Dear Members, An ancient Persian fable credits a distraught Princess with the discovery of wine and its therapeutic qualities: Having lost the King’s favour she attempted to poison herself by eating some table grapes that had spoiled in a jar. She became tipsy and fell fast asleep. When she awoke, the stresses that had made her life so intolerable had disappeared. Her change in humour saw her regain favour with the King, which in turn saw her returning to the “source” of her relief when the stresses of life bore down on her. Today the princess’s “accidental” discovery is pursued more practically by Bacchanalia, The Wine Society where our wine experts have sourced an eclectic range of boutique wines. Bacchanalia was founded more than 10 years ago by several of Spain’s leading bodegas to give wine enthusiasts the opportunity to experience their World through social events, and to taste some of the new and exciting wines emerging from Spain. The wineries we work with are situated across Spain’s most famous wine regions and today Members have the opportunity to taste their fine wines at our new London tasting room that faces the striking Tate Modern art gallery. The excitement surrounding Spain’s development in the wine world has been noted by leading wine experts and writers such as America’s Robert Parker who predicts that “Spain will be the star”. We believe this too. Following in this vein, we have opened a Society in London and soon shall be opening in Oslo, Geneva, Miami and Buenos Aires. By freely joining you will become a part of our world, a World United by Wine. We hope that you enjoy this first edition of what is an exciting wine Society Welcome to this New World of Wine. Kind regards, Jaime Boville.