Past events

Wendy has lived in Bordeaux for over 30 years, she is a leading Bordeaux wine educator, sharing her passion for Bordeaux through writing, speaking, and welcoming people to the region.

She studied for a winemaker master’s in International Agri-Food Marketing in Paris, working there in food marketing for eight years. Marrying a Sauternes wine maker, she moved to Bordeaux and changed cap.

She is passionate about helping people to get behind an often-unrealistic image of what Bordeaux is and how it works, dusting off what can often be seen as an exclusive and unapproachable wine region. She loves nothing more than introducing wine lovers to the people and the place behind the products.

She blogs regularly about the region on the Insider Tasting website and has written two books: Bordeaux Bootcamp, an insider guide to Bordeaux basics, and The Drinking Woman’s Diet, a liver friendly lifestyle guide.

A certified yoga teacher her aim is to help women develop a healthy passion for wine. 

With her family, she is currently renovating a ruined 16^th century Château in the entre deux Mers, to welcome guests on wine and wellness retreats at the very heart of the Bordeaux vineyards.

https://insidertasting.com

Place: Restaurant St Jaques

We will taste 6 wines from Bordeaux that Wendy will chose to broaden our Bordeaux knowledge.

A group of us decided to invest into wine as a financial investment about a year ago with Cult Wines.

This will be the opportunity to discuss how the investment went, what kind of returns we had on the portfolio and where the market of wine is going.

Olivia Souto will discuss the latest trends in the wine market and how that has impacted our collective investment.

We have decided to open the evening to newcomers who might be interested in joining the club investment and/or understanding more about the wine market.

Please register if you are interested in joining the investment club or just want to learn a bit about investing in wine.

We will be having nibbles and taste a few wines, starting at 18:30

Rachel Blackman-Rogers was born in a small market town in Hampshire, where her mother’s family have lived for generations. She studied geography at Oxford University and then embarked on a varied career in academia, publishing and media including roles as a researcher at INSEAD business school and as a senior strategist for BBC News. She returned to academic studies in 2013 and completed an MA in History of War at King’s College London, before becoming a PhD candidate in the Department of War Studies. Her supervisor is the Laughton Chair of Naval History, Professor Andrew Lambert, and her thesis examines Britain’s strategic and cultural transformation during the French Revolutionary Wars of the 1790s. Contrary to the traditional historical narrative of strategic paralysis and financial chaos, her research has taken an holistic approach to political, economic, naval, and cultural, histories. Consequently, her thesis has revealed that Britain was being insulated from the threat of invasion by an evolution in naval culture and strategy and a fiscal transformation. Simultaneously, the government pushed the institutions of British defence, the Bank of England, and His Majesty’s Navy, closer to parliament to improve national confidence, and used the naval victories to build consensus for the war around a British maritime identity. Her academic interests include strategy, maritime history and identity, strategic and military culture, the role of media in warfare and contemporary maritime issues. She is also currently teaching at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Shrivenham where she is involved in military education.

Rachel will lead a conversation about strategy and its relationship with culture. She will also touch on the role of media in wartime.

We will have a seated dinner at Cabotte and taste 5 wines.

With a solid foundation in classical music performance, Maja Wegrzynowska's passion is enabling talented musicians to play their dream instruments.  Maja is the Director of International Sales at J & A Beare, one of the leading violin dealers in the world,  where she advises musicians, collectors, investors, foundations, financial institutions and patrons of the art on the acquisition of antique instruments. She also serves as Vice President of the Beare's International Violin Society and successfully matches patrons with classical music stars. In 2019 the Royal Academy of Music elected Maja as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM), an honour awarded for her significant contribution to the music industry.

Maja was a full-scholarship student at the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours and MA with Distinction. Winner of several scholarships and international awards, she also held the Meaker Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music. Maja has performed at many prestigious venues including Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, St James Palace, Wigmore Hall, and Suntory Hall. She was a member of La Mer Trio, and worked with London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, English Baroque Soloists, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, London Contemporary Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, recorded for BBC Radio 3 and was invited to perform for King Charles III and the Queen Elizabeth II.
Maja has also completed courses at Harvard Law School Executive Education and Christie's Education.

