The Doctors' on the road
One of the nice things about exporting NZ Wine is that over the years you come to appreciate your distributors as old friends that you have grown up with and weathered some storms and differences together. For me returning to Ireland and the UK after almost 5 years it definitely felt like that. John is a regular visitor still. The team of people involved with all these markets are amazing and deserve a big thank you once again.
It was great to be able to support James Nicholson in Ireland and be part of Northern Ireland’s first “Food Show”. John and I have loved watching the rebirth of a strong and interesting food movement especially in Northern Ireland and people like Neven Maguire, Michael Deane and Stephen Lenahan – to name just a few who are embracing all the wonderful fresh Irish produce and seafood and allowing it to stand proud without overworking it. Even in the small towns in The West we found amazing, super enthusiastic wine and food loving chefs from all around the globe making amazing memories for we “foodies”. The scenery and people are gorgeous as well. It is such a pleasure to join with these people to do wine and food dinners for such appreciative groups
In the UK similarly Laithwaites LIVE in London was a fun day of interacting with wine lovers and the Laithwaite family certainly made a very informative day of it for all with Tom and Tony’s theatre sessions on ageing wine, chocolate pairing, aromatics etc. Barbara’s English Sparkling Wine “Wyfolds” taking out the people’s choice for the show was very special for them as well.
In Suffolk we were delighted to introduce more Kiwis to the delights of Southwold and our Adnams team and their bustling Cellar and Kitchen and delighted to catch up with our friends Mark and Sophie at The Anchor in Walberswick – Mark still remains our biggest single account in the UK and has done from his days at “The White Horse” in Parsons Green, London. As usual these days are spent instructing John and Brigid in the great European wines to avoid a Kiwi cellar palate.
A few days in the Napa with one of Forrest’s old staff members, Christina Pate, saw 3 fascinating visits to small passionate wineries of similar age and vision to our own and of course for Brigid to get her fill of Zinfandel! It was great to share with these owners our dreams, the vineyard sites and of course the product!
In the UK similarly Laithwaites LIVE in London was a fun day of interacting with wine lovers and the Laithwaite family certainly made a very informative day of it for all with Tom and Tony’s theatre sessions on ageing wine, chocolate pairing, aromatics etc. Barbara’s English Sparkling Wine “Wyfolds” taking out the people’s choice for the show was very special for them as well.
In Suffolk we were delighted to introduce more Kiwis to the delights of Southwold and our Adnams team and their bustling Cellar and Kitchen and delighted to catch up with our friends Mark and Sophie at The Anchor in Walberswick – Mark still remains our biggest single account in the UK and has done from his days at “The White Horse” in Parsons Green, London. As usual these days are spent instructing John and Brigid in the great European wines to avoid a Kiwi cellar palate.
A few days in the Napa with one of Forrest’s old staff members, Christina Pate, saw 3 fascinating visits to small passionate wineries of similar age and vision to our own and of course for Brigid to get her fill of Zinfandel! It was great to share with these owners our dreams, the vineyard sites and of course the product!