"What...", said the man who looks after this website and all its twittering and flickering, "What on earth...do you lot talk about for a week solid, then?"

Well, at the 'Global Executives' me, I mostly listen and try, as befits my age, to look wise. My job. The managers do the talking. They talk without pause... fast, powerfully and passionately. They impress the hell out of me. They shatter me to bits!

However I do have this one speaking job, myself. It's the philosophy bit; trying to get everyone to agree what we are here for, what we believe in, where we are going and why and all that.

It's important we all agree on these things. Otherwise, chaos. We bring in another Professor to help. Norwegian, this one. (No, I don't know why Norwegian...but he's called Scott which isn't so very Norwegian is it?)

You want to hear what we've come up with so far; Our "Purpose" and our "Values"? Of course you don't.

Rather have a tooth out.

But as I've discovered that many of my lot actually read my diary I thought I would try and put in it my work; the results of some of the hardest thinking I've ever done. Not Einstein but, for me, a big effort. Because my lot would clearly like to know what comes out of these days when all their managers disappear into a small room for a week.

So if the rest of you could just bear with us a while.

Our "Purpose" is easiest to write (though it took a while to think); we just want to be the best way there is - anywhere - to buy wine.

We just want our 'Laithwaites Wine' to be where wine really comes to life, better than anywhere else.

That's our purpose and why we are here.

Now the values we aspire to, that's a lot longer. That's going to take all week. But bear with me, I will get back to wine very soon. In fact, hot tip....here.

I think one of the very best wines we have ever made ourselves is the Laithwaite Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 which comes, perhaps surprisingly, not from anywhere in Bordeaux but from the village of Valvignieres in the Ardeche where Jean-Marc basically took over the co-op winery for about fifteen years, made a couple of great white wines and good 'everyday' reds, but had not, I thought, made a 'great' red.

I was wrong. Turns out he did. It just took time to mature. Try this wine now. Don't keep it, drink it. Eyes, shut, could be a ruddy Cru Classé!

JMS you ARE a French Genius! (That'll make his day)!

And there's a case of this CS sitting on my doorstep as I write. I do back my words with solid drinking.

Visit laithwaites.co.uk