Last month Berry Bros. & Rudd were delighted to host a tasting in the stunning (and recently refurbished) venue of The Waldegrave Drawing Room of St Mary’s College, Twickenham.

This was the debut of a series of regional portfolio tastings planned for the South of England this year.  For many years we have been running a successful calendar of tastings and events in our own cellars at No.3 St James’s Street in London so we felt it was time to take it on the road; Berrys’ Wine Roadshow rather than Antiques Roadshow, if you will!

Our Wine Education Specialist and host for the evening, Martin Hudson MW, selected 24 wines and 4 spirits to show to guests and we split these up amongst six tables to give guests a chance to dip in and out as they pleased. Each table was manned by an expert from Berrys who was on hand to discuss the wines and their styles.

Guests had already sampled some of our fantastic Own Selection wines and offerings from our current White Burgundy sale as well as a delicious Champagne before reaching the table I was hosting- so expectations were high!

My table featured wines from the upcoming Wine Club delivery. We kicked off with the superb-for-drinking-now 2009 Churton Sauvignon which proved refreshing on what was a slightly muggy evening. My final wine was 2005 Marques de Murrieta Reserva Rioja which found some fans with its rich, red and black fruited spiciness but it was the two wines in the middle which I found myself talking about the most.

The spritzy, crisp elegance of Grüner Veltliner from Bründlmayer went down really well, with guests enjoying its peachy richness cut through with zippy acidity. My second red wine was the wonderfully fragrant 2009 Langhe Nebbiolo from Fratelli Alessandria. Light on its feet with plenty of crunchy red fruit and cool minerality it was the perfect foil to the richer, fuller Rioja.

Most guests progressed with a visit to our Cellar Plan table which showcased some fabulously mature red Burgundy and Bordeaux, chosen to illustrate the progression of wines held in cellar. A quick stop at table 6 yielded some gems from the French part of our list (I loved the Côtes du Rhône for its vibrant black fruit character) and then it was onto spirits and our extraordinary No. 3 London Dry Gin alongside whisky, brandy and King’s Ginger Liqueur.

No wine tasting is complete without something to nibble on and we were treated to a delicious selection of cheeses and cold meats from British Fine Foods.

I’m really looking forward to the next event at Baron’s Hall at Penshurst Place and Gardens, Tunbridge Wells on Thursday 27^th September.  Look out for a tasting near you soon!