A large part of my working life is devoted to PR and advertising, and in a world that is increasingly media hungry this is an area that devours more and more of my time.

As the percentage of time dedicated to it increases I need to find ways to make the task more enjoyable. I hate the prospect of being trapped by aspects of my job that aren’t fun ( as well as rewarding for the Aldi business), so last week I organised two seminars by Markus Del Monego at two of the UK’s major magazine houses. Markus is an exceptional figure in the wine world as he is the only person to be a World Champion Sommelier, in 1998, and a Master of Wine. Markus’s company CaveCo perform a quality control function on behalf of Aldi and I wanted to expand his role with us so that he can help me take the wine range in new and exciting directions. Part of his brief is to present wine in new ways to professional wine journalists and lifestyle commentators alike and his seminars did just that. By taking a few carefully considered store cupboard items and 3 selected wines he was able to skilfully show how our sensation of taste works and how this influences food and wine matching.

Over two days I joined in all 8 presentations and was as enthralled at the last as I was at the first. I know those attending felt the same and I am hoping to find a way of delivering this on the website in the future. Watch this space.

It is sometimes hard to convince my colleagues that trips to vineyards are not just an excuse for a couple of fun days out of the office, especially when their nearest equivalent is a visit to a fish processing factory in Grimsby! So you can imagine the looks I received yesterday after returning from my visit to Chablis and Sancerre, two of the worlds most prestigious wine growing regions.

Rather than waste breath telling them that I had to get up at 4.00am to catch a plane to Europe’s most despised Airport, Charles de Gaulle, I simply decided to exaggerate how wonderful the experience had been, adding several degree’s ˚C to the temperature and extra courses to the lavish meals experienced.

My search for suitable Chablis has been a long one but in Louis Moreau I have found the perfect partner for Aldi. The family has made wine in the region for generations and Louis builds on this tradition with his wine education in California and attention to detail in the winery and vineyard. The first bottling of our new Chablis, “Domaine de la Vigne Blanche”, took place last week and I visited to confirm that the bottling had reached the standards of the approved samples. It exceeded my expectations and will be even better once the wine has settled after bottling which usually takes 2 to 3 weeks. The Moreau family have an impressive range of Chablis from Petit Chablis to Chablis and the two premium levels Premier Cru and Grand Cru. Whilst it will be the Chablis that finds a place in the core range, the other wines are impressive and I hope to find a place for some of them in the 2009 specials programme.

From Chablis I drove the two hours to Sancerre where Sauvignon Blanc, rather than Chardonnay, is the exclusive white grape variety. My mission here was to secure supplies for 2009 as volumes have been tight in 2008 and not likely to improve next year. I also took the opportunity to taste 25 other blends of Sancerre and remain very pleased with the style we have. Unlike Chablis, Sancerre also has a red variant, rarely seen in the UK. Made from pinot noir it is light and fresh in style and makes an elegant rosé. The wines I tasted were impressive and have given me even more ideas foe 2009.

Now all I need to do is to convince the business to give me space for some of these terrific wines. I can feel another trip coming on!