Mostly I am very glad I live in a village in Scotland, but every now and then London calls. The excuse this time was #iwc2010 (aka the International Wine Challenge) and what with London being the center of the wine world, it’s generally very easy to tag on a tasting either side.

Sleeper arrived on time and walking from Euston towards Barbican at 7am was made even more pleasant by spring sunshine. The people in central London at that time are not harassed (yet) and it’s altogether very lovely. Smiths of Smithfield is our usual place for breakfast: 2 poached eggs and strong coffee I was ready for the challenge. And by the time we’d left SOS, the angry ants had returned. How can someone cycling to work in the sunshine be so annoyed with people?

As the 100 or so judges gathered it was lovely to recognise old faces from years gone by and I always look forward to my hug from Charles Metcalfe! I was in a team with Neal Martin, Patricia Stefanowicz MW and a Russian wine maker and by the end of the morning we had awarded a hand-full of golds and lots of silvers … my best morning ever at IWC! Afternoon flights were harder with a large run of young Rioja’s and we finished with some Chilean Carmeneres which made me want to scream as the Emiliana at £5.5 was soooo much better than all of them.

It’s a unique melting pot of journalists, bloggers, retailers, wine makers, PR people, sommeliers … and everyone hangs on for a beer afterwards - the last thing you want to actually drink is wine! I was especially please to meet the Knackered Mummy from the blog the Knackered Mother’s Wine Club! Looked great though, not too knackered at all!

We stayed on for a Sake Masterclass with Ken Ohashi who is ‘the man’. We learned about the different terms Junmai vs non-Junmai, Ginjo and Honjozo and tasted 6 different sakes all with the seal of approval from Ken that they were very good examples … Presentation was great and whilst I appreciate the opportunity to taste and learn, I’m afraid I don’t get it. And I’ll not be spending weeks trying to source one or maybe 2 for our shops … drink sherry instead!

Met up with an old friend for dinner at Vinoteca and quite how they manage to be turning tables and completely buzzing on a Tuesday night is not something my villiage in Scotland head can get around! Obviously it’s because the food is great (cauliflower and hazelnut soup, asparagus with fresh mozzarella and mint…), wines great (Huet and Bonny Doon Cigare Volant) and service was spot on …