Caroline’s Corner – June 2018

What did you miss?
On 5th June you missed having your taste buds tickled by Luci of From Vineyards Direct. We tasted six delicious declassified wines from Bordeaux, all from famous Chateaux.

On 4th July we will be meeting at the exclusive Royal Thames Yacht Club in Knightsbridge. 5pm sees a panel discussion on “Is there a glass ceiling?” and at 6.30, Mark Fritz will energise us with “Leading Yourself First”.

What did you miss?
XTEND members were joined by their guests and members of Booming Lives*, to have their taste buds tickled by the knowledgeable and passionate Luci. She explained that From Vineyards Direct partner with some of the top Grand Cru vineyards in Bordeaux – Chateau Margaux, Chateau Lafite to name just two – in order to bottle ‘declassified’ wines. These wines are often made from surplus production that cannot go into the First or even Second wines of these great Chateaux. But, they are made by the same vintner, from the same grapes and using the same careful fermentation. From Vineyards Direct was started by her boss, Esme Johnston, who was the Founder of Majestic wines. They have obviously spent many a happy hour at the various Chateaux tasting the wines which will be sold as Declassified. Bankside Gallery, the home of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, provided a feast for the eyes as we listened to Luci and made notes about the six wines. Tasty nibbles helped to soak up the wine. My favourite of the reds was the Saint-Julien 2014, but the star of the show for me was the Sauternes 2016 – delicious!

Next meeting at the exclusive Royal Thames Yacht Club in Knightsbridge on 4th July
begins at 5pm with a provocative panel discussion of
“Is there a glass ceiling?”
3 Senior Board level women – Sally Martin, of the 30% Club, Caroline Evans of Mindleap and Sue Milton of SSM Governance, discuss their own experiences of the topic
followed by the dynamic
Mark Fritz at 6.30pm on “Leading Yourself First – Personal Effectiveness for Today’s World”
*Booming Lives – advancing retirement thinking – http://www.boominglives.co.uk/