Peter Gago, the hugely acceptable outward-facing embodiment of Treasury Wine Estates (once Southcorp, then Foster's wine arm, subject to constant rumours about a possible sale), has just got back home to Adelaide after one of his frequent tours of the universe spreading the gospel of Penfolds wine far and wide. He left Australia in mid June and spent six weeks on the hoof conducting, inter alia, events in Bordeaux, New York, Miami, Aspen, Mexico, Vancouver and various other parts of Europe.
He did report just after his return, 'I can’t complain too loudly – my day off in Caribbean waters midway between Cuba and Mexico swimming with 50-80 whale sharks up to 40 ft long won't be forgotten in a hurry.' But he does have to be charming to a heck of a lot of people from many different cultures and, presumably, has to repeat himself many a time, while living constantly out of a suitcase.
At the end of June I was lucky enough to meet up with him and an interesting crowd of others at the Australian Embassy in Paris to taste Grange and associated Special Bins back to 1953 – a very special tasting indeed of which you can see a foretaste of here or read about in Penfolds in Paris.
The location of the Austalian Embassy, by the way, is exceptional. Above is the view from the terrace and the dining room. Straight on to the base of the Eiffel Tower, with the Sacré Coeur just to the right of the tower. The ham-fisted picture was taken as we assembled on the terrace with a glass of Krug Grande Cuvée in the early midsummer evening.
But below is what happened when I asked a prosaic but irresistible question about the mechanics of being on the road so long.