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Linden has been involved in fine wine events for over twenty years, though he protests that that makes him sound old, and points out that it began when we was in his first year of university.
Linden has over twenty years experience in fine wine events, and boxes filled with tasting notes. Organising and hosting wine tastings during his university years in Christchurch, New Zealand, while working nights as a sommelier, the wine bug had a firm grip by the time he was out earning an income in four year stint working in logistics. The “hobby” had become an obsession, and having decided to change careers to fine wine in 2002, Linden moved to London in pursuit of his dreams.
“People ask, why not Bordeaux, or Beaune? But I wanted to learn with both depth and breadth, and London or New York were really the options for that. In London I had the chance – several times a week – to sit down with some of the best palates and minds in the world of fine wine, and to learn.”
Linden created The Fine Wine Experience in London 2003, as a way to explore wine, to taste wines comparatively round the table with other enthusiasts.
“I don’t think of wine as a product. Wine is an experience stuck behind a cork. It’s waiting for you to share it. It’s only when we open the bottle, sit round the table, contemplate and discuss it, that the fine wine experience is complete. It begins in the vineyard in the year and the place where the wine was made, and ends only in our memory, long after the last drops were sipped. When I look in a wine cellar, I don’t see a collection of bottles, I see the fantastic variety of aromas, textures, flavours and stories, and the laughter round the table, waiting to happen.”
Yes, Linden is prone to get a bit misty on his favourite subject!
The move to Hong Kong in 2010 felt more like a return to a familiar friend. Linden was an exchange student in 1989, living his last high school year here, while attending Wah Yan College, Kowloon. That experience got under his skin.
The missing ingredient was a Hong Kong partner with the calibre to really make it work here.
“When I met Mike, I knew it was him. Smart, very genuine, sincere but straight talking, analytically sharp, very curious about wine, and already very experienced in it. He also steps between the Chinese culture, acumen, and language of his native Hong Kong, and the articulate English and discipline of Cornell and Goldman with casual ease. To me, he epitomises what’s great about Hong Kong, and with him I know we can build something very special here."
Linden holds various wine certificates, a BA in history with first class honours from the University of Canterbury (NZ), and an MBA from Brunel University (UK).
Linden has been involved in fine wine events for over twenty years, though he protests that that makes him sound old, and points out that it began when we was in his first year of university.
Linden has over twenty years experience in fine wine events, and boxes filled with tasting notes. Organising and hosting wine tastings during his university years in Christchurch, New Zealand, while working nights as a sommelier, the wine bug had a firm grip by the time he was out earning an income in four year stint working in logistics. The “hobby” had become an obsession, and having decided to change careers to fine wine in 2002, Linden moved to London in pursuit of his dreams.
“People ask, why not Bordeaux, or Beaune? But I wanted to learn with both depth and breadth, and London or New York were really the options for that. In London I had the chance – several times a week – to sit down with some of the best palates and minds in the world of fine wine, and to learn.”
Linden created The Fine Wine Experience in London 2003, as a way to explore wine, to taste wines comparatively round the table with other enthusiasts.
“I don’t think of wine as a product. Wine is an experience stuck behind a cork. It’s waiting for you to share it. It’s only when we open the bottle, sit round the table, contemplate and discuss it, that the fine wine experience is complete. It begins in the vineyard in the year and the place where the wine was made, and ends only in our memory, long after the last drops were sipped. When I look in a wine cellar, I don’t see a collection of bottles, I see the fantastic variety of aromas, textures, flavours and stories, and the laughter round the table, waiting to happen.”
Yes, Linden is prone to get a bit misty on his favourite subject!
The move to Hong Kong in 2010 felt more like a return to a familiar friend. Linden was an exchange student in 1989, living his last high school year here, while attending Wah Yan College, Kowloon. That experience got under his skin.
The missing ingredient was a Hong Kong partner with the calibre to really make it work here.
“When I met Mike, I knew it was him. Smart, very genuine, sincere but straight talking, analytically sharp, very curious about wine, and already very experienced in it. He also steps between the Chinese culture, acumen, and language of his native Hong Kong, and the articulate English and discipline of Cornell and Goldman with casual ease. To me, he epitomises what’s great about Hong Kong, and with him I know we can build something very special here."
Linden holds various wine certificates, a BA in history with first class honours from the University of Canterbury (NZ), and an MBA from Brunel University (UK).
