The sun shone down on the Netherlands!

The crystal clear blue skies and warm sunshine would have led you to believe you were actually in the south of France rather than the Netherlands! The weather couldn't been kinder to our importer friends at Verbunt Verlinden in the second week of April, when they hosted their annual Spring tasting.

Over 500 trade clients and customers turned up to taste through a collection of still, sparkling and fortified wines from around the world and it was reassuring to see that France was very well represented! Our Dutch friends continue to enjoy the variety and quality of French wine. In between tasting, many people took advantage of the warm, sunny weather by taking lunch or a break in the restaurant and gardens at the beautiful Salentein estate.

It was heartening to see a good number of young people at the tasting, mostly representing hospitality businesses, and with a real interest in and enthusiasm for food and wine pairings. I spent 20 minutes with one small group who were trying to find the best pairing for an upcoming asparagus dish for spring (they ultimately settled on the Côte 238 Pech Gentille Albarino, finding the crisp freshness and saline, mineral finish to be the complement they were looking for). We hear a lot about the lack of engagement of young people with wine and wine culture, but the young people were out in force at this tasting in the Netherlands! Let's keep encouraging them and helping them to learn.

A big thank you to the team at Verbunt Verlinden, who make it look so easy and seamless, but we know the amount of work that goes into a tasting like this - congratulations to you all!

We look forward to more visits to the Netherlands later this year - we're introducing some new wines to the market there so keep an eye out!

A bientôt!