needs physical places to meet, program, pitch, make deals and brainstorm.

A glass of wine is a way to relax after a day’s studying for many MBA students. But at Sonoma State University, whose Napa Valley campus is nestled amid the vineyards north of San Francisco, the business of producing the fermented grape is a growing opportunity for executive training.

It is 5pm on a Friday on an industrial estate in Hoxton, east London. At the offices of Tribesports, company co-founder Andrew McDonough is breaking open a freshly delivered case of beer.

English wine producer Chapel Down has reported a record harvest, courtesy of the prolonged and warm summer.

The crisp white wine smells of Mediterranean brush and its golden shimmer recalls the sun. Lamberto Frescobaldi, vice president of the Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi winemaker, shed a tear when he first tasted it.

The first wine I ever decanted was a 1979 Bulgarian Cabernet Sauvignon (Oddbins, £1.99).

Looking at the relatively short list of my current favourite still pink wines I am rather surprised to find that there are as many Italian examples (five) as there are wines from Provence, the heartland of French rosé.