I was the only one working our booth so had limited time to explore the two shows. The wine side was huge with a diversity of places, varietals, styles and types that , well honestly, surprised me that I was surprised. Coupling my lack of familiarity with the European market with Europeans’ lack of familiarity with the U.S. market gave me a new perspective on what we’re doing with the U.S. Drinks Conference…clearly there’s a need there, and I believe it’s much larger on the wine side than we initially thought.

I did a brief interview with Charlotte Hey,Managing Editor and Publisher of The Drinks Business’ DBTV, so check out www.thedrinksbusiness.com for that clip next week.

I eschewed more formal dinner options in favor of taking in a production of the Midsummer Night’s Dream at the New Globe Theatre…a recreation of Shakespeare’s original theatre in Southwark…theater in the round, groundlings and all that. It was a magical experience.