A whistle stop London visit.

A couple of weeks ago I made the long journey South from Nottingham to Brighton, to see a load of friends,  who I haven't seen nearly enough of in recent months, to spend a long weekend catching up and having some relaxing time away from work. En-route I decided I would stop in London for a few hours and take in the sights, and visit a certain wine shop in Mayfair - Hedonism Wines.
It's the most ostentatious place I have ever seen. It holds a massive range of the finest wines, in most cases, at eye watering prices. There's a Mouton room, a Penfolds cave, a whole wall devoted to Y'quem with vintages dating back to the 1940's.
It is an utterly ridiculously excessive place to be. And I loved it!! Not because I aspire to be able to afford and purchase a '99 La Tache for £10,000, or a Cognac from the 1850's, but because of the sheer madness of it. The whole place is so madly overblown and high end, it's an experience just being there.
 

I sometimes wonder whether these places are really in existence to function as 'go to' places for that nice bottle of a Friday night, or are they more like showrooms. Places where people can go and browse the pristine objects on display, and fall over at their price tags. I think they act more as a tourist attraction, which isn't a bad thing. Somewhere where a 'normal' person, who has an interest in this area, can be surrounded by the unobtainable artefacts and imerse themselves in the higher echelons of wine, and the finer things in life. 

I don't think these establishments will ever cater to the masses but they do hold relevance, and are a great example of providing a really great customer experience.