Want to learn more about wine? Struggling to navigate a restaurant wine list? Or just need to get out of your vinous rut? Join a small group of like-minded wine lovers as Taurus Wine School takes you on a journey of taste through the world's many regions and grape varieties at one of these informal, but informative wine classes. There's no prior knowledge or experience necessary, so they are perfect for budding enthusiasts and seasoned oenophiles alike.
- Beginner's First Vintage - Saturday 23rd November -
11am - 1pm (break for lunch) 2pm - 4pm
The day will cover the basics from how to taste wine and why it tastes like it does, to identifying different types of wine and how it's made. We'll talk you through at least ten different wines during the day, and you'll have an hour's break for lunch (we recommend booking lunch at our neighbour, Maddings) and a chance to browse our shelves at the end.
- Structure -
Our wine school beginner’s day will be broken down into two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. Each hour will be specific topics, and each will have tasting elements as part of it.
The first hour will be an overview and introduction to wine. Wine history, basic scientific breakdown, types and styles of wine and service and storage.
The second hour will be based on the growing cycle of grapes and production. This will include basics on geology, the yearly cycle (Northern/Southern Hemisphere), harvesting, and production from the grapes arriving at the winery to bottling.
The third and fourth sections will cover varieties and regions. These two sections are so interlinked they are best looked at together. We’ll start with a basic introduction to varieties and then a dive into regions and profiles of the varieties in these regions. Along the way we’ll discover how climate drastically affects grape growing and how production and the choices of the winemaker affect finished styles.
Throughout the whole day, common themes will keep presenting themselves, such as sensory evaluation and food science (the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of taste), pairings throughout (including recipe cards) and pricing structure and why it applies so drastically to wine (everyday to unique).
- Taurus Wine School Host -
Our very own James Holmes will host Wine School. James is an experienced speaker and educator, and still works once a month at one of the local wine estates giving talks on English sparkling and wine production. James has also graduated from Plumpton College, the country's foremost wine education centre, with a degree in International Wine Business - so it's safe to say, he knows his onions (or in this case, grapes!)
Cancellation policy: We cannot reserve places at wine school classes without payment. We always understand when circumstances change, however due to excessive cancellations in the past (which sadly led to us having to stop running our Wine School in 2022) we now have this policy in place: If you cancel up to one week before the event we will issue a full refund; between one week and 48 hours before the event, we will only issue a full refund if we can resell your ticket at full face value; we cannot offer a refund for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event.