If you're looking for everything in one place then the Waitrose Drinks Festival is the one for you. The County Hall in central London on the banks of the River Thames perfectly matched the size of this tasting; huge building, huge event.
On arrival we each received a wristband with an electronic disc linked to our email. This enabled us throughout the show to tap exhibitors' tablets and after the event emails containing the details of the wines and spirits we tasted would be sent to our inbox.
I initially thought this was a great idea if a little cumbersome at times, especially for the exhibitors who were also pouring drinks and answering visitor questions.
Before the show itself began we visited the Taylors coffee and tea lounge which offered a variety of cookies chocolates and hot drinks. It was lovely to sit in the relaxing surroundings and browse through the brochure to look at which exhibitors to visit.
It soon became apparent that although we would have four hours it would be impossible to cover all the rooms and see all the exhibitors.
As I browsed the Waitrose brochure I was a little dismayed that it only gave a small description of each exhibitor rather than listing the wines and prices for each stand. We did find that there was a price list at each stand but it was hard to read especially when a few people were at the same stand.
For me a wine event is all about learning more of the history, the country, the grape and the producer of a wine. It was great to chat to each exhibitor to learn more about the wines they were highlighting. Unfortunately as the event had so many exhibitors: 53 wine; 24 spirits; 11 gin; 34 beer, cider & food; and 14 fizz; it was impossible to visit all.
We had superb chats with all the wine exhibits we did visit - old friends, other recognised brands and some new discoveries. It was superb to chat to our much enjoyed wine makers Les Dauphins who exhibited their range of Cotes du Rhone wine including a full and well rounded Chateauneuf du Papes. We are huge fans of Les Dauphins enjoying their wine both here in the UK and whilst on our holidays in France.
It was also great to chat with Domaines Paul Mas and Rustenberg Wines both producers popular with us. Viognier is one of my favourite grapes and I'm always interested when a wine is a Viognier blend. Paul Mas Viognier Sauvignon Blanc was superb and transported me back to our Languedoc holidays.
I really liked the apricot notes in the slightly oaked Rustenberg Chardonnay and Hubby really liked the John X Merrimen Cabernet Sauvignon. A range of South African wines we both enjoy.
There were so many wine exhibitors I would have liked to stand and chat with. We did manage some time with PLB where I discovered their Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc and the delicious Royal Tokaji. It was great to find When in Rome exhibiting their wine boxes; we had met them before at
Love Wine.
From the wines we did taste the one that stood out for me was a superb white from Sicily. Grillo is a grape used to make Marsala wine but this Rapitala wine wasn't a sweet wine. Nutty, crisp, full of lemon and apple Grillo was such a refined wine and without doubt my best in show.
Very conscious of time running out we decided to move into the Spirits and Gin rooms, both of which were huge with such a variety of exhibitors. Southern Comfort is a favourite spirit of mine, especially at Christmas; it seems I am not alone in this as the stand was so crowded I did not get chance to discover their cocktail recipes.
I did however have a great chat with J and B Whisky, not being a whisky fan I was very surprised and impressed with their cocktail ideas. Maker's Mark was another whisky stand I visited, mainly as our son enjoys bourbon. Their cocktail of Maker's Mark bourbon with Merchant's Heart ginger was very nice and a cocktail I will be making at home.
It was good to see Dockyard Gin at the Local Gin Bar. We had visited this independent distillery when on
holiday in Chatham; their gin using 9 ingredients is one of my favourite. A new gin we discovered was Adnams'. Hubby has always enjoyed their beer, although he has yet to try their new low alcohol Ghost Ship (it wasn't at this event), and we both enjoyed Copper House Dry Gin.
With just three quarters of an hour left hubby decided to make a trip into the beer and cider room and I decided to make my way downstairs to the Champagne and Fizz. After a long walk back to the lift I made it down to floor 3 to discover a room full of fizz. So many exhibitors including English sparkling wines, but too many to do justice to or to learn about. It was great to see Bolney Estate again and I did discover an new English Sparkling Wine; Chalfor from Buckinghamshire.
Throughout the event food was served by waitresses; a good idea but in practice it was very difficult to balance everything and hold little pots of hot food. I know Hubby enjoyed the hand-held burger which was easier to manage whilst holding a wine glass and event brochure.
As we left everyone was given a tote bag containing miniature gins, soft drinks, beers, spices, tea, coffee, snacks, biscuits and a large magazine - a great goody bag if a little weighty.
As I mentioned before it would have been impossible for anyone to taste every wine, spirit, gin, champagne, beer or cider on offer and for me this event was far too big. I'm sure though that everyone visiting had a good time, quite apparant with the buzz as we made our way to the exit at the end of the event. It did feel more like an event for those people wanting a social afternoon with the opportunity to consume plenty of alcohol beverages. I have seen many comments suggesting this on social media with phrases such as 'fill your boots'.
Please don't misunderstand, we both had a lovely day meeting old friends and exhibitors we know as well as new exhibitors but we did come away a little disappointed. We felt rushed and had not been able to meet all the people we had hoped to.
Now at home I have received my email from all the exhibitors that had tapped my wristband. Hopefully in this post I have managed to highlight my favourites from the day. It has taken me a little while to work out which wine was on which stand as the links emailed directed me to Waitrose online shop instead of to each producer or supplier page as I had expected.
Personally I think the Waitrose Drinks Festival would have been better as separate events: a wine tasting event and a spirit/gin event. I did enjoy our day in County Hall but for me I prefer smaller and more personal events with more time and opportunity to discover more with each exhibitor - less is often more!
