The Vintage Festival

Richard Fallaize, our traditionally-built van man who does the heavy-lifting at our shows, was chatting with a customer down from Leeds who confessed that, at 75 he'd regretfully decided last year he'd done his last Vintage Festival. However, intrigued by the new venue; Old Billingsgate on the river, he thought he'd give it one more go.

He loved it to bits. Now, he enthused to Richard, we need not worry; he'd be coming to VF's to the end of his days.

Our new home had that effect on everyone we all met. Unanimity … nothing but praise for Old Billingsgate.

Not just the older customers;  the new and young too. The Friday evening session crowd just keeps getting younger and more boisterous. Innocent babes though, compared to Mr Charles Smith: Rock n' Roll winemaker from Washington State. They met their match there! We all did!

I loved how our young team (I will always think of John and Ian as young and the others actually are young) had used the space so cleverly. They'd kept our traditional 'wine market' look, (the antithesis of those corporate exhibitions: rows of boxes with rent-a-dollies and suits).

There was now much more comfort, good food and an un-intrusive sound system you could actually understand. There were no scrums and time to talk as well as taste.

The VF is a very important, once-a-year effort for us.  And it IS a HUGE EFFORT.

It’s not about making money. (I'm not sure it does).

But it is just something we HAVE to do. And something we LOVE to do.

We spend all year trying, with our writings, to bring producers and customers closer together.

But for just two nights we REALLY get them together. And the result is Beautiful!! And we all; customers, wine producers, us, get a brilliant reminder of why we so love our very special world of wines.

'Til next year then!

Barbara's vineyard update

A last-minute rush of volunteers ensured we were well supported for our work-party evening rubbing the trunk buds (unwanted!!) off the Wyfold vines.

I think a number of people waited for the latest weather forecast and I was myself unsettled as I drove down the lane in the late afternoon, by what looked like a tornado coming towards me! Turned out to be a quick squall followed by a lovely sunny evening and a spectacular rainbow.

We completed the work in double quick time and settled down to an enjoyable barbecue and wine tasting. A toast to the crew with the award winning Wyfold 2009 bubbles finished the evening and we all look forward to the next gathering on June 27th.

Our many thanks to all who joined in. See you in June!

Barbara, Cherry, Ben and Henry

Vive la Reine, Windsor

Tonight we saw 'our' wine being poured for The Queen and her house-guests at dinner in Windsor. Not the wine from the grapes we grow on a hill in the Royal Farm here because they've not actually been harvested yet (fingers crossed for sun from now to October). No, this was our very own Château La Clarière Laithwaite 2009 – made by our Henry – that had been chosen for this dinner.  

I hope Her Majesty really liked it. She seemed very happy. It might be a bit on the young side, I worried … for someone with as good and ancient a cellar as the Royal Family undoubtedly has. 

A vintage delivery at the palace in the original Bordeaux Direct van

Madame Cassin would have burst with pride. "Ca Alors!" “Pouf!” For La Clarière comes from vineyards in the village of Ste Colombe that were in her family for centuries. And Madame – my teacher in all things traditionally French – always described herself as a 'Royaliste' (she wanted the French king back. Neither she nor Monsieur had any time for modern leaders; though actually, he was staunchly 'Bonapartiste' … such arguments they had!)

Thanks to kind customers; saintly old Canon Bentley and his sweet wife, I once got them seats in St George's Chapel for the Garter Ceremony. Gosh, they loved that!  But today, yep, certainly both would have burst. 

When they sold their vineyards to Barbara and I, they challenged us to make wine good enough to show the world what Castillon could do. We work at it.

B and I were out in Bordeaux last weekend checking things over now the long, long winter is over. Ste Colombe was soon a-buzz with news of the impending Royal Degustation of a Colombien wine! "Ha! Another one in the eye for those cocky, damned St Emilionais next door".

The Battle of Castillon

In our Castillon region we see we are definitely on the way up and righting those ancient wrongs.  "Voyez … we always said our wine was better!! Vive Sa Majesté".

It is never forgotten around here that it was the Castillonais who begged for the English King's army to come and throw out the unpleasant "maudit" troops of the 'foreign' French (worse - Parisian) king.

Castillon always wanted to keep their English king. They did for 300 years. Good for the wine trade, you see. But the battle in 1453 went the wrong way of course and in punishment the town's castle was totally destroyed. (One bit of wall remains; now the back wall of our Chai au Quai). 

The spectacular re-enactment

That battle is re-fought in Castillon-la-Bataille most summer weekends by a cast of hundreds, in front of audiences of thousands. Spectacular. Always the same result though.

But, tonight, at Windsor …… Ah Madame, Monsieur and all Castillon, this delicious little result is for you. Vive Castillon!  

Laithwaite's Wine in the Big Apple

80, Fifth Avenue, Penthouse: the setting for our first 'Spring Festival'; three Customer Tastings in New York. 600 turned up. Enthusiastic? The word doesn't do justice to the atmosphere in that great room. 40 of our US office slaved to make the whole thing run like clockwork. Libby and Thomas very much in charge.  Good start; will certainly grow. We can now do 6000 a go in London (in a couple of weeks; Old Billingsgate – grab the few remaining tickets). 

Took a crowd of great winemakers from around Europe to present and pour alongside their US colleagues from the West Coast and Long Island. It all got very animated. As it always does. I think some particularly liked having their glasses filled by our smiling Principessa Natalia Strozzi. They work very hard these days, do Princesses. As do her neighbours Paolo and Anna Rita Masi. 

Wines of the Show winners

 There were also Diane and Hervé from Argentina, Laura from Puglia, Jean-Marc Pardon from Beaujolais (his first trip to the Big Apple), Javier, Paloma and Ruth from Rioja, Marianna from Portugal, Laurent and Hervé from the Midi plus others.  

Fifth Avenue by night

 The sun shone all afternoon on that stunning skyline then the city lit up for the evening. Quite distracting for some of us.  My three boys came and poured too… Is this what it’s like having a backing group? I shall enjoy more of this till the boys give me the elbow.  

The backing group

Did the tourist bit at w/e. It was certainly the best time to enjoy Central Park and most of New York was doing just that. The new leaves, the blossoms and that brilliant sky. 

Boy Band (minus Henry)

Brooklyn Winery was the best evening in town; all reclaimed wood, adapted junk, big tables and such; even an Oompah Band for the wedding going on in the tank room.

Brooklyn Winery

 Reminiscent of those Heurege grower's cellar/wine bars that encircle Vienna. The Winery ships in juice from the top end of Long Island (a hundred wineries up there) and the West Coast. Makes, matures and bottles – or pours straight from the tank. Jean-Marc S very jealous; he's been wanting to do this in London for years. 

 

Brooklyn is lovely; still affordable for inventive start-ups like this and their young customers. Cool! So cool. Parties all night. I particularly like the old tin garage with its nightly BBQ.  Huge portions, of course. Always huge here. Night ended up at a brewery. I think. 

 

Our US office is one hour north in South Norwalk (SoNo) Connecticut. Little town that seems built mostly of converted warehouses. And Laithwaite's Wine USA is in one – an old Lock factory. All rough brick and exposed pipes; everyone loves it. We Brits are quite jealous. Hear all about their latest ideas. Fantastic team there. Presided over by our Ade who started out with us under the old Railway Arch long, long ago. And I still call him Young Ade. 

Try their latest wines. Henry, Jean-Marc and I do our wine tasting Act. Then back home. It was lovely, USA, we will be back!