The London Wine Fair has recently come and gone. For those not privileged to work in the wine and spirits trade, it’s an annual 3 day event which brings together wine and spirit producers , merchants and service providers with members of the trade involved in the sale and purchase of wine and spirits.
If you are not going for a specific reason, just for a general look and tasting it is a bit akin to letting children loose in a sweet shop. There is so much going on. Set on two floors at Olympia exhibition centre, you can spend a whole day there and not see it all.
Some of the stands which caught my eye were a Japanese Saki promotion with probably more varieties of Saki in one place than anywhere in Japan including an interesting selection of sparkling Saki. A mobile gin distillery on the back of a truck which can come to you. Thunder Toffee and Rhubarb and Ginger flavoured Vodka produced and marketed by Jon Lilly of Scream Retail Limited.
I met Eduardo Gomes-Helena winemaker of Quinta Do Javali who are looking for a distributors for their exceptional Port in the UK. I also visited The Portuguese Fine Wine Co, The knotted Vine Company and Ginking botanically infused fizz stands, All good stuff ....
The star of the show for me was a gold medal winning 2017 Muller - Therese Trockenbeerenauslese.
Pleased I tasted it while I still had my taste buds in place. Outstanding.
Finally I met Alan Gordon, Managing Director of The Aroma Academy. They are Global leading sensory training and marketing specialists. With expertise in Whisky, Bourbon, Wine, Gin and Rum. They provide skills both of value to the public and members of the trade and are setting the standard for this unique service. Talking of standards if you run a business of any size (not retail) IMSM provide award winning consultancy for ISO implementation. They offer a fixed fee service and are recognised for excellence with a 5 star rating by EFQM, the European Foundation for Quality Management.