Last Thursday night I was able to go out, out, out as my Mum came down to baby sit and for the first time in ages I was able to have a mid-week letting down of the hair!

My friend and I headed off to Brentwood (I troweled on the make-up of course – when in Rome) to do a spot of wine tasting with the Essex Wine School. And not just wine either! My absolute favourite tipple of all time ever, Champagne, was on the menu and also, a very interesting sounding Gin. Not too shabby for me I can tell you!

When it comes to wine tasting the depth of my knowledge usually goes to as far as whether I can drink it or not, how much a bottle costs and if the label looks pretty enough for me to present if we are going to a dinner party. I know I’m not keen on Chardonnay. I have figured out that I generally seem to like a Pinot Grigio and when it comes to red there are few I can palate; it has to be a cold day for me to even consider a glass. I’m not exactly a connoisseur! But… I do love a glass. Or 8!

I didn’t really know what to expect from a wine tasting evening? A glass or two of vino obviously, a bit of information and probably a push to buy some bottles of wine had been my assumption without substance. Actually what it turned out to be, with Neil, who runs the Essex Wine School in various locations across the region, was an informative evening, learning how to smell and taste wine, why we might want to and a bit of history. It was actually, fascinating! We were given advice about what to buy and Neil told us some of his favourite shops but at no point did anyone even hint at a sale. I found out over the evening that selling wine isn’t what the school is all about as they prefer to focus on the teaching – the reason why we were all REALLY there. So, no hidden agendas just exactly what you would ideally choose in a school to learn about wine!

And we did learn but not in a boring school room kind of way. More like a chat with friends where you find something interesting in what they are saying. 

There’s a film called French Kiss with Kevin Kline and Meg Ryan where they talk about growing vines and the hero shows the heroine his collection of scents in little bottles that all wine makers need. I was super thrilled that Neil had the exact same box and although not a comedic romance in France, his challenging us to detect the different aromas from the little bottles (which I actually did rather well in and won a hair cut and finish at the Raymond Battone Salon in Brentwood) was a super fun part of the evening.

As well as wine we had a taster of gin, Neil also runs gin tasting sessions where the venues become gin palaces for the event) and I found a new favourite gin which is actually made in Southwold, Suffolk! It was so smooth and might actually be the loveliest gin I’ve tasted. One for my Mum at Chriatmas I think!

Neil’s classes of wine and gin tasting come in lots of different forms and can be booked as big groups (ace office Christmas party idea) or individually. They can be whole day courses with food (great value) or just an evening and I also think they’d make a rather lovely present for someone.

I learned about looking for tiny bubbles in champagne to detect how good it is and also that a Pinot Gris is the same grape as a Grigio. I learned lots more too but what I most enjoyed was the joviality and fun then evening took, chatting with the other guests and having a thoroughly pleasant evening. I’m sorry there aren’t more pictures but hey, there was wine involved and I guess I relaxed and put my camera down while I enjoyed it. It really is a great way to spend an evening!

I’d like to try an all day course I think, wine, food and a bit of relax as I learn about something I always buy but have little clue about sounds just about perfect to me. The prices are very reasonable and when you consider it’s a whole day of entertainment with lovely food at a very good restaurant then it just screams winner!

Thanks to the Essex Wine School for inviting me along to the taster session. If you’d like to find out more about the Essex Wine School and their classes please see www.essexwineschool.com.

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