Every year, for over a quarter of a century now, a group of wine merchants and writers have got together to taste a Bordeaux vintage as it reached 10 years of age. When I joined the group in the early 1990’s the tastings were held at the home of the late Bill Baker, wine merchant, wine taster and gourmet extraordinaire. The tastings were also held sometimes at The White Horse Inn at Chilgrove where Barry Phillips had built up a legendary wine list. More recently, the tastings have taken place at Farr Vintners and this year was the first time in our wonderful new offices where we have a magnificent tasting room over-looking the River Thames.
Coming up with a new tasting theme is always something of a challenge. What will be of interest to our customers? What have people not tasted for a while? What is looking like a good buy? And, last but not least, as we are, after all, a wine trader, what wines that meet the previous criteria do we have available to sell? This was our dilemma a couple of months ago when we started planning a tasting to coincide with the week of Vinexpo in Hong Kong.
