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Mark's
true love
(in
addition
to his
wife and
child of
course!
Gulp!) is
tasting
and
judging
wine. At
the height
of his
tasting
(in the
late
nineties
and first
half of
this
decade) he
was
tasting
between
3,000 and
6,000
wines a
year.
Because he
lived in
London -
the centre
of the
world wine
trade - it
was easy
to attend
all the
trade
tastings,
Wine
magazine
HQ and the
International
Wine
Challenge.
Back in
1999 he
started
the
OnTheGrapeVine
e-newsletter
than built
up a
readership
of 5,000.
This has
now been
resurrected
as a blog
on this
site. |
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Back
in 1996
Mark
applied to
become a
member of
the public
'associate
taster'
for the
International
Wine
Challenge
- the
largest
and
arguably
the most
prestigious
wine
judging in
the world.
He went up
against
hundreds
of
wannabes
and after
the
auditions
made it
through as
one of the
few to
participate
in the
'Challenge'.
Each Year
some
10,000
different
wines (as
many as
40,000
wines are
sent to
the
judging
halls) are
tasted and
wine
expert
from
around the
world
descend
upon
London for
two weeks
to judge
the wines.
There were
four
levels of
wine
taster -
associate,
judge,
chairman
(of a
panel of
judges)
and a
superjuror.
Between
1996 and
2005 Mark
worked his
way up -
on merit-
from
associate
to superjuror.
One of the
few in the
country
and
probably
the only
from a non
wine-trade
background.
All before
he was 29.
Mark
retired
from IWC
judging
(along
with his
columns)
when the
business
was taken
over by
Reed
Publishing
in early
2006. If
you click
on the
pictures
on the
right you
will see
the glitzy
gala event
that was
held to
give the
awards
each year
(great
party!
nasty
hangover)
usually
held at
the
Dorchester
or around
Park Lane.
The two
other
images
just give
you an
inkling as
to the
amount of
wine we
had to
swill 'n
spit over
the
fortnight.
If you
click on
the IWC
logo on
the left
you will
download a
1mb
pdf that
details
the
superjurors
(with a
piccie of
me) and
the
process of
the IWC
judging.
Remember
- there
were 460+
associates,
judges,
chairman
and
superjurors
doing the
tastings.
No mean
feat! |
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For
a brief,
and now much
missed, period
Mark was
the
restaurant
reviewer
for Wine
International
for South
West
England.
Just four
reviews
were done
and if you
click on
the image
on the
left....guess
what? You
will
download a
1mb
pdf
file
of these
reviews! |
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As
a panel
judge for
Wine
Magazine
there were
tastings
held every
fortnight
in order
to include
them in
the
magazine.
Everything
from £3 a
bottle to
£300 a
bottle was
tasted. A
small band
of five or so
tasters
would
descend
upon Old
Street and
in a
basement
nearby
taste the
wines that
Samantha
Caporn
(the then
Wine Mag tastings
co-ordinator
now an MW
and buyer for
Direct
Wines)
arranged.
An example
of one of
these
tastings
is
available
(by...wait
for
it...clicking
on the
image on
the left)
and this
is one of
the
tastings
that I
ran,
organised
and wrote
up for
Wine
Magazine.
It is
a 1mb
pdf. |
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Mark
now
hosts,
organises
and runs
wine
tasting
events,
evenings
and
parties
for
private
clients
and the
general
public.
Entertainment
is the
byword....wine
is the
key! |
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