Picking the perfect wine for the CityAM Awards
The CityAM awards was buzzing last week as titans of industry and charity, tech entrepreneurs, hospitality bigwigs and global leaders of finance stepped onto the red carpet and into the vaulted rooms of Guildhall. A band played as I swigged fizzing cold Crémant with the Naked Wines team before being gathered into the main hall. Moodily lit in purple and blue, there were glowing chandeliers above and towering candelabras on each table, with a DJ pumping out tunes from the hallowed rafters above. The City took a night off and prepared to party.
I had been invited to choose the wines for the event at a tasting held by The Clink Charity, so having tried all the dishes and wines I knew we were in for a treat. As an aside here, I must say The Clink’s tasting was the best I have ever been to. No swift bite for approval here. They had seated us on a beautifully decorated table for welcome cocktails and what would be full plates of artistically arranged, gorgeously delicious food. I had mistakenly set aside an hour; this would have happily taken four. They also work to reduce reoffending by working with prisoners and ex-prisoners to offer them training and catering qualifications – and I am proud CityAM chose them for this important event. It was a triumph.
It is tempting to play it safe when picking wines for an event with hundreds of people and a Chablis was looking expectantly at me, but when it came down to pairing our plump salmon and caviar starter, I chose a bit of a wild card. It was a blend so unusual I received a note from our editor Christian May checking I was sure of my choice. I was.
I selected Dom Maxwell The Bloom (Naked Wines, £13.99; Angel Price, £11.99), a blend of Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris from New Zealand. These grapes may typically be known for off-dry or sweetly rounded wines but this was a pleasingly light, delicately floral, dry and pretty white wine that was a unanimous hit. Sorry Chablis, sometimes it pays to leave preconceptions behind because you never know what a winemaker has decided to do until you taste it for yourself.
The main course was a meltingly good slow cooked lamb or a perfect miso aubergine for the vegetarians. With such depth of flavour I knew we could go for a rich, full-fruited red and was pretty much prepared to marinade myself in the DRG Daryl Groom Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 (Naked Wines, £31.99; Angel Price, £19.99). It was that good. A mouthwatering, happiness enhancing Californian red from acclaimed Napa’s Sonoma County, this wine is as prestigious and powerful as our guests. Owner of Boisdale restaurants Ranald MacDonald, whose silk and velvet jacket was a hue to match the wine, proclaimed it “precise on the nose, rich and very, very elegant”.
My tablemate, former professional Rugby player Simon Shaw, gave a more succinct “very nice indeed” before quaffing it back while Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, chief exec of UK Music, quipped it showed American imports were alive and well.
Chris Hayward, Canada Corporation policy chairman told how the City leads the economic health of the country and that it should do so with openness, collaboration and a pledge to come together with a shared purpose. Former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane urged us to no longer hide “under the duvet” from risk as a world of no-or-low risk is a world of no-or-low return.
UK Hospitality’s Kate Nicholls was crowned Personality of the Year and gave one of the most uplifting speeches of the night on how hospitality “lights up your days”.
A relentless force for good in this vital industry, Nicholls has been at the forefront, leading solutions and engagement over an incredibly unstable time. Being an avid wino and foodie living in this city, which has some of the best hospitality in the world, I raised more than one glass of DRG to that.