like riding a bicycle

I did wonder on my way there whether spitting was a little like cycling which, people say, is once learned, never forgotten. I'd planned to practice in the bath, aiming at my toes as I used to do when I was learning how to spit (because I'd never done so in my chidlhood), but it slipped my mind. So when I got to the wine tasting (wearing dark clothes, because I did remember that you should never wear pale clothes to taste dark wine, no matter how good a spitter you are), I made sure I started with the champagne as the fizz ensures a better aim and more stylish spitting-out.

By the second table (wines from Alsace), I was spitting just as I did during my many years of working in the wine trade, and writing tasting notes, and forming opinions on wines, and questioning winemakers and, best of all, seeing many old friends. It was all like riding a bicycle, as though I'd never got off and put it away in the garage for a while. In a way I hadn't, as I've always maintained a healthy interest in wine, tasting for enjoyment, and assessing the bottles we buy. I say 'I', but it's 'we' really, as Simon has always been just as enthusiastic about wine (we've had some amazing holidays in wine regions) and is a dab-hand with a corkscrew.

Sometimes when you move away from a part of your life, you tend to forget it exists without you. Going into the tasting today reminded me that these wine events have been carrying on all the time I've been absent, and it was like stepping back into a scene that had been playing on a loop, with the latest vintages being the only way of knowing that time has passed. I'd also forgotten how the wine trade picks some of the best places in London to hold its tastings, which is how I've seen inside many otherwise closed-off locations. Today's tasting was in a swish hotel ballroom, with a suitably swish lunch buffet (another thing to remember: people who deal with wine usually like good food) and was a haven of warmth, excellent wines, and a huge amount of bonhomie.

All this reminded me why I enjoyed working in the wine trade for so long, why I felt at home there, and why I love wine itself. This was a tasting organised by a group of family-owned businesses*, and the wines all had personality and integrity. Favourites included the Hugel Pinot Gris Tradition 2008, Perrin Gigondas 2009, Pol Roger Pure NV, and to finish on a high note, Graham's 20 Year Old Tawny Port.

I spit, I spat, and I didn't fall off the bicycle, but it might have been a bit wobbly on the way home.

 *The PFV