15 Tastings Later

Hello! It’s been a couple of weeks since we last wrote and a lot has happened in the world of events since then. We have already held 11 tastings and 4 dinners this year! Highlights include Hotel Terravina, Cardiff, and The Grand Hotel, Brighton (pictured left), where our tasters were welcomed with a glass of Champagne in the Pavilion Suite overlooking Brighton's seafront.

It’s always really interesting for us after each tasting, to see which wines proved to be the most popular. We’ve recently had a look at all of the wines shown across the 65 tasting events we held in 2010 and found that overall, the top 3 most ordered wines were:

1. Pillastro Selezione d’Oro 2007
2. The Black Stump 2009
3. Andresen 10 year old White Port

It’s great to see that the White Port has done so well - it’s one of those things that many people are a little unsure about until they actually get to try it… and love it!! That’s the beauty of tastings; you’re able to taste new or unusual styles that you might usually steer clear of, and often find something you adore that you may never have discovered otherwise!

We have lots to look forward to over the next few months, starting with our annual Vintage Festival in London on 15th & 16th April. We’re hoping that our daily ritual to ward off ash-clouds works so that our producers make it this year, after last year’s volcanic eruption left many of them stranded all over the world!

We’ll let you know how it goes.

Jo x

Lincoln was where I hosted my first ever solo wine evening

Lincoln was where I hosted my first ever solo wine evening with Laithwaites Wine, so it was a great pleasure to return there on Tuesday evening to host another evening at The County Assembly Rooms, with 12 more months under my belt.

On this occasion, I was joined by a great team of staff and I was very pleased to welcome some extra help in the form of our very own Head Winemaker extraordinaire Mark Hoddy from Le Chai au Quai and John Thorne from De Bortoli Wines, Australia.

Over 140 guests hurriedly entered the hall and poor Richard (our logistics expert and all-round safe pair of hands) was rushed off his feet pouring samples of the tremendous Haton Champagne as people rushed to make a start.

Old friends Michael and Mary Davenport joined us from Cote Hill Cheese once again and customers were treated to their excellent, locally produced, international award-winning cheeses.

Several wines stood out on the evening in my eyes (none more so than the wonderful La Font del Bosc 2005, Maury AOC care of our very own Mark Hoddy) and positive comments, coupled with pleas to return sooner next time were discussed at the end of the evening with the departing groups of smiling customers.

All in all, a great night was had by all; I even treated the staff to a Chinese afterward to celebrate!

See you all soon,

Will

PS. From Ian:

Just back from supporting Rose Murray Brown MW’s Wine Relief) (part of Comic Relief) tasting in Edinburgh. Great fun! If you haven’t done your bit for Red Nose Day yet, why not take a look at this special Comic Relief reds mix chosen by Oz Clarke – drink and donate in one go!

On The Road!

Sorry it’s been a while but we have been non-stop since our first tasting of the year in Swindon at the end of January!

After Swindon came Colwyn Bay in North Wales, Norwich, Cardiff and then Godalming (at the incredible Charterhouse school!) for February. We then kicked-off March with our annual trip to Nottingham last week, which was great fun, as always!

We’ve had some super producers from all over the world join us at these events, from Sussex to South America! Federico Boxaca of Bodega Familia Schroeder, Patagonia, Argentina, wowed the crowds with the Schroeder Estate Malbec 2009 in Norwich. Sam Lockyer from Stonewall Estate, New Zealand presented 4 cracking wines from Marlborough at Colwyn Bay, and our English Sparking Wine from RidgeView Estate in Sussex, presented by the winemakers, proved to be a great way to start to the night for our tasters in Godalming and Nottingham!

Due to popular demand we have already booked another evening in Cardiff at The St David’s Spa Hotel for November this year. Let us know if we’re due a visit to your town; we’re keen to bring our wine to as many of you as possible: eventsfeedback@laithwaiteswine.com

Next up: Lincoln and Brighton for tastings this month, plus Ian will be hosting a Wine & Dinner evening at one of the Top 10 hotels of Britain, Hotel TerraVina… delicious!

