Why there was a real buzz at MCBs first combined portfolio tasting

350 new, on-trend wines from some of the 280 producers that now make up the Matthew Clark Bibendum (MCB) portfolio were on show at London’s trendy Leake Street Arches – the first combined tasting since the C&C Group brought together the Matthew Clark and Bibendum ranges to form a combined Matthew Clark portfolio earlier this year. Aside from a wealth of buyers from some of the 12,000 venues that MCB now supplies, Kate Hawkings discovered a real buzz in the air as suppliers welcomed the group’s new-found synergy. C&C’s wine buying director, Jamie Avenell, tells Hawkings about some of the many changes that have recently taken place, especially the streamlining of the sales and buying departments and how that benefits MCB’s customers.