Earlier this month I was invited to The Royal Horseguards Hotel for a wine tasting event. The Royal Horseguards Hotel is where my husband chose for us to stay when we visited London for our 10th Wedding Anniversary earlier this year. He chose it due to it's fantastic location and we were both impressed by the service we received. You can read my full review of our room at The Royal Horseguards here.

What was really nice about this event, was that I was able to learn a bit of history about the hotel which really does make it special and I wish I had known some of this history when we had stayed there.

The reception area was beautifully decorated for Christmas. The luxurious surroundings made me even more excited about tasting the wine as it wasn't going to be a special offer from the supermarket kind of wine.


The Royal Horseguards Hotel is the home of the National Liberal Club. Only members are allowed behind this door and it is no smoking too! Gladstone and Churchill are two of it's most famous members. Knowing I wasn't allowed in, just made me want to go in there more.

This amazing marble staircase was rebuilt after the war with a small part remaining from the original.

The secret service MI6 was founded on the 8th floor of the hotel. Sir Mansfield Cumming, the founder, wrote in green ink and signed his correspondence with a C.

The hotels restaurant is called One Twenty-One Two which is the famous telephone number of Scotland Yard. We also got to see the Division Bell. When it is rung, members of the House of Commons or Lords have eight minutes to go and vote.

So after a brief history tour we headed to the wine cellar. It is rummoured that this wall used to be a secret passage way to the house of commons.

The evening was hosted by the fantastic Kelly from Tastour. I have been to wine tasting events before and whilst I have enjoyed the wine, I haven't learnt a thing. I often switch off when there is talk of different types of grapes and sulphites. Kelly on the other hand was extremely engaging and entertaining.

I don't want to giveaway all her secrets, but I learnt that the further away you can smell white wine, the more you should pay. She also advised that in an establishment as prestigious as The Royal Horseguards, you are putting your trust in them and the house wine should be a good one. Another good tip was that if you can buy the wine by the glass, you should be able to ask for a taster first to make sure you like it.


We sampled a variety of wine all of which I would most happily drink again. I found that my drink of choice was Tattinger, so apologies to my husband for my new expensive tastes. I also proved that I can drink red wine without getting a headache so it really is down to the quality of the wine.

All in all it as a fascinating evening in the most beautiful venue with some lovely bloggers. I will raise a glass to that!