the twins environmental training style matters special - berry bros. & rudd, wine merchants...

THE TW↑NS: Env↑ronMENTAL Training™

A Training, Motivating, Consulting Service

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �1

The Tw↑ns: Env↑ronMENTAL Training™


The Tw↑ns: Env↑ronMENTAL Training Style Matters Special: Berry Bros. & Rudd:

Wine Merchants Extraordinaire: Where wine matters have mattered since 1698. (No.1)

© pPractical aArtwork 2017



The Tw↑ns: Env↑ronMENTAL Training Style Matters Special: Berry Bros. & Rudd: Wine Merchants Extraordinaire: Where wine matters have mattered since 1698

by

Chuka Okonkwo & Dubem Okonkwo

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �2



O whine, O whine Thou art my first true love I pine, I pine To place thee high above.*

*Excerpt from Ode to Wine used by permission of pPractical aArtworks © 2014, 2015, 2017

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �3



'Most importantly, we still believe that everything you should look for in a wine or spirit comes down to one simple question: Is it good to drink?' Berry Bros. & Rudd

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �4



This post is not the place to go into lengthy detail about wine production (premium naturally) or the manufacture of top quality glass drinking vessels. Tempting as it is, that will have to be for another day. We know many of you who have heard our talks on how to really enjoy life after all the hard work and effort you've put into establishing your financial or business empire, are keen for your friends and colleagues to read what we have to say on lifestyle matters. All in good time. Rest assured we hear you and plan to write more lifestyle matters posts over the coming months.

Being Valentine's Day we have prepared some questions for you lovers of Nature's finest vine products from Berry Bros. & Rudd. Many of the questions have been used at several of our 'How To Look At Fine Wine' workshops. Those who have attended them know that only the best libation is allowed to pass under the olfactory apparatus and to make contact with the palates of attendees. It is at your request that these questions have been made available to the wine loving public.

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �5



This post is not a substitute for any of the many wine tasting opportunities which exist in the capital, neither is it attempting or pretending to be a guide to fully understanding wine. We are interested in your personal love and appreciation, not your skill or knowledge, and certainly not your wine accreditation or credentials.

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �6



Questions:

1) Why do you love Berry Bros. & Rudd?

2) Do you know the year Berry Bros. & Rudd was established, and which monarchs were on the thrones of England, France and Spain?

3) Have you ever visited the premises of Berry Bros. & Rudd in St. James's, London?

4) If your answer to Q .3 is yes, describe from memory what took place. Include in your detailed description as much as you can recall of what occurred that day: before, during and after your visit.

5) If your answer to Q.3 is no, explain in detail the reason.

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6) Have you ever ordered from Berry Bros. & Rudd?

7) How would you describe Berry Bros. & Rudd to someone who has never heard of the St. James's wine merchants?

8) Can you recall the first time you heard of Berry Bros. & Rudd?

9) Can you recall how you felt or what you thought the first time you heard the name Berry Bros. & Rudd?

10) Can recall the things you said or did on the day you first heard of Berry Bros. & Rudd?

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �8



11) Do you remember the various things you did in the week you first heard of Berry Bros. & Rudd?

12) Do you remember the people you saw during the month you first heard the name Berry Bros. & Rudd?

13) Do you remember the wines or spirits you were drinking the week or month before you first heard of Berry Bros. & Rudd?

Qs. 11, 12 and 13 will require several attempts. So don't give up after the first attempt and throw your hands up in despair. That isn't the best way to go about things. They're simple questions, so don't behave as if you're sitting a tripos paper or entry exam for the Foreign Office. It's nothing of the sort. If you're in need of a break at this stage, please take one. You do not require our assistance in choosing a suitable libation to fit the occasion, do you?

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �9



14) How much do you spend annually at Berry Bros. & Rudd?

Find your bills and receipts and try to calculate them in your head or with your Graf von Faber-Castell fountain pen and Smythson notebook. Do not seek the assistance of an electronic calculator.

