Neil Young would like it here...down by the river at The Wharf

It's a real stinker of an afternoon, the heavens as open as the French Tennis.....Open and the sky as dull as caviar! But, nobody need worry for the energetic folk at The Wharf on Teddington Lock are primed and ready to go for an Ellis of Richmond training session. Organised through a few meetings with myself, the chef proprietor Ray Neve and F&B Director Gregg Brown, since they have such a marvellous wine list sourced primarily through us, we thought it wise to hold 4 annual training sessions for all of the staff within the operation. Not just the bar staff, not on your nelly! This was for all those that needed a touch of 'grape gratification' and those that simply wanted to come along and learn about this wonderful bottled stuff we call wine.
What I love most about training and more importantly engaging with our customers is that everyone is different and everyone has their own take on wine, whether they understand it or not, it makes no odds because this all about having a bit of fun with wine all the while remaining focused on what we want to achieve, a concept that The Wharf have a firm grasp on...like a wife does to her husband! Sorry, had to get that in...I am married so that's ok for me to get away with that right? Digress.com - and so here we all were, upstairs in the lovely private dining area of the top floor overlooking the Thames. My first observation was how the room was setup, which was one of the best I have seen yet...

I was certainly impressed with how it all looked and credit to the team there for doing this - game on!
This was taken a short while before the staff wandered up and started to realise that it was 2.30pm after a busy lunchtime shift and they were about to taste some delicious wine.  Here's what we tasted:

Whites - Muscadet Sur Lie Domaine des Herbauges (Loire, France), Backsberg Chenin Blanc (South Africa), Domaine Gautheron Petit Chablis, Gavi di Gavi Ca da Bosio (Italy)
Rose - Le Poussin Rose (Languedoc)
Reds - Chateau Gachon (St Emillion, Bordeaux), Cantine Crociani Rosso di Montepulciano (Tuscany), Familia Schroeder Alpataco Malbec (Argentina)
Pudding - Rietvallei Red Muscadel (South Africa)

A nice diverse and eclectic mix of wines from The Wharf wine list to give the guys and gals a 'flavour' of the quality an interesting selection of wines to then wax lyrical about.  Now a wine training session would simply not be a training session without a wee quiz at the end; nothing too elaborate or difficult...

...and I don't think I have the presence and demeanour that John Humphreys.  So, it was short multiple choice quiz based on the session we had just completed...of which there were 2 winners!  So naturally a tie-breaker scenario culminated in a chap called Will won, who has been with The Wharf since 1999 and quite fitting if I am honest - I salute you!
All in all, this was a great training session and I am only too pleased that we have another 3 in the calendar year to look forward to.  Summer session up next which can mean only one thing...ROSE!!!  I look forward to the next one guys and gals, in the meantime remember those 4 'esses'!  Chin Chin :)