Lost connections . . .

A defining feature of the Tasting Table is the way wines are selected. For every course, Gavin chooses two wines - each with a distinct purpose. One is chosen to pair with the main ingredient; the other is selected to pair with the seasoning, sauce, jus, or reduction. This level of detail is remarkable, yet the experience feels effortless. The clarity comes from Gavin’s four decades of global exploration, curiosity, and deep understanding of how seasons, local ingredients, and regional traditions have shaped every wine ever made. He simply understands why each wine exists, and how it naturally belongs with certain flavours.
For guests, this sensory engagement has become normal, and the laughter becomes part of the experience. And this is why people ask about it everywhere Gavin goes - how it works, how the wines are chosen, and how their own wines might one day be included. This curiosity points to the true key to its success: the wines must naturally fit the chef’s bespoke / seasonal dishes and the unique flavour profile of each course
Months in advance, Gavin tastes the wines, and where possible the ingredients, seasonings, sauces, the reductions - all the components - to find the most natural fit. Only then can he explain, show, and demonstrate why a particular wine was ‘originally’ created, and why it belongs with that specific traditional, local, seasonal dish.

As the experience unfolds, guests begin to realise that the glass is only one part of a much larger sensory conversation. During these degustation’s, Gavin guides them through the essential foundations of wine appreciation - tasting and understanding the difference between: unoaked and oaked wines, naturally high and lower acidity wines, exploring early drinking versus aged expressions, and discovering why and when to decant both red and white wines. He also shares the classic insights into temperature, stemware, and the often forgotten skill of how to truly taste and appreciate wine - a sensory craft rarely taught in homes and even overlooked in hospitality. These traditions and techniques reveal how wine expresses itself more fully, and why the right conditions allow it to speak with greater clarity, generosity and depth.

Once you experience this, everything about wine and food suddenly makes sense. Appreciation deepens. Confidence grows. And the way people understand wine is elevated for life.

In this time Gavin has created 59 bespoke degustations at the Tasting Table, each revealing authentic flavours, characters, and pairings shaped to respect, but not restricted by traditions, with a clear focus on seasonal tasting menus. And even these have only begun to scratch the surface of the wonderful world of wine and cuisine.

Gavin has not invented or changed wine and food pairing. He has simply reminded us of its original purpose. For thousands of years, wine and food were created together - shaped by the same seasons, same landscapes, the same traditions. In ‘new world’ countries without centuries of wine & cuisine heritage, much of this understanding was not fully developed, shared and definitely started to fade in the early 1980s and was almost entirely lost through the 1990s and into the 2000s. Now, it is returning. And the change is beautifully simple, anyone can embrace.