May 2020

A Celebration of all things Great and Good

Thursday 5th March, 80 Confrères and their guests gathered at Westminster Abbey. Big Ben may have been all wrapped up for restoration, but that took nothing away from the Abbey’s glorious interior. Forget the driving rain and virus bad news outside … Confrères and their hosts were there to absorb the amazing history of the place with its many famous dead, the remarkable craftsmanship of the building, and enjoy the company of fellow Confrères. To crown it all, there was a superb dinner to look forward to, most importantly served with the Confrère family of wines

The magnificently tall Abbey ceiling and the beautifully ornate choir stalls

The hosts … Tony Laithwaite CBE and Hugh Johnson OBE

Founder Confrère Tony Laithwaite and Wine Club President Hugh Johnson (the world’s most famous wine author) were the main hosts for the evening. Barbara Laithwaite and Judy Johnson joined the celebration and winemaker Jean-Marc Sauboua was there to regale all with wine stories … sometimes a little difficult to hear above the rumble of conviviality!

Hosts for the evening Tony Laithwaite CBE and Hugh Johnson OBE

Winemaker Jean-Marc Sauboua explained the wines to Confrères

Evensong:

There was no need to worry about acoustics at Evensong, beautifully sung by the Choir of Westminster Abbey. With Commonwealth Day on the following Monday, The High Commissioner for Ghana was present and on hand to read a lesson. For that reason, Confrères couldn’t quite fit in the Choir stalls (a little bit of a shame) but were seated just below, in view of the severe looking statues on the opposite side – Robert Peel, Gladstone, Disraeli to name just the front runners. Confrères could sit there and admire, too, the beautiful décor, and 16 magnificent Waterford Crystal chandeliers, presented to the Abbey in 1965 by the Guinness family. They were to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the consecration of the Abbey by Edward the Confessor in 1065.

A wonderful tour:

Post evensong, Confrères were neatly divided into four groups of 20 and escorted by a special Westminster Abbey tour guide. All four guides had an awesome amount of knowledge … so full of stories on the history of the building, who was buried there and events that had taken place (including a murder!) and were obviously in thrall to the building themselves. Their adoration for the place spilled over to their captivated audience. They could recount details of the building – one end built from 1245-1269 by Henry III, with the tallest Gothic ceiling in England, at 34 metres high … of over 3000 burial places at their feet – from our most famous scientists, headed up by Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, Poets’ Corner with the remains of figures spanning the centuries – from Geoffrey Chaucer, to Charles Dickens, Henry James, George Eliot, C S Lewis, the War Poets, Philip Larkin, Ted Hughes … just so many beloved writers. And many of the most famous, which we may not even have clocked at the time – Laurence Olivier, Dr Samuel Johnson, Handel, Aphra Behn (first female playwright to earn a living from writing in 17th century), explorers like Ernest Shackleton and David Livingstone.

Of course, there are the monarchs, over 30 of them, from Edward the Confessor until George II … just one of Henry VIII’s wives, Anne of Cleves, the marriage to whom he’d ironically annulled after six months. But she’d survived! There were so many little stories from the guides to absorb … the too-small ring that was forced onto Queen Victoria’s finger, the Coronation ceremonies that went wrong (skipping pages, falling down the steps and so on), every one of them until Elizabeth II and so on. The Cosmati Pavement laid down in 1268 by Italian craftsmen brought from Rome, just below the High Altar, was a site to behold.

The Lady Chapel was a riot of colour and the stonework of the ceiling was remarkable

Henry VII’s Lady Chapel – a glorious example of late medieval architecture – was another beauty: its spectacular fan-vaulted ceiling and lace-like stonework, the Renaissance stalls, decorative brass markers and individual heraldic banners, each designed by the Knights of the Order of the Bath. It’s a riot of luscious colour. There was the tomb in one of the side chapels with Mary I at the bottom and Queen Elizabeth I above – an arrangement, no doubt, not to Mary’s liking. Henry VII’s own tomb is the only joint one of the Abbey – he lies buried with his wife, Elizabeth of York, at the east end of the Chapel, topped by lavish bronze effigies. He’d spent huge sums on the Chapel, which took 13 years (1503-1516) to complete and not until six years after his death.

Diamond Jubilee Gallery:

Confrères were also exceedingly privileged to have access to the Diamond Jubilee Gallery, not usually available for private view. Even the guides were very excited to be going upstairs to this lovely, new part of the Abbey. It had wonderful views across the Abbey – a terrific vantage point. Up there, there were more amazing artefacts dating back to the 13th century. Paintings, wooden burial figures of each of the monarchs, wax figures for the later royalty, even a stuffed parrot from the 1700s. 13th century gargoyles and other decorative stonework were also on display, as well as stained glass panels, equally ancient. It was difficult to take it all in.

Confrères were extremely privileged to have access to the splendid artefacts in the Diamond Jubilee Gallery

Finally, dinner with accompanying Confrère family wines:

Dinner was served in the old undercroft, where monks used to store their provisions. Guests were greeted with a glass of Wyfold 50th Anniversary 2014 fizz from Barbara Laithwaite’s two-hectare Oxfordshire vineyard. A delicious four-course dinner was served with accompanying wines from the Confrère family: the bright, fresh and lightly toasty, oak-fermented Château La Clarière Blanc (not yet bottled, but tasting really lovely), the mature Château La Clarière 2009 and Altos Pigeage 2010.

Cheers from hosts Tony Laithwaite and Hugh Johnson and all our Confrères at the event

Seven wines from the Confrère family were served with dinner

Paolo Masi’s Il Corto 2015 was also a star with the cheese … and then the Tokajis – the intense sweetness of the 2016 cut through by its brilliant acidity, or the even more amazing Tokaji Essencia 2008, given by Hugh Johnson. This is the super-rare nectar – only ever made eight times by Royal Tokaji. It’s the free-run juice of the perfectly noble-rotten grapes (more like little raisins) ... except there’s no running about it. There’s so little, it slowly eeks out and takes a whole year to ferment into this amazing liquid. It’s so rare it’s served in a glass teaspoon. To round off the dinner, Confrères were served a special Armagnac 1990 – a barrel sample, not quite finished, which will be available to all Confrères in mid-October, for delivery in December.

Tokaji Essencia is so rare that it is served in glass spoons

Tony and Hugh were honoured to meet so many enthusiastic Confrères, Confratelli and RedHead supporters from the various family properties around the world – France, Italy, Spain and Australia. It was great to hear what everyone was enjoying and suggestions of what to do next.