FWW at Monaco Yacht Show
be at the Monaco show for the full 4 days, getting to meet up with brokers, shipyard companies and most importantly, putting a face to some of the crew members who will be attending some of our WSET® Wine Training courses this Autumn.
All sorts of possible new clients for our Wine Tasting Events also presented themselves – we still have heaps of follow up to do. Everyone was seriously “wowed”by the quality of the champagne on taste and even people who swore blind they never drank the stuff, enjoyed sipping this heavenly nectar with us.
The Riviera Times & Zeitung team happily launched their new website and invited people to subscribe on line in exchange for a chance to win a “jeroboam” (that’s a Double Magnum for those who don’t know – equivalent to 3 Litres!) of the Grand Cellier. The oversize bottle certainly looked impressive on the stand and drew envious looks when we finally pulled the winner’s name out of the hat on Saturday – thank heavens it was someone who was still actually at the show and could come by and collect it! It had dawned on us as the entry slips for the competition started to pile up, that between us we had attracted such a cosmopolitan range of nationalities to the stand and not all of them lived on the Riviera
– could have been a bit sticky trying to bubble wrap it and post it to Hong Kong!!!
I met a charming chap from the British Consulate in Milan who asked me if I could tell him the classic mix for a Martini cocktail (I advised him the high quality French vermouth Noilly Prat was what he was looking for – oh, and just to “waft” it over the gin and not drown it!); Nigel had a near brush with royalty as he passed just inches by Prince Albert of Monaco and we gave a glass of champagne (or three), to the team of “Yachting Matters” to celebrate its current issue with a top notch article about Wine Training for Crew by…..ahem, me!
Getting the train in and out of Monte Carlo each day, then the drive from the station home, was spectacularly knackering and yet a very pleasant way to get there each day. As the train trundles along the coast past Beaulieu sur Mer and Villefranche you can spot some very elegant yachts at anchor which takes your mind off the fact that you have your nose buried in someone’s armpit – it was quite busy all week so a seat was a luxury!
To conclude, we think it was a good partnership with the team at the Times & Zeitung and the arrangement worked really well for both parties – I can see us doing the same again next year! Watch this space for details!!
Helen Brotherton
05.10.09