Committee Chairman: Past Master William Barnard

Over the years, with considerable and continuing expert advice from Lance Jefferson of Berry Bros. & Rudd, the Company has enjoyed a wide range of the finest wines to complement the various dinners and social events in its calendar. The Wines Committee was formed to pursue the onerous task of ensuring that standards do not fall.

Under the leadership of its first Chairman, Past Master Patrick McHugh, the Committee expanded its role to include staging a number of events for Company Members to enable them both to extend their knowledge of wine in enjoyable surroundings and to contribute to the Company’s Charitable Fund. These events have included a wine tasting in the hallowed cellars of Berry Bros.. & Rudd in St James, a “Call my Bluff” competitive wine tasting for teams of Members and their guests and a “Livery Paulee” which provided an opportunity for Members to show off their personal taste in wines and then compete to see which wine would raise the highest multiple of its cost at auction. Such events have made a significant contribution to the growth of the Company’s Charitable Fund and have now become a regular feature of the Company’s social calendar.

More recently the Committee has sponsored the formation of a Wine Club open to all of the Company’s Liverymen. The Wine Club will extend the range and variety of opportunities for Members to learn about and enjoy fine wines and will enable Members to acquire selected wines at competitive prices. Members will also be able to stand for election to the Wine Committee.

The formation of the Wine Club, and the generosity of its members, will also allow the Company to start to build its own cellar – in the tradition of many of the longer-established City Livery Companies. In future years, this will allow the Company to serve more mature wines at its dinners but at close to the cost of current vintages. Hopefully, a means to ensure that indeed standards do not fall!