Book Notes: Neil McKendrick – The Bordeaux Club (2022)

The story of 12 friends who gathered to share and celebrate the extraordinary wines of Bordeaux. Like-minded in their love of wine, they differed wildly (often alarmingly!) in their personal wealth, life and circumstances – their opinions, always voiced, had the power to ignite anger and divide friendships just as easily as they bound them together. Neil McKendrick, member and minute-taker for 57 of the Club’s 70 extraordinary years, weaves the tale of this convivial group with the rigour of a Cambridge academic (he is ex-Master of Gonville and Caius) and the humor of a born raconteur. Alongside the likes of Hugh Johnson, Steven Spurrier and Michael Broadbent, he celebrates the beauty of top-class Bordeaux and the splendour of each setting – from glorious country park to rickety Dickensian boardroom – in which these men were lucky enough to dine, serving up memories of vintages the like of which we will never see again. (The Bordeaux Club: The convivial adventures of 12 friends and the world’s finest wine – Amazon.com)

According to Hugh Johnson, another senior member and well-known wine writer, the object of the club was to deepen the knowledge of the best wines in the world, enjoying them at leisure in the best conditions, with food worthy of them, in the company of friends (quoted from the Foreword). For more reminiscences, see The Bordeaux Club, the inside story of a cherished institution by Hugh Johnson (article in the World of Fine Wine, 2023).

McKendrick describes the history of the club, the most memorable wines, its members, and the club minutes (food and wine). Members included John Avery, Simon Berry (Berry Bros. & Rudd), Michael Broadbent, Steven Spurrier, Harry Waugh, and others less well-known outside the UK and/or wine world.

For a more detailed book review, see Journal of Wine Economics (Vol. 19, 2024) by Radu Craiu.

From a book review: A record of a bygone era. Most of the protagonists have passed away, and most of the wines referred to are wildly expensive or simply unattainable.

Perhaps not to everyone’s taste but a curious publication for several reasons.