Past events

Join us for an outdoor Opera evening in one of the most unique London summer evenings!

After last year's success, we have decided to come back to Holland Park for another evening full of laughter, songs, and good wines!!

Doors open at 5.30 pm and, we suggest arriving at 6.30 pm.

We will be met at the entrance of Holland Park Opera to be taken to a table reserved for us. Performances start at 7.30. There is an interval at 8.30-45 pm for 30 minutes. The performance ends around 9.35 / 9.45, and we can go back to our table if we want until it closes at 11 pm. A picnic from an Italian Deli will be made available and is included in the price (along with the cost of the performance). We ask that you Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB) to share with the rest of the group. This particular event is meant to be more about relaxing and networking and less about speakers or wine information.

Please find below the description from Holland Park Opera:

"Lehár’s delicious comedy of bankruptcy, infidelity, social climbing, and the rekindling of romance between two old flames receives a new spin in the first of two co-productions between Opera Holland Park, Scottish Opera and D’Oyly Carte Opera in the 2025 Season. With his family’s finances on the verge of collapse, Zeta must engineer a marriage between the playboy Danilo and Hanna, once considered too low-born to be Danilo’s bride but now a very wealthy and very independent widow. Against a backdrop of lavishly themed parties, spectacular dances, political intrigue, and a subplot of brewing romance between Zeta’s wife, Valencienne, and her hapless suitor Camille, Hanna and Danilo begin to fall in love once more, now a little older and a great deal wiser. "

Vidya Narasimhan is an independent wine consultant who has recently transitioned to the wine industry. After years in Management Consulting and Banking across 3 continents, Vidya now advises Private Equity Firms on investments in Food and Wine, besides doing a range of other wine-related activities such as hosting wine tastings for corporates and private groups, judging wine competitions, providing wine recommendations for supper clubs and restaurants. She lends her voice to diversity, inclusion and sustainability initiatives in the wine industry. 

She has completed her Diploma in Wine from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET). She has completed the trio of Wine Scholar programmes from the Wine Scholar Guild (WSG): French Wine Scholar (Highest Honours), Spanish Wine Scholar (Highest Honours) and Italian Wine Scholar (Honours). She is currently enrolled for the Bordeaux Masters Programme at the WSG. 

Vidya is a wine judge, judging for London Wine Competition (LWC – 2025), Glass of Bubbly Awards (2023), Decanter Retailer Awards (2022) and People’s Choice Drinks Awards (2022 and 2023). She is an Advisory Board Member for Be Inclusive Hospitality (BIH) and an Ambassador for the Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR). She has an MBA from the Ross School of Business, Michigan (2006). 

Vidya’s passion for food and wine appreciation stems from love for travel when she would seek to eat and drink local in her global travels to understand culture and cuisine. Vidya is keen to make wine appreciation and learning an adventure - fun, approachable and accessible. 

This will be a fun event, where we will talk about different formats in the market and whether "bag in the box" or "canned wine" are still as horrible as they once were. We will taste and compare the new formats to bottled wine and will discuss how these formats may help the wine industry stem a decline in new, young drinkers by appearing more fun and enjoyable. Vidya can also speak about how she made the change from management consultant and banking to the wine industry.

We will be having a private room at Bancone in Borough Yards, a hip area with lots of fun bars and restaurants, tasting delicious Italian food with a range of different wines (bottles as well as some bag in the box).

BE AWARE: it will start at 8.30 pm until 23.30 pm

(We apologise in advance, our system is not set up to start at 6.30, so the confirmation will be 6.30 but the actual event starts at 8.30 pm. You will receive your calendar invitation in due time with the right timing..Thank you for your kind understanding)

Geeta Sidhu-Robb is a 5-time winner of the Entrepreneur and Businesswoman of the Year award. Having developed the hugely successful Nosh Detox in 2008 after her son was born with severe food allergies, eczema, asthma and anaphylaxis, she has built a formidable reputation for success in the heath and nutrition industry counting Gwyneth Paltrow as one of her first clients. She retrained from lawyer to a health & wellness coach for successful professional women in 2014. Over the years she’s built up a roster of world famous clients working with the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, Nadia Swarovski, Gurinder Chadha (Bend it like Beckham) Sam Smith of finnCap (working with her from £3M to an IPO and a £55m exit) and numerous other successful women CEOs, Charity Heads, Country Heads and Celebrities. Her coaching clients describe working with her as ‘transformational & life changing’ and credit her coaching with helping them get promotions, double revenue, manage successful IPO’s and launching massive company growth. And with helping them create successfully happy personal lives alongside.

Also, Geeta has always been an activist and helped run then Chair Open Britain (the largest political lobbying campaign in the UK) against Brexit organising protest marches for up to a million people at a time. She recently launched The Womanist Movement. The B2B element is WCorp at the UN CSW, a movement to certify companies that create safe and supportive workplaces for women to succeed in. This global movement is here to create change at ground level and help make the workplace a level playing field. The B2C element is WComm – a woman only space for women, globally, to be seen and heard. Entry is $1/month and it encompasses wealth creation to a forum for rating companies on their women friendly policies.

