When Arnica read that her wine hero Jancis Robinson was hosting a wine travel writing contest, she picked the least obvious place to write about: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! For those of you that don’t know, Arnica co-founded a charity in Ethiopia, and has eaten and drank her way through the African capital city countless times. Well – Jancis liked it, calling the “Addis Ababa for Wine Lovers” article a “gem,” and selected it as top ten finalist from all the global entries.

Ethiopia was never colonised, so the distinctive traditional spicy stews and sour breads remain the staple of daily eating. Although international food has also been available throughout the city for decades, wine is a newer phenomenon. When I started visiting Ethiopia a decade ago, tej (pronounced tay-ch), an off-dry wine made from honey, was available on every street in seedy tejbet bars. To find wine made from grapes we would have to buy bottles of cheap Italian red as off-sales from an Italian restaurant. Read the full article …