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Caterer Middle East caught up with The Winery’s export director Stephen Ludlam

The Winery of Good Hope's Stephen Ludlam.

The Meat Co in Dubai’s Souk Al Bahar hosted an elegant evening of wine education for its diners recently, in conjunction with South African brand The Winery of Good Hope.

Caterer Middle East caught up with The Winery’s export director Stephen Ludlam, who has 20 years’ experience in the international wine industry, to discuss the company’s future, tasting events and the growing wine market in the Middle East.

CME: Why did you decide to put on this wine tasting event in conjunction with The Meat Co?

Ludlam: The Meat Co has a great reputation for its food, plus it’s a fabulous venue to host a dinner tasting. I also like to spend as much time supporting good customers as possible and a wine tasting dinner event is always one of the best ways of doing this, as (hopefully) they are interesting, it gets everyone tasting great food and wine and its good fun.

CME: What kind of interest did the event generate?

Ludlam: We were overwhelmed by the interest — in fact it was a complete sell-out.

CME: Have you held any other such sessions in the region?

Ludlam: This was my first dinner/tasting evening in Dubai and after the success of this one there are already plans do more on my next trip.

CME: What, in your opinion, is the status of wine in the Middle East and how do you think this will progress in future?

Ludlam: I first started working in the Middle East over ten years ago and it is extraordinary how the market has grown and evolved in such a relatively short space of time. There is no doubt that there is still plenty of room for growth — the economic down turn will probably slow things in the short term, but I believe there is still great potential for growth in the coming years.
I regard it as a very important market for us, which will undoubtedly keep on developing.

CME: Why do you think it is important to educate people about wine?

Ludlam: Education is everything and not least in wine. The more you learn, the more you can understand and appreciate the wine you drink; and the greater the appreciation the more pleasure and fun you can have. The most important thing is to taste and enjoy wine and if one does that learning is easy.

Stephen Ludlam’s top tip for summer:

“The Winery of Good Hope Chenin Blanc 2008: clean, fresh and mineral with some citrus zing — fabulous in warm weather!”

Read this article on the Hotelier Middle East website.

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