Annual Claret tasting (2014 vintage) – London
This event was very well attended, with almost 150 people attending in the course of the day. As ever, there was a good turn-out of brokers, merchants, Masters of Wine, MW students and the occasional journalist. There was tremendous interest in the 2014 vintage, partly because it is readily found on the market and partly because the wines proved to be easy and most enjoyable to taste. A comment often heard was that the differences between the appellations were pleasingly apparent. It was especially gratifying that an increasing number of people each year choose to taste the wines blind, one of the very few opportunities that serious wine professionals have for such a selection of Bordeaux Grands Crus Classés.
Given the calibre and high number of attendees, it is clear that this is one of the tasting highlights of the year in the UK. And there is no doubt that this is because of the exceptional quality and range of wines on show. We cannot emphasise enough how grateful the Institute of Masters of Wine is to the participating Châteaux for providing the bottles for this event; and we are sure in turn that the Châteaux benefit from the commercial benefit of wine professionals being about to taste wines at this stage of their development. Every year, this event reinforces the importance of Cru Classé Bordeaux to so many British and international wine businesses.
Watch the video below for a glimpse of this magical event