Tam writes Michael complained (a little) in his introduction to the Weinbörse tasting, that one of the obstacles to tasting in Mainz was the crush of tasters around tables and spittoons. I would venture to say that Michael has been spoiled by living in the quiet Ahr Valley!
Compared with the heaving cattle-show chaos of some of the very big tastings in London, where one ends up taking a small cup to spit in because the over-full...