The results are in! The wines selected to fly the Miss Bouquet World Wine Flag are ready to be revealed! Last month, when England was still in the World Cup and the St George’s cross was freckling the streets I got a group of football widows together for a night flying a flag of a different kind. The World Wine Flag. Red, white and rosé of course.

Why? Well I’ve sat through my fair share of formulaic wine trade seminars in my time, you know the ones with the dramatic sounding titles that lead you to believe that by attending this seminar you’ll walk away with the key to abundant wine sales at profitable margins for years to come. My most recent experience of this time wasting exercise was at the London International Wine Fair 2010 in May. The seminar was alluringly titled:

“Where is the UK wine category heading”

………

As the world cup approaches I don’t seem to be able to escape football, Ferdinand and flags. The union jack is popping up in more London windows than there were election posters and white vans are already freckled with red crosses. Chez Miss Bouquet however I’m determined not to let football fever get in the way of a good glass of wine so I’m starting a little project which will raise a flag of a different kind; the wine flag. Red, white and rosé. Of course.

The idea is to gather a group of football widows during one of the first round England matches to taste through a selection of wines and find out what girls-about-London-town have a taste for this summer.

The date is confirmed and will be held on Friday 18^th June for England v Algeria. ………

If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll be familiar with the term ‘mini measures.’ It’s a phrase I’ve coined for trying different wines without having to think about it too much. The idea is simple, instead of ordering a bottle you order small glasses of different wines throughout an evening thereby trying something new whilst helping to avoid a fuzzy head the next day (that last part is entirely in your own hands of course!)

I’ve been enjoying practising what I preach for months now and it’s been going pretty well. But lately I’ve noticed this simple try-it-and-see practice isn’t as satisfying as it should be as I’ve frequently been walking away from the bar unconvinced that what’s in my glass is actually what I asked for. It’s like standing at the checkout at the supermarket, you know the scenario; “Would you like a bag madam?” “Yes/No” (delete as appropriate) only to find that the cashier has bone-idley decided to give you one anyway. (Dear cashier, if you offer me a choice please allow me to choose.) ………

Consumed by the knowledge that spring is now round the corner I’ve been doing everything I can to prepare for the new season. As has become tradition I spent 48 hours on a credit card melting sejour in Paris to treat my wardrobe, followed this year by a couple of days at the Salon des vins de Loire to pick up tips on what I should be stocking on my wine rack this season. Let’s face it, if you’re going to spring clean then do it properly or not at all. That means wardrobe and wine rack. ………

So last week when I heard Gary Vaynerchuk, the fastest rising star in the wine world, was coming to London I had to go and hear him speak. He was over here launching his new book “Why now is the time to Crush it! Cash in on your passion” or “Crush It!” for short. If you haven’t heard of him, where have you been? And if you have heard of him where were you? ………