feeble joke at worst. Yes, they too had studied Monty Python. A couple of my Budding Master of Wine friends didn't take Monty Python too seriously though, and lo and behold the wine buyer for Fortnum and Mason, the Piccadilly Grocer to the Queen, and the buyer for Bibendum Restaurant were at least prepared to taste the wines I was importing. If either of them had realised at that stage that their interest in the wines of St Hallett would result in regular visits from Bob McLean they might have thought twice; though Bob probably wouldn't have been deterred. It was hard work to get the sales moving to a broad audience although by that stage most of the wine writers were on board with Australia and some were visiting Coonawarra almost as often as they visited the Bordeaux. We got a lot of great press. The foundations of Australia's success had been built and the heavy lifting was beginning to get some structure in place. No longer was Australian wine available only in Oddbins, Ostlers and The Drunken Mouse (there's three names to conjure with) but the supermarkets had taken notice of their Nielsen data and the requests which kept coming from in-store Customer Service departments from customers asking why they couldn't buy that Australian wine they'd tried at the British Open Golf tournament or the Ideal Home Exhibition. The Australian presence at the London Wine Trade Fair began to grow and the trade was taking notice. But Australia's