15) Which month or months do you order the most cases from Berry Bros. & Rudd?

Write a detailed explanation as to the reason for the increase in your orders for the month/months. Do not skimp on details.

EnvironMENTAL Training™ believes that everything you should look for in a mental game or exercise comes down to one simple question: 'Is it good to play?'

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �10



16) What is your daily consumption of fine wine/spirits from Berry Bros. & Rudd?

17) What is your weekly consumption of fine wine/spirits from Berry Bros. & Rudd?

18) What is your monthly consumption of fine wine/spirits from Berry Bros. & Rudd?

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �11



For Qs. 16, 17 & 18, we do not care to see a boring list of the number of units you imbibe daily, weekly or monthly. Save such information for your physician, counsellor or therapist. If you're one of those who's unable to enjoy the gift from Dionysus without causing pain or suffering to yourself or loved ones then this post is certainly not for you. It is for our clients who know and clearly understand the full meaning of the maxim from the so-called style icons, The Islington Twins:

"When our pleasure begins to harm us can it be pleasure any longer?"

What we expect to see is a beautifully penned description of the variety of wines and spirits you enjoy over the days, weeks and months of any year. So enjoyable and entertaining should be your description that a reader will immediately reach into their pocket for their credit card and order the very brands you've described so eloquently. Let us learn of the cosy surroundings you were in, the business or social occasion, formal or informal, the company you were with, i.e family, friends, work colleagues or your favoured black Labrador. You may have even been on your ownsome, but you were definitely not lonesome.

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �12



19) Where were you obtaining your cases of fine wine before the satori which led you to the doors of Berry Bros. & Rudd of St. James's?

Here's where you can recollect what the previous wine supplier's service was like: bad, good or somewhere in between. Write down as many details as your memory permits. Do not avoid this question because the memory is painful or out of deference. Be honest and fair in what you pen. Try to stay away from expletives; they're absolutely unnecessary. Especially, the anagram of the word this. No, we certainly do not mean hits.

20) Do you prefer to shop online or in person at Berry Bros. & Rudd?

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �13



21) Do you prefer the week or weekend to shop online or to visit Berry Bros. & Rudd?

No, you're not bragging - as long as it's true that you really do have investments in seventeen blue chip companies not just three - if you write in answer to Q.21 that owing to numerous business concerns, which occupy more than nine-five per cent of your waking hours during the working week, the weekend is the only time when you can enjoy shopping and spending.

22) Which fine wines from Berry Bros. & Rudd do you enjoy with meat?

23) Which fine wines from Berry Bros. & Rudd do you enjoy with fish?

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �14



24) Which fine wines from Berry Bros. & Rudd are you eager to try?

25) How many Berry Bros. & Rudd wine tastings have you attended?

26) How many vintages from Berry Bros. & Rudd have you tried?

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �15



27) Do you like Berry Bros. & Rudd before meals?

28) Do you prefer Berry Bros. & Rudd with meals?

29) Do you enjoy Berry Bros. & Rudd between meals?

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �16



30) Is your cellar filled solely with cases of fine wine from Berry Bros. & Rudd?

Some of our clients describe their cellars as shrines. (Who can argue with them?) Only devout owners of such shrines can fully grasp what it means to spend time amongst Nature's aged and bottled wonders. Drinkers who are prone to gulp down anything poured out of a bottle or carton at some of the capital's private views for avant-garde or alternative art can find it ever so challenging to understand why the catacombs of vintage specials hold such a strong attraction for some minds.

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �17



The remaining five questions are simple but not that easy to answer. They will demand much reflection and hours of recollection. But we think the time spent doing them will be worth it. You can have a bottle of your favourite tipple to keep you company, as well as to assist the cogs of those memory cells to turn more easily.

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �18



31) When did you first fall in love with Berry Bros. & Rudd?