Maja will talk to us about Antonio Stradivari and his secrets, why his instruments are highly sought after today, the intrinsic value of violins as tools for musicians as well as works of art, the growing demand for fine violins as an alternative asset class for collectors, particularly in the current uncertain times. 

Art provides balance and perspective, especially during times of economic drain and geopolitical uncertainty. Pablo Picasso said it best, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

This is a special event as Trivet has gained a one-star Michelin restaurant since we have been there. The food and wine list are incredible.

Born and raised into a winemaking family in Burgundy, Pauline has been working in the wine sector for the last 15 years both in Europe and internationally. She had experience in the market research department of the Burgundy wine office and the French Embassy, before creating her own corporate wine events and education company in Lille, France.

She moved to London in 2015 to spearhead the Wine Library of the unique and acclaimed Clerkenwell London, a multi-space design destination, before developing the concept of Fine Minds 4 Fine Wines with Nicole Rolet which led to the creation of Areni Global.

Pauline now directs all of Areni’s activities, when she is not studying for the Master of Wine exam or playing ultimate frisbee.

Pauline will lead a conversation on the theme of The Role and Place of Fine Wines in tomorrow's world. 

Main themes to be addressed:

How can viticulture help mitigate climate change?

Luxury market and Fine wine: Sustainable?

Wine Consumer: getting too old?

We will have a sit-down dinner with 6 wines starting at 6:30 pm at St Jacques restaurant.

Adriana La Lime joined Sotheby’s in 2017 and is a founding member of the Modern and Contemporary African Art department. Previously, Ms. La Lime worked in both the Client Strategy and Valuations departments at Christie’s London.

Ms. La Lime grew up in Chad, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Angola and Switzerland, and is an American/French dual national. Fluency in French and proficiency in Portuguese has allowed her to develop the market for modern and contemporary art from francophone and lusophone Africa in particular. Having worked on record-breaking sales in this category, Ms. La Lime maintains relationships with private and institutional clients alike, traveling extensively in Europe, the United States and Africa.

She holds a Master’s degree in Art, Law and Business from Glasgow University and a Bachelor’s degree in Printmaking and History of Art from the University of Virginia. Ms. La Lime completed her Master’s dissertation on the burgeoning Angolan art market and continues to further her research in the region.

Adriana will talk to us about African art, the new fashion in London and elsewhere. She will also explain how an auction house works and give us some glimpses of the future of the art market.

We will start at 18:30 (as usual), and also have a bit of a game and fun with some wines!

Place: The Institute of Directors

Wine List:

• Ca' del Console Prosecco  NV                                
• Moet & Chandon Brut Impérial NV
• Pinot Grigio, Antonio Rubini, Italy 2029
• Sauvignon Blanc, Featherdrop, Marlborough 2022     
• Pinotage, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2017         
• Montagne Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux 2018   

Marta was born in a small fishermen’s village, Vilanova i la Geltrú, in a rainy December of 1976. Since 2001 she is totally involved in Parés Baltà with the entire family, sharing the wine tasks with her sister-in-law Maria Elena. They are a good team and have many things to do in the Parés Baltà winery. Every year she’s discovering new knowledge and applying new ways of winemaking, such as fermentation in amphorae or demij ohns. Marta studied Pharmacy at Barcelona University. During her studies, she met Josep Cusiné, who would become her husband. It is in this period of her life that her passion for wine started. Josep introduced her to wine tastings, and they started traveling to different wine countries around the world. She was so interested in the wine world that she decided to study enology She studied Biodynamic Agriculture’s Master and soon became a cellar manager. They became certified by Demeter in 2013.  She is also a Sommelier. Her last studies have been WSET3 and Biodynamic Master. She is planning to study DipWSET at Weinakademie Österreich in 2022. On the other hand, she teaches biodynamic rules and philosophy in different courses and viticulture schools all over Spain and also in Barcelona University.

We will taste 6 of her wines.

Price: £145  includes dinner and a glass of 6 wines from Marta's estate in Penedes - registration on the website only 14 Seats available. 2 TICKETS LEFT

If you cannot register in the physical event, you can register for the online version and listen:

To join without wines and dinner for the online event: £10 to transfer to our account
Account
The London Women and Wine Club
Natwest
Sort Code: 502101
Account: 31022634
Quote: Marta and your first name

Dame Amelia and healthcare research

Dame Amelia is a governor of the Wellcome Trust Board since 2019 and also chairs the Audit & Risk and Remuneration Committees there. 

