January & February wine events

There have been lots of enquiries about future wine events and tastings. The wine-lovers of Highams Park are particularly interested in some informal - but educational - tastings that cover the basics and offer a bit of an introduction into "tasting wine like a pro".

I will be running approx 2 hour courses during January and February, on certain Monday and Tuesday evenings. The shop will be closed, so we can sit down and really focus on the job in hand! We'll also limit the size of groups to 12 people, meaning that the sessions will be very interactive with plenty of chance to ask any questions throughout.

We'll look at the key components that make up a good wine, tasting 8 different wines from around the world. I'll explain how these wines reflect differences in climate, grape variety, winemaking methods and how culture and history may have influenced them along the way. We can also debunk some myths and include at least one example of a great Organic/Biodynamic/"Natural" wine.

A rough guide to the type of wines we would go for:

Wine 1 - Sparkling Wine to start

Wine 2 - Cool climate unoaked white e.g. Sancerre/Chablis

Wine 3 - Oaked New World wine e.g. Chilean/Australian Chardonnay

Wine 4 - Aromatic white grape variety e.g. Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Viognier

Wine 5 - Light-bodied red e.g Red Burgundy

Wine 6 - Classic Red e.g. Bordeaux/Reserva Rioja

Wine 7 - New World Red e.g. Australian Cabernet/Argentinian Malbec

Wine 8 - Sweet wine time!

We will spend around half an hour at the end of the tasting experimenting with some simple food matching (good and bad!) and I can answer any extra questions etc.

Dates in 2018

NEW DATE: Monday 12th March - SOLD OUT

NEW DATE: Tuesday 20th March - SOLD OUT

Tuesday 13th February - SOLD OUT

Tuesday 26th February - SOLD OUT

(Edit: we will be holding informal "meet the winemaker / brewer" evenings in the shop, subscribe to our mailing list or check website and social media for upadates).

The cost of the course will be £25 per head for the two hours, or £20 for a block booking of ten or more people.

Tickets will be available to buy in the shop, or please do send an email to vinoramica@gmail.com with any questions.

Matt