Come on now, why are you pulling a face? Surely, you must recall when your heart first skipped a beat at the sight or even the thought of a bottle of the finest red or white from St. James's? It shouldn't be too difficult. In fact it should come to mind as easily or even easier than recalling the time you spent how many thousands of dollars? on a wedding ring, only for that relationship to peter out, coming to an acrimonious end, more likely than not with lawyers hired to to carve and divide your estate. So much for true love. At least you can rest assured that your relationship with Berry Bros. & Rudd, a name which has been loved by generations for well over three hundred years, shall endure for a lifetime.

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �19



32) Where did you first fall in love with Berry Bros. & Rudd?

When we think of the loves we've won and lost, it can often be too painful to endure. To compound this with vivid memories of time and place can be even more agonising to tolerate. So it's wonderful to know that recollecting the venue where our enduring love affair with Berry Bros. & Rudd first began brings nothing but the best memories and feelings flowing into our brain. We're immediately transported to a time and place where we can relive all those sensations in all their wonder and glory again.

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �20



33) Why do you think you fell in love with Berry Bros. & Rudd?

You may not fully understand the love you feel, but your palate, nose and brain should be of help to you as you think over Q.33. It's good to think, is it not? So using mental muscles to gain further insight and understanding into our love for this long established wine merchant is a privilege we shouldn't take for granted. Not everyone has an opportunity to reflect so positively on a love that makes them tingle, brings needed warmth and colour to the cheeks on a freezing cold day in January, and raises the culinary efforts of any cuisine served at that dinner party to almost cordon blue standards.

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �21



34) What is your is favourite fine wine from Berry Bros. & Rudd?

If choosing one creates the same problem as when asked to select your favourite Beatles song, your favourite Western, your favourite James Bond film, your favourite actress, your favourite actor, your favourite singer, your favourite car, or favourite ski resort, then feel free to select five of your favourite fine wines. They could be anything from the ones you prefer with meals, the ones you enjoy with cigars, the ones you enjoy with company, or even alone with a good book in the solitude of your Clive Christian designed library.

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �22



Please note that alone doesn't mean lonely, Billy-no-mates, friendless or forgotten. There are times when like the studious scholar, the research scientist, the meditating monk, you, too, seek solitude and the peace of your own company. But let's face it, if we're truly being honest with ourselves, whenever one is in the company of a glass of Nature's wonder recently shipped carefully to our door by Berry Bros. & Rudd, one is never really alone.

Each moment your fingertips contact the stem of your glass, each contact of your lips against the rim of your glass, and each sip from your glass brings you spiritually in contact with the many individuals who have combined their knowledge, skills and talents to see to it that your moment of pleasure is not only pleasurable but that it's also memorable.

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �23



35) Which fine wine or spirit from the cellars of Berry Bros. & Rudd will be your No.1 choice for Valentine's Day?

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �24



O wine, O wine Thou art my first true love I pine, I pine And place thee high above.*

*Excerpt from Ode to Wine used by permission of pPractical aArtworks © 2014, 2015, 2017

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �25



Useful Berry Bros. & Rudd links

Berry Bros. & Ruddhttps://www.bbr.com/

Berry Bros. & Rudd - Cellar plan https://www.bbr.com/cellar-plan

Berry Bros. & Rudd - Buy winehttps://www.bbr.com/buy-wine

Berry Bros. & Rudd - Private eventshttps://www.bbr.com/services/private-events

Berry Bros. & Rudd - Private dining roomshttps://www.privatediningrooms.co.uk/restaurant/berry-bros-rudd/

Berry Bros. & Rudd webloghttp://bbrblog.com/

Berry Bros. & Rudd - Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berry_Bros._%26_Rudd

C. & D. Okonkwo © 2017 �26

https://www.bbr.com/

https://www.bbr.com/cellar-plan

https://www.bbr.com/buy-wine

https://www.bbr.com/services/private-events

https://www.privatediningrooms.co.uk/restaurant/berry-bros-rudd/

http://bbrblog.com/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berry_Bros._%26_Rudd

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