Quaffing at the Dorchester

There aren't many perks to running a restaurant: the anti-social hours, the hot kitchens, the endlesswashing up but our annual trip to the capital for our wine supplier's annual tasting, this year at the Dorchester in Mayfair, is certainly one of the highlights of the year for us.

Since we opened Hallgarten Druitt http://www.hallgarten.co.uk/ in the shape of top wine merchant Kevin O'Rourke http://www.wineman.co.uk/ has supplied us with high quality wines imported from across the world. Every winter they host a fabulous tasting event at a top London hotel where restauranteurs and retailers come face to face with the growers themselves. Over 600 wines are available to taste.

We have the opportunity to taste new wines from our favourite growers, to compare prices and tastes of similar wines and grape varieties and to learn more about the places they are grown and who grows them - all this so we can improve the service and products we offer in the restaurant. We use the day as an opportunity to find alternative wines to those that are delisted, to replace less popular wines and to find better value great tasting wines to balance our list and ensure excellent wine as affordable as possible for our customers.

It's a great fun day out too and the kind of event where you might run into the likes of Oz Clarke and other celebrity faces. Here are some of the new selections we have made:

Sadly for those who enjoy the stunning Spanish Enate 234 Unoaked Chardonnay will be disappointed to find out it has been delisted. In it's place we are considering a Spanish Alborino namely Serra da Estrela. Find out more about it here: http://www.adegasvalminor.com/en/wines/serra-da-estrela/. We'd love to know what you think.

We have decided to shake up the top end of the whites as well. We will be replacing the George Vernay Condrieu and the St Clair Wairau Reserve (despite how much we love them) with the Domaine Jean Goulley Petit Chablis Special Cuvee and the St Clair Block 3 Sauvignon Blanc which came personally recommended by St Clair's Head Wine Maker Matt Thomson. We are acutely aware that in this current economic climate our customers are tightening the purse strings and we feel that these changes will allow them great wines at more affordable prices.

In the red corner we have decided to swap the Chilean Echeverria Carmenere with the same grape variety instead from Vina Edmara in Chile's vast Central Valley. The wine still enjoys the depth of flavour of its predecessor but with a little less spice and pepper which might suit the more finely tuned palate. This will be wonderful with steak or lamb.

Tell us what you think of our wine selections on Twitter.