Join our Events...

(by Nicholas Faith and Richard Bampfield MW)

Are you a wine enthusiast or amateur? Would you like to understand more about the terroir and qualities of the world's greatest wines? Or would you just like to find out more about wine in a fun, informative, sociable ambiance?

If so, you might like to participate in any or all of the events in our AD VINEAM programme. According to your personal tastes, you can choose from our selection of formats, described below, which all follow the inimitable AD VINEAM style… join us at any of them.

I - Dinners

The ‘nec plus ultra’ of the combination of the greatest foods and wines in an intimate atmosphere with only a mere fifty lucky guests. The many-starred chef – and above all a friend of Bernard Antony crafted the menu in relation to the great wines and found time to spend a few minutes with us. Only the finest wines were served from a wide variety of regions within – and even outside - France.

II - The AD VINEAM Clubs

AD VINEAM can't compete with Madame La Baronne (cf.: Newsletter of Nicholas Faith) but we can ensure that our friends enjoy themselves, as they did in a "barbecue" in the garden of a friend’s house in Pimlico. We tasted lots of excellent Crus Bourgeois – the 1995 Phélan Ségur being unanimously acclaimed as the best – and ate superb Bavarian beef from the French Boucherie Nivernaise personally barbecued by our very own Georges Liurette with the strong support of Mike and Jerome.

III - Tasting Evenings

An informal tasting of offerings from the world of wine, some of them long-acknowledged stars, others happy discoveries was followed by a dinner dedicated to great vinous names. The interval was provided by Bernard Antony’s delicious and distinguished cheeses as we wanted to prolong the enjoyment of an atmosphere which was at once convivial and sophisticated. After a last act of sweet refinement some of our guests had enjoyed the pleasure of smoking a fine Cuban cigar accompanied by a brandy specially selected by our Committee of wine experts. All present left us with a surprise, naturally of our devising.

IV - Amazing Journeys

Cheval Blanc 1961, 1970 etc, provided a considerable contrast to an early tasting of the 2003 Le Pin. Such were the joys of a two-day journey to the Libournais – which also included an amazing visit to Château Canon, complete with chalk cellars so vast that the guide was afraid we might get lost. But back to the key event: a superb lunch at Cheval Blanc washed down by no fewer than five vintages of the wine – as well as a taste of 1975 Yquem and Fontvieille cognac from Ragnaud-Sabourin, a 35 year old proving that cognacs don’t have to be aged to be superb. To me the most amazing wine was the 1961 Cheval Blanc, still rich and oily – and the most delicious the 1985, the very model of the leafy elegance which makes Cheval Blanc unique.

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