Twickenham, South West London was the setting for this one and this was a proper Father’s Day afternoon. Small group, family round the table, nothing over the top, just six people who all actually wanted to be there. Darren and Melissa, then daughter Jenny, her two brothers, and Grandma. Nice and tight, which always works well for this kind of thing.
Jenny had organised it and she went for the sparkling wine package. Straight away that changes the feel of the whole session. It becomes more of a celebration, less of a standard tasting. And she did give me a heads-up beforehand. Darren knows his wine. Drinks a lot of it, tries a lot of it, and is not easily impressed. So I knew I had to be on it from the start.
We set everything up at Darren and Melissa’s place before everyone got settled. Once the first glasses were poured, it just felt like a proper Sunday. Relaxed, a bit of noise, people chatting over each other, that sort of thing. No pressure, no awkwardness.
Because Darren knew his stuff, I pushed things a bit further than usual. We still kept it accessible for everyone else, but we went a bit deeper on how the wines are made, what to look for, why certain styles taste the way they do. The good thing was that the rest of the family just came along with it. Nobody felt left out. That’s always the balance you’re trying to hit.
The moment of the night came when we brought out an English sparkling wine from a smaller producer in Sussex. Now, Darren had clearly tried a lot over the years. Big names, Champagne, all the usual suspects. But this one caught him off guard.
He took a sip, sat back, and just went “I didn’t see that coming”.
That’s the moment you’re looking for. Especially with someone who thinks they’ve seen it all. Jenny said afterwards that was when she knew she’d got it right.
From there, the whole table got stuck into it. More conversation, more comparisons, people starting to pick out what they liked and why. It turned into one of those afternoons where nobody’s checking the time.
A few days later, Darren got in touch directly and ordered a case of that English sparkling. And Jenny’s already been back asking about doing something again at Christmas, which tells you everything you need to know really.
If you’re planning something similar, find out more about hosting your own Father’s Day wine tasting in Twickenham.
