Dairy? No diary … come and have a glass

Next Big Event is the thirty-somethingth Sunday Times London Vintage Festival at the Lawrence Hall, Westminster on April 15th and 16th.

I'll be there, God willing, like I've been there every session for thirty- something years. Propping up one stall or another, gassing away.

I must say it’s been one of my better ideas, and it’s lasted. Other wine festivals come, and soon go. The VF goes on. And on. Because it’s brilliant.

I'm the co-founder and co-chairman of The Sunday Times Wine Club - with Hugh Johnson as our illustrious President. H and I always insisted that a proper Club had to be, well, 'Clubby'. Which is, basically, lots of chaps of all ages and genders getting together for civilized drinks.

Also, I can't get enough of my winemaker chums. I go see them whenever I can but there's rather a lot of them and the world is big, so it’s good to get them together in London once a year. That plan really worked. They love it. They all say our Wine Clubbers are the best audience they ever meet anywhere in the world.

It’s fantastic to walk into the hall Friday morning when it’s all set up like a big French market, the sun streaming through the great glass roof, the last minute hammering and blu-takking. And there they all are … "Bonjour", "Salut", "Hola", "G'day", "Hi" and so forth - what a linguist, eh?

"Try this, no, try this …" Tugged here there … And so it goes on for two happy days. The sainted Hugh gets up and speaks every now and then. Don't know what he speaks but has no affect whatever on all the chatter going on as everyone suddenly finds that wine allows you to speak Portuguese or Moldovan. Animated! By the end it’s more than animated.

But … hardly ever a real drunk. A man did once fall over in the foyer but that was my late father in law and it wasn't the drink, it was his TNT spray that did it.

I say all this because I've just heard there are a couple hundred tickets left unsold. So there's a chance for non-Members to get in to this; possibly the best wine fair on the planet and one of London’s best kept secrets.

Try lotsa wines … but, please, don't overdo it! Keep our Club code. There are spittoons. And after all these years, people realise they are a very good idea if you want to try everything … i.e. hundreds of wines. The growers come at their expense - and they are mostly not wealthy people - because they like the people they meet; people who want to know more … and don’t get blootered like they do at Paris shows.

You'll be very welcome. Find all the information you need – including how to buy your tickets, pricing, times and directions – at sundaytimeswineclub.co.uk.

See you there.