Employment benefit

Christine Austin takes a reader along to the International Wine Challenge in search of a job in the trade.
Alex Kennedy joins me for a days tastingAlex Kennedy joins me for a days tasting
Alex Kennedy joins me for a days tasting

My annual appeal for an apprentice at The International Wine Challenge attracted a sizable list of applications, all from wine enthusiasts hoping to spend a day tasting wine at the most influential wine competition in the world.

But among the many e-mails, one stood out. I don’t get sent many CVs but this was a proper job application from someone who was clearly looking to make an impact. The only trouble was – he wasn’t from Yorkshire. Australian Alex Kennedy had recently moved to Ilkley to be with his girlfriend Harriet who works as a brewer at Ilkley Brewery.

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Having left a steady job at one of Australia’s most famous wineries, Yalumba, he was finding it difficult to make contacts and get a wine job. But frankly, anyone who falls for a girl from Yorkshire and then decides to give up a job that he has held for 10 years, to move halfway around the world from the sunshine of Tanunda to Ilkley deserves honorary Yorkshireman status. So I invited Alex to join me for a day’s tasting at Lord’s cricket ground in London, and promised to introduce him to as many people as possible who might give him a job.

The first thing I noticed about Alex is that he is tall, around 6ft 5ins and athletic, having played Aussie Rules football for Tanunda for 12 years. He was also a very good taster, effortlessly slipping into the tasting team of the day.

We started off with a flight of 11 champagnes, all the bottles carefully covered up and each given a four or five digit number for identification. There is no chance of cheating at this competition. We then tasted through a flight of crisp New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, some delicious Alsace Rieslings, some fascinating Furmint and Yellow Muscats from Slovenia and a flight of chunky South African Cabernets. There were even some wines from Thailand and Japan, adding a touch of fragrance and delicacy to the day. As we tasted through one flight of wines, another was being set up on the next table.

There was no time for a sip of water or a biscuit between wines; this was serious tasting – swirl, sniff, slurp and spit – and good tasting notes to decide the fate of each wine. There was a good lunch, without wine, and a chance to rest the feet, since most serious tasting is done standing up, then back to the tasting hall and yet more flights of wine.

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The end of the day was rewarded with a selection of rich, sweet icewines from Canada which reverberated on the palate with floral complexity and clean acidity.

But the decision to put a wine forward or reject it did not rest solely with my panel. Every wine which we decided was not good enough for a medal was re-tasted, blind, by one of the six chairmen of the competition. These chairmen, including four Masters of Wine and some of the world’s best palates, had the ultimate casting vote on any wine. It means that every wine was tasted at least twice before a decision was made. Those sent through to the next round of tastings and medals were assessed again, by one of the 20 panels in the following week, and maybe even by my own panel, although the system of numbering seems designed so that you can’t actually remember any of them. This makes the whole process completely fair since each wine succeeds only by the quality in the bottle.

In the gaps between tasting flights, I introduced Alex around the room, to northern supermarket wine buyers who might have a gap in their team and to winemakers who could perhaps use another pair of hands at vintage time. He got one tentative job offer before lunch.

But the real success came just a few weeks later when I received an e-mail from Alex telling me that he is now working for Sheffield-based wine company Le Bon Vin, looking after private customers and wine listings in restaurants across Yorkshire. Proprietor Patrick Jouan told me he was delighted with his new recruit. So Alex found success, not only at The International Wine Challenge, but also with employment. I will probably be looking for another apprentice wine taster next year, but I can’t guarantee to find you a job.

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The International Wine Challenge is one of the biggest wine competitions in the world and it is the one competition where I have the utmost trust in the results, not just because I am involved but because I can trace the numbers from those original bottles on my table, right through to the results. If you want to find out which wines won medals then you can check the website www.internationalwinechallenge.com, but here are some of my favourites. Snap them up before everyone else does.

Waitrose Brut NV Champagne, Gold Medal and Great Value Trophy, £19.99: A terrific champagne, with rounded toasted, biscuit style and a crisp, zesty finish.

The King’s Favour Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Marlborough, New Zealand, 
Gold Medal, Majestic, normally £12.49 and now on offer at £9.99 on multibuy: Lively and intense with fresh citrus and nectarine notes with crunchy mineral notes and a ripe, rounded finish. Perfect for spring into summer drinking.

Sumaridge Chardonnay 2010, 
South Africa, Gold Medal and Trophy, Bon Coeur (01765 688200) £14.99: 
Elegant, almost Burgundian in style with ripe melon and apple fruit and a gentle toasty, crisp finish.

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Errazuriz Max Reserva 2011, Aconcagua, Chile, Gold Medal and Great Value Trophy, Tesco (currently on 2010 
vintage) wine by the case, £75 for 
a case of six: Gloriously deep fruit with 
layer upon layer of cassis, spice, and soft, 
plush tannins. A whopper of a wine to keep and enjoy.

Escondite Perfecto Mencia Bierzo 2011, Bierzo, Spain, Marks and 
Spencer (currently on the 2010 
vintage), £9.99: Full of bright, cheery 
cherry fruit, edged with violets and perfect poured alongside rosemary-spiked lamb.

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