The shard, and judging with sommeliers

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The shard, and judging with sommeliers

This year, for the first time, I’ve been judging the sommelier wine awards for Imbibe magazine. It’s been an interesting experience, because unlike other competitions, the goal of this one is quite specific: to think about wines in terms of their potential on a restaurant wine list. So we judge knowing the price of the wine, and factor this into our verdicts.

It’s also interesting tasting with sommeliers. They have a reputation for being headstrong and a bit crazy, but that’s not true of *all* of them.

The tasting sessions are held a short distance from London Bridge, and this gave me a chance to take a look at what is already the UK’s tallest building, and what will, when it is finished, be the tallest building in Europe. It’s the Shard, which currently stands at 245 m, and will reach 310 m on completion. It will be entirely covered by glass, and rise to a point – hence the name ‘shard’. At the moment it doesn’t look all that impressive – or all that tall.

2 Comments on The shard, and judging with sommeliers
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

2 thoughts on “The shard, and judging with sommeliers

  1. There are plenty of modern buildings that I like, but this isn’t one of them. It look bloody ugly and I suspect will only get worse. What a shame as it will be so dominant. It kills the view of St Paul’s from Parliament Hill.

  2. I think it looks pretty tall. Wouldn’t fancy falling off it.

    I used to pass this every day, it’s incredible how fast it has gone up but you’re right in that it doesn’t look impressive yet. Can’t wait to see the final effects though. Is there a completion date?

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