She Chairs and sits on three charity Boards including the Montessori Global committed to bringing education to refugee children around the world Microloan Foundation helping the poorest women in the world escape poverty by lending them money to build a business and training them on how to run it.

Her motto “Anything is possible. If you can see it, you can do it; if you can dream it, you can make it happen.’

Geeta is coming back to our club with new ideas, energy, and challenges. Join us in a discussion to explore how women can help other women.

We will taste 5 unusual wines.

SOLD OUT

Ayana Misawa is a fifth-generation winemaker working at Grace Wine in Yamanashi Prefecture, about 100km west of Tokyo and north of Mt Fuji.

Trained in Japan, Bordeaux, and Stellenbosch, and having worked in Argentina, Chile, Australia, and France,  Ayana is now the chief winemaker at Grace Wine. However, being one of the very few female winemakers in male-dominated Japan is not easy. While Ayana is determined and confident, she is also sensitive and makes wines matching her character: powerful yet full of delicacy and grace.

Join us for an informal tasting of Ayana's new vintage while she is in London. We will meet in 67 Pall Mall (Club House, Naughty Corner).

ONLY 10 tickets are available.

‘Mastering Midlife Change’

"Sally Evans is an award-winning vintner with a thriving tourism business. Not bad for what she calls a 'retirement hobby'." Cathy Hawker, The Times

At 52, Sally completely changed her life. After a corporate career and with a newly empty nest, she began studying wine and moved across France to create Chateau George 7 on the right bank of Bordeaux, despite being on her own and having no prior experience in the wine industry. Her wines are now critically acclaimed, and she has developed an award-winning wine tourism venue. 

Alongside wine, her other passion is supporting women to follow their dreams and live the life they truly want. Her newly-published book, Make the Midlife Move: A Practical Guide to Flourish after 50, is a practical guide for any woman hoping to make a major life change. During the evening, Sally will share with us her wines, her journey which she recounts with humour and complete honesty and the key stages of a midlife transformation from defining the dream, to having the confidence to take the leap and crush it.

Please join us on Tuesday 3rd of December for what is surely going to be a fun, lively and delicious evening.

This event is now full- no places available - Waiting List

Monica Meade is the Global Head of Audit for Technology, Real Time Payments, and Transfer Solutions at Mastercard.

Before joining Mastercard, Monica worked for nine years at JP Morgan, where she served as the Head of Technology Audit for the Corporate and Investment Bank Markets team for Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Prior to that, she held various audit roles at Credit Suisse and Deloitte.

Aside from her professional career, Monica is a passionate advocate for social causes. She serves as a trustee of the Afro Caribbean Leukaemia Trust, a leading blood cancer/disorder charity dedicated to raising awareness of the severe shortage of donors on the U.K. stem cell, blood, and organ donor registers.

Additionally, Monica actively volunteers with the U.K. Cyber Security Council as an Assessor for Professional Registration titles, offering her expertise in assessing candidates. Her dedication to advancing the field of technology audit and information security is evident from her past role as President and board member of the award-winning ISACA London Chapter.

Monica is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), and a Chartered Cyber Security Professional (ChCSP). She holds a Postgraduate degree in Information Security from Royal Holloway University of London, along with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with Management from King's College London.

Cyber costs millions every year and is usually not a question of "if" but "when" and "how long". Monica will share a bit of light on this hidden world and who are the big actors, how do they get away with it, as well as how to protect one's organisation.

We will be tasting a selection of wines from 67 Pall mall, in a private room with some surprises.

Sotheby's Thursday 5th of September at 6pm

SOLD OUT

Zofia first joined Sotheby’s temporarily in 2017 as an Intern in the Prints Department in London, having studied History of Art in her home country. She then moved to Edinburgh to complete her master’s degree in Modern and Contemporary Art History, while developing her passion and knowledge for wine by working part-time in wine retail. She also had a chance to join The University of Edinburgh’s blind tasting team, which allowed her to successfully take part in national and international tasting competitions, such as Left Bank Bordeaux Cup and Pol Roger Tasting Cup. The idea of working in a global auction house was always on her mind, and at the beginning of 2021 she had an opportunity to merge the two areas of expertise, auctions and wine. A year later she successfully completed the WSET Diploma in Wines and in 2023 she was promoted to Wine Specialist, joining the department’s European network of experts.

Zofia will host us in Sotheby's for welcome-back drinks generously offered by Sotheby's, hence the attractive flat price. We will taste a few wines of her choice and Zofia will explain the hidden mechanism of a wine auction. There will be some nibbles to enjoy and plenty of opportunities to network.  If you ahave always wondered about how auctions work and whether fine wine holds its value, this is the event to come to!

Please come along and do not hesitate to bring a friend!

Maria Lilli joined MSCI in 2013 and leads the ESG Consultant team across the UK and Italy. Maria has more than 14 years’ experience in the ESG Research industry, advising leading institutional investors, asset managers, and central banks on different ESG integration, screening and engagement strategies, and helping develop different educational and analytical tools.

