What do those in the wine trade buy for themselves when they’re not getting showered with freebie samples? We’re a spoilt lot, it’s true, but one of the perks of working in the industry is that we have the opportunity to taste – and perhaps even drink – some of the best wines in the world. We bounce in and out of highfalutin tastings, sometimes greeted by hundreds of bottles of open wine, chatting to winemakers and tasting as many as we possibly can; we even have the temerity to spit some of them out – not because we don’t approve, but because it means we can taste more without falling over. Dedication to the cause, and all that.
One of the true joys of coming across a new wine, however, lies in unearthing an unexpected gem, a cheeky underlier, a bottle that makes us throw a cartoon double-take in disbelief that it doesn’t cost twice as much – especially if we’re spending our own cash, for once.
