May's Blog
May was a very busy month for The Wine Wise Company. It began with a meeting with some of the restaurant managers at La Tasca (www.latasca.co.uk) which is a chain of Spanish Tapas bars and restaurants across the UK. I have long been a great fan of sherry, which I know to be a under-valued wine by many people in the UK and also a misunderstood wine. Many people associate it with the brown stuff kept on Grandma's sideboard and dished out once a year at Christmas. Sherry is made in many different styles. It can be dry and crisp as well as deeply nutty and rich and it can also be sweet and luscious. Dry sherry such as a Fino or Manzanilla should be consumed within a few days of opening and should be served icy cold and is fabulous with tapas. As qualified sherry educators we were keen to discuss sherry and other Spanish wines with the people at La Tasca. We had a fun afternoon tasting their wines and the result is that we will be helping run a wine tasting and Spanish food evening at the Solihull branch on June 15th. Why not come along and learn more about this exciting restaurant and the wonderful wines of Spain - including sherry! Tickets are available directly from La Tasca, call them on 0121 709 1846.
Early in the month we delivered a WSET based wine course to some of the people at MAKRO, the wholesale food and non-food supplier (www.makro.co.uk/ie/sub/makro.cfm). MAKRO supply many restaurants and hotels with wines and have a superb range. MAKRO chose The Wine Wise Company to train some of their frontline staff in wine and also food and wine matching. The training will ensure that MAKRO customers will receive excellent customer care and advice when selecting wines. MAKRO intend to train key staff in the WSET qualifications. The Wine Wise Company have enjoyed working closely with many restaurants and wine suppliers and have provided both WSET and customised wine courses.
The Dusty Miller and Coiners Restaurant (www.dustymiller.co.uk) is a grade II listed building dating back to the 18th Century, situated in the picturesque village of Mytholmroyd nestled in the Calder Valley in Yorkshire. Lisa and Phil Smith invited The Wine Wise Company to run a wine tasting dinner earlier this month. We enjoyed a 3-course meal and 3 tasters of different wines accompanied each course. The wines and wine tasting was introduced by The Wine Wise Company and guests enjoyed sampling different wines with each course to decide which they preferred. The evening was a great success and enjoyed by all and we hope to partner Phil and Lisa again later in the year.
Another restaurant with whom we work very closely with is the fabulous Bóho restaurant in the heart of Sheffield. Mark and Anna have created a superb venue and offer fine dining and a wonderful wine list. The Wine Wise Company is currently training staff here to achieve WSET qualifications and in May we partnered them in a sweet wine and food evening. Sweet wines are making a comeback and to the uninitiated I advise you to try them. They can make wonderful partners with some unlikely foods not just puddings – think about Port and Stilton and Sauternes and foie Gras. The team at Bóho put on a wonderful array of food and we chose wines supplied by Corney and Barrow – wine merchants to the Queen and the evening was a great success. To dine at Bóho call them on 0114 279 5777.
Coombe Abbey in Coventry was beautiful setting for a wine tasting event organised by the marketing company Marketsquare (www.marketsquare.eu.com) for their customer Brita Water Filters. Marketsquare chose The Wine Wise Company to deliver a 2-hour wine tasting event that formed part of the days entertainment that Brita wanted their clients to enjoy. The tasting was a fairly international affair as we chose wines from cross the globe from the Coombe Abbey wine list. This form of corporate entertaining is an excellent way to not only bring people together but to provide informative and educational entertainment about a subject that is more than just a drink.
Aston Business School in Birmingham is a wonderful venue for conferences and is in great demand since its recent refurbishment. The team here have launched a regular wine and food tasting evening, which will give their excellent chefs the opportunity to demonstrate their versatility with cuisine from across the world. They launched the first of their regular planned events with a Spanish evening and invited the The Wine Wise Company to host the event. After the evocative Spanish guitar and flamenco dancing we tasted some superb wines that accompanied a very exciting menu. For news about the next evening contact Rebecca Jones on 0121 204 3371.
May is the month when Birmingham celebrates Learning at Work Week and we were invited to deliver wine tasting tuition by two organisations – Unisom and the NEC. Both events were a great success and attracted people from all walks of life proving that wine tasting has universal attraction.
If you would like to discuss how The Wine Wise Company can entertain your clients, staff or friends please contact us.