Later that same day update: I see The Sampler in London N1 is holding its own Foire aux Vins this Sunday which costs less than anything we have mentioned so far: nothing. They say, ‘We’re having a free tasting of Bordeaux ranging from £6 to £80 and there will be great discounts on these wines on the day. It’s from 1pm til 6pm and there’s no need to book. Should be fun.’ JR
If you were put off by the high prices of the London wine dinners mentioned here and here, you might be interested in the ones run by Roberson, a well-established wine merchant on London's Kensington High St.
Roberson sparked debate on this site earlier this year when they held the Parker v Broadbent tasting, which I reported on in Broadbent wins by a hair’s breadth.
This wine merchant’s tastings, held at their shop, are good value and range in price from £15 for an informal walk-around tasting to more than £100 for the seated tastings of more expensive wines.
Their autumn programme is already underway but you might still be in time to book for the walkaround Italian tasting on 9 Oct (£15) Château Lynch Bages vertical with Sylvie Cazes on 21 Oct (£120) or Tenuta dell' Ornellaia on 6 Nov (£80). For full details of all their tastings between now and Christmas, see the Tastings page on Roberson’s website.
If you live outside of London, you might be interested in the various tasting events mentioned recently in the forum, in Non-London wine dinners. Wine dinners are organised by purple pagers Adrian Walsh at Food and Fine Wine in Sheffield; Roger Jones at The Harrow, Little Bedwyn near Marlborough, Wiltshire; and by Richard Ballantyne in Cardiff (contact richard@ballantynes.co.uk).
