As many of you will know, I have been a member of the “10 Years On” tasting group for many years. This annual blind tasting was established in the 1980’s by the late, great Bill Baker who was one of the British wine trade’s most respected and knowledgeable experts until his untimely death in 2008. Bill had an encyclopaedic wine knowledge and lived an amazing gastronomic life. Before he left us, he had undoubtedly tasted most of the greatest wines ever made and racked up more Michelin starred meals than most people have had hot dinners.
Last week, a few of us from the wine trade got together in Portland restaurant’s private dining room to taste through a range of Bordeaux 2005s. Winemakers often refer to 2005 as the deck chair vintage because, from bud burst to harvest, the conditions were so perfect that they could pretty much sit back and watch the grapes ripen all by themselves. As a result, the wines that were produced were almost universally outstanding on both sides of Gironde.
Last week I was very privileged to be asked onto the 3 man tasting panel of "The World of Fine Wine" magazine. The subject matter was one of my favourites - 2005 Bordeaux and, as you can imagine, like most people reading this, I didn't have to be asked twice. My fellow panelists were the wine writer Stephen Brook (author of "The Complete Bordeaux" and numerous other wine and travel books) and wine educator and super-taster Michael Schuster.