Hopefully none of you have decided to give up wine for lent, in which case we hope you can join us at a tasting very soon!

Take Care

Jo x

P.S Pictures of our tasting can now be found on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/laithwaites?sk=photos

Back to School & Marmalade

70 customers braved the worst that the Irish Sea could throw at them to join us at the beautiful Rydal Penrhos Preparatory School in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, last Tuesday.

We were joined on the evening by Sam Lockyer from Stonewall Estate (New Zealand) and guests were tempted by a wide variety of wines including the top 3 wines of the evening; Pillastro Selezione d’Oro 2007, Spier Signature Collection Pinotage 2009 & Domaine Servin Les Pargues 2009 Chablis.

The staff had a brilliant time chatting with customers and I’m so pleased with all of the positive comments that I have received since the evening.

John braved the elements on Sunday, with an early drive (5.30am!) to The Lake District to attend the Marmalade Festival at one of our favourite locations, Dalemain.

John had been asked by owner Jane Hasell-McCosh to present the Merry Marmalade prize (marmalade recipes including alcohol :-D ) to winner, Fiona Bird. Laithwaites sponsored this category (unsurprisingly!).

We return to Dalemain in June for our own Food and Wine Show – you can book tickets here. It is one of our favourite events and it will give you the chance to taste plenty of wine (and local Lakeland foods) and time to visit the vibrant, award-winning gardens too!

Will

Full Steam Ahead!

This week has seen our first two events of the year; a Wine Dinner at the George Hotel in Stamford, and a walk-around tasting at the STEAM Museum of the Great Western Railway in Swindon (pardon the pun with the blog title).

It was our first ever tasting in Swindon and we were lucky to have found such a spectacular venue to hold it in: STEAM - The Museum of the Great Western Railway is housed in a beautifully restored Grade II railway building in the heart of the former Swindon railway works (it is also very conveniently placed next to Swindon’s Discount Outlet Centre, which, naturally, Will and I couldn't resisit popping in to when we initially went to view the venue).

The Museum tells the story of the men and women who built, operated and traveled on the Great Western Railway. The exhibitions and magnificent locomotives provided a fascinating backdrop as we poured 30 wines, 2 beers, a Cider, a Port and a Maury for 100 tasters.

We were joined by Libby and Brigitte from Le Chai, who flew over from Bordeaux especially to join us and presented 3 lovely Chai wines, plus Will Laithwaite who brought along a cracking beer, the ‘Abingdon Bridge’ from his Loose Cannon Brewery.

My favourite part of the museum had to be the Station Platform, a reconstruction from the 1930’s, which was like stepping back in time. It all felt rather romantic as we served the Haton Champagne alongside the ‘Lode Star’, a steam locomotive built in 1907, and a 1934 Diesel Railcar... Cue lots of posing for photos!

The evening was very relaxed and enjoyed by all. Once again, having been the star of our 2010 tastings, the Pillastro D’Oro 2007 stole the show, closely followed the Stonewall Sauvignon 2009 then our Maury from Le Chai, the La Font Del Bosc 2005.

After Swindon came our annual visit to The George Hotel of Stamford to host a Wine & Dinner Evening, which was as delightful as ever. We, mainly Ian, have been holding events at The George Hotel for 18 years and never tire of it. It was my first visit this time, and I wasn’t disappointed. The hotel boasts traditional furnishings, log fires and quality food and wine, and Stamford itself is a charming town.

We were joined by 70 guests in the oak panelled Restaurant and all thoroughly enjoyed a Champagne reception, a quick tutored tasting by Ian including a Greek wine, the Malagousia 2009 Domaine Gerovassiliou, which caused a lot of interest and debate (very positive!) then a delicious four course dinner. Each course was carefully chosen to compliment the 4 dinner wines, finishing with the Jackson Triggs Ice Wine from Canada, served with Treacle Tart and Marmalade ice cream… heaven!

