Always start with a summery summary ...

World's worst blogger here ... maybe I will have time to catch up today and post a few things. I've just arrived in Champagne for three days of meetings and tastings. This would normally be cause for celebration (champagne perhaps?!) but I'm having a shocker.

For some reason I left my carry-on case unzipped in the boot of the car, so when I pulled it out the contents flew everywhere. Somehow the magnum of AJ Adam riesling and the bottle of Van Volxem Sparkling Riesling didn't break, but my laptop now has a very sticky space bar. No problem I though, I'll get my wireless mouse. Um, oops, looks like I left it at one of the past two hotels.

To make matters worse I left my toothbrush with it's sheephead mirror-sticking head protector. Poor old sheepy. Lucky I have the airline toothbrush still, and luckier still it's not one of those clip-together jobs with four bristles on it.

So, this is Saturday, September 24. The weather is fantastic. Was hazy this morning -- I even drove through low-flying clouds as I crested the bridge from Germany into Luxembourg -- but it's clear away now to be a gorgeous 22C and possibly climbing.

In case I don't get back to it, here's what's happened this week:

Monday, 3.30pm: After somehow getting to the airport almost on schedule two hours before the flight, we still managed to be pushed for time trying to do last-minute things, stuff some food down and get on the plane. Watched three movies on Thai Airways to Bangkok, and strangely had Mel Gibson in two of them: The Beaver and Signs. Loved the third film, Midnight in Paris. It's not out in Australia yet and it would work just fine as a DVD rental but I enjoyed it immensely. Funny thing was that I liked old penis nose Owen Wilson even though I often don't, and I didn't like Rachel McAdams even though she's rung my bells since well, blush, The Notebook. Probably goes to show they can act. Anyway, it's an odd Americans in Paris with a message about making the most of what you have. Unless of course what you have sucks.

Bangkok airport was fine if not confusing with its different levels and limited stairways joining them. The Thai lounge seemed to have more people in it than the rest of the airport did, and the internet failed after reading about 20 of my 30 new emails.

Shuffled onto an old SAS plane to Paris via Copenhagen. I had seat 1A for kicks. It was a cheapy business deal combined with the Thai economy, which I needed because of the arthritis in my knees. I was in agony on the first nine-hour sector, and it didn't help that the cabin was about 35C. This time the creaky old seat was fairly uncomfortable, even in lie-flat mode (more like lie in the shape of a question mark), but I slept a fair bit and chatted in between with a lovely gentleman who owns a window-making business in Melbourne.

Hmmm, here we go again with the verbosity. OK, Tuesday I drove from Paris to Rudesheim in the Rheingau; Wednesday I had appointments with Leitz (first wines to come soon, from the 2010 vintage); Knebel (will buy a little 2010 as they keep improving and I am hopeful one day the punters will recognise the quality); and Schloss Lieser (Thomas Haag is becoming a bit of a rockstar in Germany. He's definitely top five in the Mosel, if not top two if you count Egon Muller in the Saar.

Thursday I had appointments with AJ Adam in Neumagen-Dhron (near Piesport) and Roman Niewoniczanski in Wiltingen (Saar), where we ate lots of grapes as Roman barked instructions to the pickers (first day of harvest). Then I went to Trier for the VDP presentation of the 2010 vintage. Tried lots of wines and very happy with my team of Schloss Lieser, Fritz Haag, Willi Schaefer, Zilliken and Van Volxem.

Friday was VDP auction day. I got my times wrong thanks to useless overnight internet and arrived just 10 minutes before the end of the morning tasting session. No problem, I speed-tasted the best wines there and even took some groupie photos of winemakers. Then lunch with Christoph Schaefer and Hanno Zilliken before the auction. I managed to snag three bottles of Willi Schaefer auslese goldcap and six half bottles of Zilliken Auslese Goldcap and got blown away on everything else. Really, 5300 euros for a double magnum of auslese goldcap or a bottle of 1999 TBA? Yeah, OK, I desperately wanted them too, and in hindsight I should have stumped up the 550 euros for a bottle of the Muller AGC.

Saturday is forget-everything day and break what you don't forget. I'm in a two-star motel on the fringe of Epernay. It's called Kyriad and it's actually pretty good. The internet is working anyway.

I have appointments this afternoon with Rene Geoffroy and David Leclapart, and then hopefully not yet another pizza alone in my room.

Tomorrow I'm going to Lancelot Pienne and not sure if I can get anyone else, and on Sunday I'm seeing Laetitia at H. Billiot, Olivier at Ulysse Collin and Bertrand at Vouette et Sorbee, plus Yves at Charles Dufour if I can find him. Then it's on to Alsace!