Hix & Buck

& they said, “let the Good Wine Flow.”

Phew. What a weekend. We’ve been gearing up for the 2010 Good Wine Show for quite a while now, especially as this year it was to be held in tandem with Masterchef Live at Kensington Olympia for the very first time. What if we caught a glimpse of Greg Wallace’s bald pate and send him stratospheric with a taste of our Sparkling XO ... & then we found out about various wine industry big names gracing the show! But did we let our heads be turned by the prospect of these gastro grandees wandering up to our stall? No, not at all. Well, one did cross our path on Sunday (& you’ll have to keep reading before I tell you who!) but overall, were we bothered? Nah. What? Why ever so I hear you asking? What ever could have us casting off the indomitable “I just want to take a running jump into it” Wallace? Oh you coy thing. Give yourself more credit. It was you fine people that made our weekend, of course!

Friday - Sunday: a whirlwind of new faces and our ‘Bucket of Glory’ was overflowing with new names keen for our newsletter (and to win not one, but TWO, bottles of our superb bubbly.) One

word. Amazing. We’ve had a rip-roaring time meeting so many new faces and introducing them to our wines. Everyone was so enthusiastic, excited and interested, which just adds fuel to the old wine fire that burns in our breast and sends our eager-meter into overdrive. On top of that, there were a number of old faces from last year’s Wine Show that popped by for a chat. How cool is that? Special shout out to you guys: you rock our socks! Back to our self-induced hyperactivity: it turned out to be a good thing, because we were working like Snow White’s seven dwarves on fast forward. More and more faces just kept appearing, wave after wave asking questions and wanting to learn more about this Ardeche region we were exhibiting, or our wines from Cognac. Chix was eventually holding court, Queen of the Vin Rouge, educating her followers in ten-minute slots! Their rapt faces as they made their way from velvety Merlot, to debonair Grenache, to lionhearted Syrah - if only we’d had the time to take a photo!

Sunday rolled round, much the same merry madness we’d enjoyed over the last two days. Only the 14th distinguished itself on another level. We met Oz Clarke! Well, Chix did at least. Twice! He didn’t make it to our stand, but we made it to him and over the next week (two weeks? How many bottles does a wine wordsmith and aficionado get through per seven days?) will be enjoying a selection from the Hix & Buck list. We know Mr. Clarke is a busy man, but that doesn’t stop us crossing all fingers and toes in hopes that we might just feature in the Good Wine Guide this Christmas. Thus, a small por favor amigos: if anyone else fancies tweeting him about the fantastic weekend they had at our stall, extolling the virtues of the Cuveé Ferdinand or rhapsodising over our 1921 Charlamagne bubbly - that would be nice.

So, here’s to a successful - if different - Wine Show for 2010. It may have looked a lot different to the kind of event we’ve come to know and love over the years, but over at the Hix & Buck corner the bubbly was flowing, the compliments flying and high-fives cracking: because we really were the stand that rocked the show. So cheers guys for a rip-roaring weekend and don’t forget the following golden rule you all should have learnt over the last three days:

If you want good wine

In your neighbourhood

Who are you going to call?

HIX & BUCK!

Sante!

Dominique, Hix & Buck