Fellow Wine Lovers,<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a distressingly sombre week, with very few laughter moments, so I feel a bit of whimsy is called for.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re born.\u00a0 You grow up, you go to school, you become a teenager.\u00a0 You rule the world for a few years because you now know everything<\/span>.\u00a0 Perhaps you then go to University, become a nurse, join the armed forces.<\/p>\n You go out for drinks.\u00a0 You find suddenly that you\u2019re going out for drinks more often with just one person.\u00a0 Suddenly that person is stealing half your duvet in the middle of the night and resting their cold feet on the back of your legs.<\/p>\n Sod it \u2013 would you do me the great honour of<\/i>…. etc .\u00a0 You get married, you smoke cigars.\u00a0 You give up cigars in order to be allowed back in to the marital bed.\u00a0 You carry on going to work.<\/p>\n Children arrive.\u00a0 You smoke cigars again.\u00a0 This time you really do give them up when you see yourself in the mirror looking more Churchill than Tom Selleck.\u00a0 You sell your flat, buy an estate car, start to seriously consider the merits of owning a shed.\u00a0 And a lawnmower.\u00a0 Before you know it you have all of the above, plus 6 fish, a dog, a hamster and more High School Musical DVDs than is safe.<\/p>\n Someone, your Mum usually, mentions schools.\u00a0 What do you mean schools?\u00a0 I only just left… twenty years ago.\u00a0 Blimey.<\/p>\n And so it comes to pass.\u00a0 It\u2019s 8.30pm, kids are in bed, dinner\u2019s in the oven, time for a cheeky glass of wine.\u00a0 You\u2019ve earned it, not just today but the whole of your life you have been earning this glass of wine.\u00a0 Respect it, enjoy it, sniff it, swirl it, savour it, luxuriate in it \u2013 this is what it\u2019s all been building towards.\u00a0<\/p>\n But what is it?<\/p>\n Erm, I think it\u2019s a Sauvignon, but it might be a Chenin Blanc, I\u2019m not sure, but I quite like it and the bloke in the wine shop rattled on about citrus and acidity and balance and mouthfeel and apples and floral blossom and good long finish and… aaaah, why don\u2019t I know more????<\/i><\/p>\n Because you haven\u2019t had time.\u00a0 In your Mars life of work, rest and play, you have never actually had the chance to appreciate your drinks.\u00a0 You can change a car tyre, juggle spreadsheets, juggle even, snowboard, cook a mean Paella and explain the nuances of being offside to a six year old, but you still haven\u2019t got a Scooby what\u2019s in your glass.<\/p>\n Time for us to offer some help.<\/p>\n Our offer<\/span><\/p>\n How do you fancy a couple of hours a week, for six weeks, out of the house, tasting wine?\u00a0 We\u2019ll provide spittoons (still in mint condition, but there just in case!) and some gentle education.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first week<\/b> we\u2019ll learn how to taste wine and you will get to practice with at least 8 different wines.<\/p>\n Weeks 2 and 3<\/b> we will continue our tasting practice with many different white wines and different grape varieties \u2013 let\u2019s say about another 20 wines.<\/p>\n Week 4<\/b>, Wayne will guide you magnificently through the wines of Bordeaux and their alter ego\u2019s in other regions of the world.<\/p>\n Week 5<\/b>, more red wines, from all over the world.<\/p>\n Week 6<\/b>, bubbles, bubbles, bubbles.<\/p>\n In amongst all this we\u2019ll try some Ros\u00e9s, some sweet wines and examine common wine faults.\u00a0 We\u2019ll also discuss food and wine matching and cellaring.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll try in the region of 60 wines<\/b>, and if nothing else, by the end you should have a fairly good idea of what you do and don\u2019t like, and you\u2019ll have discovered a number of new grapes that you hadn\u2019t previously dared to try.<\/p>\n Sound good?\u00a0 The course starts on Wednesday 1st<\/sup> May at 8pm<\/b>, and wraps up on Wednesday 12th<\/sup> June.\u00a0 There is a week break (Wednesday 29th<\/sup> May) for half term, or as we like to call it, a revision week.<\/p>\n It costs \u00a3150 per person<\/b> and we provide everything you need.<\/p>\n To recap<\/p>\n