Homing in on the Grange

by Martin Moodie |
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Martin Moodie

Martin Moodie is the Founder & Chairman of The Moodie Report.

hkia great shot

I often talk about setting up my interim Moodie Report bureaus but this one is more interim than most.

I’m in transit at Hong Kong International Airport for around 90 minutes, over half the way along the long, long haul to Adelaide and Sydney, where I’ll be attending a major Treasury Wine Estates event featuring the company’s flagship wine estate, Penfolds, producer of the world-famous Grange Hermitage and several other great (and I don’t use the term lightly) wines.

It’s nice to be back on the road again after a couple of weeks off with the flu lurgy that is sweeping the UK (and which has hit Moodie HQ hard). Alas I missed the annual MEADFA Conference for only the second time in years, but more importantly I missed the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup, my absence clearly clearing the way for my long-time partner in crime Dermot ‘Divot’ Davitt to win the tournament.

Having taught Dermot the art of golf (it’s true, honestly) when he was a graduate trainee (he told me he had previously worked with Guinness, I didn’t realise at the time that he meant the ‘with’ literally) at Duty-Free News International, our former company, I am duly proud of how he has adopted my technique and turned into a top-class golfer – albeit one who is obviously not spending enough time on the day job.

Hong Kong International Airport has become like my third home this year, after my London residence and Heathrow Airport. I love this place, especially as dusk approaches.

hkia view

There’s a wonderful buzz, a certain melancholy, and a definite feeling of being at a crossroads of the world. I love the shot below of the aircraft and the DFS signs reflecting in the glass.

hkia signs

For once I am not being a good duty free shopper – my next destination of Australia is ensuring that – so I’m holed up in the super Virgin Clubhouse (below) having a glass of Mill Reef Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, as one must, before the next long leg down to Sydney.

More to come in the next few days, as The Moodie Report finds its home on the Grange.

hkia lounge