I have only ever been to two wine symposia (!). I got lynched at the first one, for suggesting that the internet was A Good Thing, for wine drinkers AND wine makers, and not a 7 headed hydra sent to distrub the wine trade from its 200 year old trance.
So I approached the Master of Wines’ Forging Links Symposium with some trepidation. For one thing I don’t know one end of a first growth claret from another. And I suspected that my message would be even more unpopular this time around.
How wrong I was.
1. It was really inspirational. Now that the trade can see that the internet is the best chance talented winemakers will ever get to connect direct to thier customers, they are embracing the online world
2. Unlike most businesses, in the wine trade, the closer you get to the top of your game, the nicer people are. I sat next to Paul Draper, the man who put Montebello on the map….one of my wine heros. NOt recognising him at first, the conversation went something like this.
Me….Hello, what do you do?
PD….I make wine
Me…Oh, that’s nice. Would I have heard of you?
PD…..probably not.
3. Le Pin really is the dogs bollocks. I have tasted Chateaus LAfite, Latour etc…and wondered what all teh fuss was about. Last night I tasted Le Pin for the first time, and now I know what it feels like to drink a £1500 bottle of wine…that I would actually buy if I had the money. And as above the owners Fiona Morrison and Jacques Thienpont could not have been more delightfully down to earth.
4. I met some exciting new winemakers, all with the same story…I have a delicious wine, but I don’t know how to sell it, I don’t have the money or the time to do it myself….so expect to see them on Naked in the very near future.
I am on my way back to the office now, ideas buzzing around my head. 4 days well spent
Rowan
It is good information, thanks for sharing.
Bonjour naked Rowan,
Great to talk with you at the Symp. I thought that the dead-monies adored you as a god. Impressively open-minded, considering that you were predicting their demise.
Does this mean that we’ll be seeing some cracking Bordeaux whites and reds on Naked Wines then? Always thought it a great shame that the high-price hysterics at the twiddling little top of the Bordeaux pyramid distract from the fantastic value, quality and character to be found lower down….
Le Pin isn’t too rough, is it? Did you notice that Fiona also has fantastic legs?
Sarahxx
Hi Sarah, good to meet you too, yes I hope we will have some new winemakers coming out of it…at least 3 people are sending samples, so watch the space….
Rowan
and yes, Fiona does have great legs…nearly as good as the 2001′s!
Rowan
Hi Rowbags and Sarah
I can only assume that you are both talking about the legs on the Le Pin 2001 – both having been “deflowered” on the premises!! Thanks for the great feedback
Fiona