Chers Chevaliers,

Those of you who attended last evening along with the Consul Général & his wife and the French Trade Commissioner, Hervé Sarnelli, need no reminding on what a great event it turned out to be. At my pouring station I served the red Bordeaux & Burgundy and all of the wines were received very well, not just the Pommard & Gevrey Chambertin as might be expected but also the simpler wines such as the Christian Moueix. I also received good reports from the members of the whites & the wonderful Rhônes that Doug Eakins was pouring.

However, the evening was really completed by the attendance of Bill Blatch. He is a talented winemaker & négociant and last night he showed what an excellent & entertaining speaker he is also. Bill’s description of his daily telephone calls to the various vineyard, checking up on how the grapes are ripening after a difficult summer showed what a great passion he has for wines & winemaking. After his initial speech, I had planned on him giving another talk later in the evening when he could answer attendees’ questions, however, Bill took the initiative by circulating through the room, talking to small groups of people at a time explaining things about the wines & responding to questions. Les Chevaliers certainly look forward to seeing Bill again in September 2008 when he will be part of the panel along with Sid Cross & Tony Gismondi for the 1988 Bordeaux Tasting.

Please note the dates for the next events:

October 24th will see us at the Residence of M. Luc Sérot Alméras, the Consul Général, for a “Stock Your Cellar with SPEC wines” event. Details to follow soon.

November 21st. Dinner at the Saveur Restaurant for the Club’s 25th Anniversary.

Les Chevaliers des Vins de France.