The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Sir Henry Wellcome to fund research to improve human and animal health.  The aim of the Trust is to "support science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone", with a financial endowment of more than £36 billion in 2021 and is funding leading research in healthcare. It spent £1.2 billion on charitable activities to improve health through science in 2020/21 and plans to spend £16 billion over the next ten years.  Amelia will talk to us about some of the emerging areas that the Wellcome Trust is focusing on.

Dame Amelia is Lead Director of State Street Corporation in Boston, Massachusetts.   She was a Non-Executive Director and then Chairman of Kinnevik AB in Stockholm from 2011 – 2021 and of the Guardian Media Group plc from 2007 – 2013.  She  worked for Morgan Stanley for 20 years, joining in London in 1987 and becoming Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the European, Middle East and Africa operations in 2002. Dame Amelia started her career at the US law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, first in New York and then in Paris.

Dame Amelia is the Chairman of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, a Governor of the Wellcome Trust and a Trustee of Project HOPE UK. Until recently, she was Chairman of the Standards Board for Alternative Investments, a Non-Executive member of the Board of HM Treasury, Chairman of The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation, Deputy Chairman and a Governor of the London Business School and a Commissioner of the UK-US Fulbright Commission.  She also has been a member of the Court of the Bank of England and Deputy Chairman of the National Portrait Gallery. 

Dame Amelia was appointed a Commander of The Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the Queen’s 2018 Birthday Honours List, an honour solely in the gift of the Queen. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours List and a CBE in 2002, in both cases for services to the financial services industry. She received The Prince of Wales’s Ambassador Award in 2004. 

Dame Amelia, a British and American citizen, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA in 1956. She has a degree in History from Wellesley (1978) and a law degree from the University of Virginia (1983).  She was admitted to the New York Bar in 1984.

Dame Amelia is a keen fly fisherman, hiker, sailor and lavender farmer in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons in Wales.  She is a member of the Somerset Club (Boston), the Manchester Yacht Club (USA), Oswalds (London) and the Reform Club (London).

Please join us for a wonderful evening at Pitzhanger Manor and gardens with some English wines and canapes, some beautiful art and a short talk with Clare Gough, the Director. We will be starting at 18:30 at the Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery.

Pitzhanger Manor is an English country villa famous as the home of influential neoclassical architect, Sir John Soane. Built between 1800 and 1804 and sitting in its original parkland, the Regency Manor is a rare and spectacular example of a building designed, built and lived in by Sir John Soane himself. We are choosing English wines in honour of Sir John Soane. Beautifully restored to Soane’s original designs, Pitzhanger now houses an art gallery and is only 9 minutes by direct train from London Paddington.

Clare Gough, after working as a consultant at McKinsey, moved to the art world, initially as New Media Director at the National Gallery retail trading arm,  before being invited to work for the Director of the National Gallery and becoming its Director of Communications.  She then took on the challenge of leading the conservation  and re-launch of Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, opening in 2019 with an acclaimed exhibition by Anish Kapoor.  She has also held non-executive charity Board roles and was formerly a Trustee of the Museum of the Home. 

Clare will give a private view of Pitzhanger’s latest exhibition by rising star Royal Academician, Rana Begum RA, as well as give an insight into the eccentricity of the architecture of Sir John Soane, and the fun of marrying his Regency style with Rana’s striking contemporary art.  She will also say a few words about transitioning career from the commercial world to the arts, and the challenges and opportunities of running an arts organisation in the current environment.

We will have the honour to welcome Fiona Duckett, Managing Director at The Winery Hundred Hills and Hundred Hills Vineyards. (https://hundredhills.wine/ ). She will be present  to show us her delicious wines and answer any questions you may have, so don’t miss out!

Before breaking for the summer, join Laurence and Anne in 67 Pall Mall to enjoy a few drinks, nibbles and talk!

Limited Places: 15

Event cancelled but Anne will be in 67 if anyone fancy a drink