We had booked our ‘Know Your Grapes: Fun Wine Tasting’ event from Travel Zoo for £59 each back in June 2011 and were really looking forward to attending the last session at Bacchanalia, Broken Wharf House, 2 Broken Wharf, London EC4 on Saturday 10 December 2011. It was a bitterly cold day and we arrived early (1.45pm) thinking we could sit somewhere warm and have a cup of tea before the event started at 2.30pm. WRONG! We weren’t allowed access to Bacchanalia (because they were still setting the room up) until 2.20pm so could either sit in a cold reception area with no view, or wander around in the cold. We decided to take a stroll along the river as we normally frequent the other side (Borough Market, The Globe, Tate Modern). Finally 2.20pm came and we were ushered into a lift which took us to an upper floor, into a large room with a fantastic view of the Thames. We signed in, deposited our coats (I wish I’d left mine on as the room didn’t really warm up and when we asked for the temperature to be raised, we were told the building temperature was controlled by a central management system and nothing could be done) and went to our allotted table - the majority of tables were set for 6 people. The room was nicely decorated and the tables laid with white table clothes, cutlery and 9 tulip wine tasting glasses, four of which held white wine (not very much I might add), four had red (again a conservative measure) and one was empty. We were very excited and was looking forward to the wine tasting, intertwined with a delicious lunch (to be served at 3.30pm) to give us examples of how food influences the wine. Unfortunately, we were looking thirstily at our 8 wine glasses only to notice how dirty they were, VERY DIRTY, in fact so dirty, all of my husbands had to be replaced. We called over one of the servers, a young man called Joe, and showed him the mucky glasses and he said it wasn’t anything to do with him as the room was already set up beforehand. He did apologise, begrudgingly, and asked if we wanted them replacing (a rather stupid thing to say). I couldn’t believe it - it looked they hadn’t been washed and you could clearly see the dirty lip marks around the rims and finger marks and general dirt around the glasses. I had two of mine changed and one other couple at our table had three dirty glasses changed as well. Our hearts sank - dirty wine glasses at a wine tasting and not just one but several? Oh Dear - not a good start! By about 2.45pm the room was full and our MC, Chateau Harry introduced himself and his colleagues and the wine tasting began. I must admit it was very interesting going through the whites and then the reds, firstly looking at the individual wines and then comparing them to each other. We were given pen and paper to make notes. At 3.30pm our starter was served - a delicious rose of smoked salmon with lemon and a slice of what I think was Liver Parfait - too light and moussey to be a paté, but absolutely delicious. After this, we started tasting the red wines, comparing, smelling, tasting etc. We had to wait an extra 10 minutes for the main course to be served, which we were really looking forward to and whilst we waited Harry told us some stories of his life, tasting and sampling fine wines and food. The main course was served which I looked at in horror and sadness. The menu said ‘Scottish Sirloin Beef with New potatoes and variety of salads’. The photograph on our leaflet showed a large table generously laden with a smorgasbord of delicious-looking food. How wrong was this? We were served two wafer-thin slices of cold beef, half a cold jacket potato which had been sliced into three, two cherry tomatoes and four green leaves (Lamb I think). I looked at my plate in disbelief. Where were all the delicious salads? Why had we had to wait for a cold plate of food? This must be a very bad joke! The other people at our table looked the same as we did, but we were hungry, cold and also needed more wine as the meagre measures were all but gone. The Tart au Citron served for dessert was delicious and we were given a dessert wine to compliment it which was delicious. I had told the organisers we didn’t like Roquefort cheese which everyone else had and were given a little ‘block’ of cheddar – tasty enough but a tad dried out and cracking around the edges. Oh Dear! All in all - we wouldn’t attend one of these wine tastings again. We wouldn’t recommend attending one. It wasn’t value for money. The food was diabolical and not what we were lead to believe we would be eating. The venue was cold, the serving staff indifferent.