Next month we’re off to Colwyn Bay, Norwich, Cardiff, Godalming and Nottingham. Plus we’re currently planning our July – Dec events so do let us know if we’re due a visit to your town, especially if you can recommend a venue, at eventsfeedback@laithwaiteswine.com and we will try our very best to see you soon!

Jo x

P.S Special thanks to Puttyfoot for taking some great photos of the Swindon tasting for us! http://puttyfoot.com/

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

2011 is set to be a bumper year for us, with bigger, better, more exciting and interesting events planned already and scores more in the pipeline!

January is normally a month for taking a step back and recovering from the previous year and the festive period - not the case this year! We are kicking off 2011 with a couple of very special events.

The first event of 2011 is the ever-popular and now sold out dinner at The George of Stamford, Lincolnshire – it’s become an annual fixture! After a Champagne reception, guests will be treated to a tasty, specially designed four-course meal in the beautiful, oak-panelled restaurant of this historic coaching inn, all carefully matched with a selection of eclectic wines from our range:

Weingut Felsner Grüner Veltliner 2009 Kremstal
Domaine Les Escondudes 2009 Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC
Finca Valpiedra 2001 (magums), Rioja Reserva DOC
Jackson Triggs Vidal Icewine 2007, Ontario

The first tasting of the year (and one that I am particularly excited about, as I’m organising it) is at STEAM Museum of the Great Western Railway on Tuesday 25th January in Swindon, Wiltshire.

We will be joined by several producers including Sam Lockyer from Stonewall Estate in New Zealand and Libby Woolcock from our very own Le Chai au Quai in Castillon-La-Bataille, Bordeaux. I’m very pleased to be able to say that Will Laithwaite will also be attending the evening, bringing along his excellent creation, Abingdon Bridge beer from Loose Cannon Brewery, for guests to sample. Tickets are still available, so if you fancy a glass of Champagne on the atmospheric pre-War station platform (think Brief Encounter) and sampling 30 wines in a very relaxed and informal atmosphere, surrounded by history, then please do buy your tickets now.

The office will be busy in January with two supplier tastings for staff planned, including an extra special visit from Edouard Moueix. His family are regarded by many in the wine industry as Bordeaux royalty and are associated with some of the best Châteaux on the Right Bank.

Keep watching this space and I hope to see you all at an event soon!

Will
For a list of all our Events, click here

And Finally...

2010 has been a year of a few firsts for the Events Team; our first tasting at the Eden Project, our first Wine Show at Vinopolis, our first run-in with a volcanic ash cloud and both Jo and Will’s first tastings. It’s been a great year and we’re looking forward to seeing what 2011 brings.

Our 2010 highlights:

John –‘A fantastic evening aboard the HMS Warrior and our Lake District visits - looking forward to heading back with our Cumbria tasting in June.’
Will – ‘The Eden Project tasting. A brilliant venue and a great excuse to return to my home county!’
Ian – ‘Also the HMS Warrior and hosting a wine and dinner evening at Le Manoir alongside the first lady of New Zealand Wine, Jane Hunter’
Jo – The Vinopolis Show – I loved the festival buzz and spending a few days around Borough Market was great fun!’

The most popular wine from across our 2010 tastings has got to be the Pillastro Selezione d’Oro which has wowed our customers across the UK every time we’ve shown it this year… It’s certainly one to keep you warm this winter!

Thank you to every one who has come along to one of our events this year – we’ve really enjoyed doing them and hope that you had a great time too!

We’ve got lots of exciting new locations (Brighton, Godalming & North Wales, to name a few) and some old favourites (HMS Warrior, Lincoln and the Lake District) already booked up for 2011. Our first one is at the end of January at STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway in Swindon… Let’s hope the weather improves by then!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Events Team