Whether you consider yourself a wine connoisseur, or wine ignorant (I’m more of the latter than the former), there’s a lot of fun to be had at a wine tasting evening. A bit of learning, some fun facts, a smattering of science, some good company and, of course, a lot of sampling of well chosen wine. I went to an event put on by The Hertfordshire Wine School at the local eatery Toast, the theme of which was Pairing Wine and Cheese…
What the what?
So first up an admission. As far as “new” activities go, this wasn’t my first rodeo. However, the last time I went to a wine tasting I wasn’t drinking (have you spotted the problem?) and this time I was, so, this was far more fun and rewarding than last time – and probably a better event to review!
Hertfordshire Wine School is run by Jen Connan, who is a superbly qualified and knowledge wine expert. As well as running one-off wine tastings, she also runs wine tasting courses that lead to WSET qualifications.
So what does a typical session look like?
Jen’s wine tasting evenings normally follow a theme – a type of wine, a region or how to pair with food. The evening typically run for 2 hours during which you’ll sample approximately 6 wines. This one was “Pairing Wine with Cheese”
Upon entry we were greeted with a glass of cava, had a chance to mingle and introduce ourselves to our neighbours as we found our allocated seats.
We had a place mat with 6 spaces for the wine we were about to taste – giving each one a set space on your mate helps you to identify them later in the evening – a tasting wheel, a list of the wines and a space to write your notes. We also had a plate with a selection of carefully chosen cheeses to accompany our wine journey.
And then, before we began, a bit of housekeeping (toilets etc), a quick overview of the evening, a guide to the cheese (a plea not to eat it all before the last wine had appeared!) and then we began.
Jen would pour a wine, talk to us about the grape variety, where the wine was produced, what was special about it and then we sampled. And ate. And chatted. Sometimes about the wine, sometimes about work. Football. Music. Cheese. Travelling. Fun times.
Rinse and repeat, 5 more times, wryly observing that one of her first comments was absolutely true – it would be easier to get our attention at wine 1 than at wine 4, and certainly than at wine 6. But she did, and on the whole I thought the whole room were great students of the grape.
And How Was It?
It was a fun evening. Jen is a fantastically engaging host, blending a perfect balance of knowledge, facts and sampling. Jen was able to explain why some wines will taste a lot better with food than on their own (science not conjecture) and why some grapes just produce better wines when grown in different places (still science). She gave us some simple tips about tasting. And she also made sure that all the wines we tried were affordable (mainly £10 – 20) and easy to find ie the local Waitrose, which I thought was a great touch and just proved that you don’t need to spend a fortune on your wine, but it does help to think about which wine you’re choosing and for what occasion. Cheers to a fun, sociable, educational evening!
Final thoughts
Jen really bought this evening to life. A great host, she has created a warm, friendly, informal evening which was enjoyed by everyone. The cheese pairings added an extra bit of interest and the price point of the wines was an added bonus.
The Facts:
The Hertfordshire Wine School runs wine tasting events in St Albans and Harpenden and you can find the next ones here,
Prices range from £40 for an evening, £100 for a 3 week course and £110 for a wine with lunch at Thompsons
And if you want to take your wine tasting to the next level they also run WSET courses, levels 1 – 3
Our venue was Toast who I was told by a number of the guests does a splendid lunch too. So you might want to check them out - Toast, 6 Waddington Road, AL3 5EX
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