I joined the Patriarche Wine Agencies team a few weeks ago as their trainee and at that time I couldn’t have imagined that I would be learning how to recognise, taste and appreciate wines so soon! They really threw me in at the deep end and even after only three weeks I’ve been amazed at how much I’ve learnt.

We've had loads of tastings in the office which really prepared me for my first wine event; Taste of London 2011.

I was asked to help support the tastings we held in the VIP enclosure on behalf of British Airways where we hosted 28 wine tastings and tutored over 400 people through a selection of the British Airways' Club World wines.

Although the weather wasn’t in our favour, the VIP Enclosure was full of people and we were delighted by the response we received; every tasting was fully booked!

Each VIP had four wines to taste, two whites and two reds and over the four days we got through over 100 bottles of wine.  Our tasting area was beautifully set up on a tall white bar with space for 14 VIPs who each tasted through two white wines and two red wines representing a real selection that will be served onboard this month. It was fascinating to learn which wines the different groups preferred. The wines we tasted were:

Sancerre 2010, Chateau de Thauvenay, Loire Valley France
and
Hahn Winery Chardonnay 2009, Monterey California

Mount Riley Pinot 2009, Marlborough, New Zealand
and
Chateau de la Rivière 2004, Fronsac, Bordeaux, France

Supporting our team who were promoting the BA Club World wine experience, welcoming the VIPs and talking them through the wines was a great learning experience for me. It’s the first wine tasting event I’ve been to; I can’t wait for the next one!