So far this year, we’ve been up against volcanic ash clouds, airport strikes and extreme weather. On Thursday, we had a whole new challenge… in the form of several thousand demonstrators!
John, Will and I made our way to London nice and early in case our route was affected by the protests taking place around Parliament Square as MPs voted on tuition fees. We managed to get there just fine, though the area was very heavily policed, and we were able to start early - we certainly didn’t want to have anyone waiting outside with all that going on so close by, particularly on such a FREEZING cold night!
By contrast, the atmosphere at the tasting was warm and relaxed. Any of our customers that had experienced a stressful journey getting to The Mall were soon sipping on elegant Champagne and nibbling exquisite canapés as they viewed the fine oil paintings of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters that line the walls of the gallery. We were joined by two producers; Marie O’Riordan of Halewood International, with a selection of terrific value, excellent quality Romanian wines including the night’s top seller Colina de Piatra Alba Pinot Noir 2009 and Ollie Marsh of RidgeView Estate Winery who showed off two of their outstanding, multi-award-winning English Sparkling Wines, South Ridge white and rosé – both were very well received and it was great to include some impressive wines from less familiar territories.
Thanks to all who came and joined us on the night. Despite the unfortunate timing, it turned out to be a really great evening, riots and all!
This was our final tasting of the year but we’ve already got lots of exciting new venues (Brighton, Swindon Steam Museum & Cardiff, to name a few) and some old favourites (HMS Warrior in Portsmouth, the Lake District) booked up for 2011. So here’s to another great year of tastings!
Cheers!
Jo x
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