 Additionally, Maria is a member of the UK Sustainable Investment Forum, Industry Development Committee, as well as of the British Standard Institute working group on the creation of standards on the labelling of responsible and sustainable funds. She is also guest lecturer at the London College of Fashion.

Prior to joining MSCI, Maria worked as analyst looking at sustainability issues within the think-tank Accountability. She also worked as lawyer at the French Anti-Trust Authority and lectured at Nanterre University. Maria holds a LLM in European Competition Law from Paris-Assas University, and a Master degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

Maria will be discussing

- current trajectory of temperature rise and how to measure it
- what companies are doing in terms of reducing carbon emissions and how to assess the credibility of carbon emission reduction targets
- how companies ‘hide’ their emissions (so-called orpheline emissions)

We will taste 6 wines that reflect global warming challenges.

SOLD OUT (Please contact us if you want to join)

Join us for an outdoor Opera evening in one of the most unique London summer evenings!

Holland Park Opera has contacted us for a discounted offer to spend an evening together, eating, drinking, and listening to an amazing Opera. This is a one-off, we would like to try with you. Laurence and Anne enjoy operas and we both thought it could be a nice way to celebrate the start of Summer.

Doors open at 5.30 pm and, we suggest arriving from 6.00 pm. We will meet at the entrance of Holland Park Opera to be taken to a table reserved for us. Performances start at 7.30. there is an interval at 8.30-45 pm for 30 minutes. The performance ends around 9.35 / 9.45 and we can go back to our table if we want until it closes at 11 pm. A picnic from an Italian Deli will be served. It will be a Bring Your Own (BYO) bottle.  This is meant to be more about relaxing and networking and less about speakers or wine information.

Please find below the description from Holland Park Opera:

The Barber of Seville by Rosinni is a "sparkling comedy of intrigue told with style and panache. Figaro the barber turns puppet-master as he tries to prevent Rosina’s wedding to her elderly guardian, Doctor Bartolo, and instead to cement a match between her and the young Count Almaviva, Figaro’s former and future employer. Disguises and deceptions abound as the course of true love hits the rocks. With brilliantly inventive arias and ensembles that fizz at lightning speed, Rossini’s opera serves as a tart prequel to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

Paul Grant takes the title role in Cecilia Stinton’s new production of this classic bel canto comedy, conducted by Charlotte Corderoy. Elgan Llŷr Thomas and Heather Lowe play Almaviva and Rosina, with Stephen Gadd as the conniving Doctor Bartolo. There is luxury casting in the supporting cast, as operatic superstar and celebrated comedienne Janis Kelly makes her company debut in the role of Bartolo’s dust-allergic housekeeper, Berta." 

Because this is a different event from our usual ones, we have decided to put only one price for everyone, members and non-members: £96.

There are ONLY 12 seats available (or 24 if we have a lot of success) so be fast to register. As usual, a women's event only. Your family and friends are welcome!

The deadline to register is the 16th of May.

ONLY 3 TICKETS LEFT

Tamara Roberts – Ridgeview CEO Biography

Tamara Roberts is the CEO of Ridgeview Wine Estate, the international award-winning and family-run English sparkling wine producer based in Sussex. Ridgeview is proud to be a pioneering force in the English wine industry. Founded in 1995, they were one of the first wineries devoted to the production of English sparkling wine. In 2018 they became the first English winery to gain the global accolade of ‘International Winemaker of the Year’ in the International Wine & Spirit Competition.

Tamara’s career began with obtaining a Degree in Law at Kings College London, she then completed her charted accountancy qualification with Price Waterhouse Coopers after which working in the London financial services industry. In 2004 Tamara took the decision to join Ridgeview to grow their family business, originally as General Manager and then promoted to CEO within 10 years in 2014. Tamara has overseen the growth of production in that time from 25,000 bottles per annum to 500,000 bottles, with plans to continue sustainable growth into the future. Tamara is responsible for the financial management of the Ridgeview as well as setting and implementing the strategy across all other areas from grape to glass.

Highly active in the English wine industry, Tamara was previously a director of the national bodies Wines GB and the Wine & Spirits trade association and now a Governor of Plumpton College which specialises in training the English Wine Industry and has a position on the Business Advisory Board of Sussex University. In 2020 she became the first English wine professional to become President of the prestigious International Wine and Spirit Competition.

Tamara is very respected within the local Sussex business community. As a testament to Tamara’s experience, professionalism, and reputation she was awarded ‘Sussex Businessperson of the Year in the 2018 Sussex Business Awards and the Dynamic Award in the Women in Business Dynamic Awards 2022.

With ambitious growth plans for Ridgeview, Tamara’s vision is to focus on quality and sustainability while increasing brand awareness for growth in sales, tourism, and export which currently sits at 15 countries around the globe. Under Tamara’s guidance, with her passion for sustainability Ridgeview has recently been accredited as a B Corp, at the time one of only 25 wineries in the globe. Tamara is passionate about creating an ethical and diverse workplace where people feel they belong, can develop personally and professionally, and are respected.  This also extends into client, customer and community relationships.

It will be a seated dinner, starting at 18:30 and finishing by 21:30.

Tamara will lead us in tasting 4 of her wines.