Back to Basics

Events run by Peter Richards MW and Susie Barrie MW

This event is one of our favourites: an enjoyable, lively session that’s as much about having fun with wine as learning. You don’t need any prior knowledge or experience of wine to take part.

All wines are selected by a Master of Wine (ie us!) to give an insight into the main grapes and countries of the wine world.

Our aim is to save you time and money when it comes to the restaurant list or supermarket wine aisle. It’s the speedy (and cheap) way to start becoming a wine expert!

And if all that sounds a bit too much like hard work, we can also promise some fun taste games involving aroma bottles, Jelly Beans (and a prize…)

If you’d like to get a feel for what a Back to Basics course is all about, have a look at what one participant wrote by clicking here, or read the blog from our latest Back to Basics, which we held in April.

What’s included

A glass of fizz to start the evening off in a fun and relaxed way
Your very own Master of Wine for the evening, to quiz at your will
Six delicious wines to taste
A lively introduction to tasting, featuring Jelly Beans and Nez du Vin aroma bottles
A basic introduction to wine (eg grape varieties, key regions, winemaking)
Lots of intriguing factoids plus great tips on how to get the best out of your wine and food
Fun, ice-breaking games – with a prize for the eventual winner…
Tasting sheets, pencils, glasses, spittoons – and water!

Dates & times

Thursday 6th December 2012, from 7.30-9.15pm.

Venue

The Abbey Well Room, Hotel du Vin, Winchester

Price

£40 per person

But remember – by registering for our free Wine Club you’ll automatically receive a 10% discount on all bookings.

Booking

Simply contact us to book your place on the course. We’ll then get back to you straight away to confirm and to send you further details.

Cancellations

Bookings are fully refundable if you cancel with more than 31 days’ notice. If you cancel with more than 14 days’ notice, we will refund 50% of payment.

We regret that we cannot make any refund for cancellations made with less than 14 days’ notice. This is because we will have already have paid for the venue, wines, and other costs in advance.

Feedback from previous Back to Basics

‘Thanks Susie and Peter. We had a fantastic evening with lots of fun. The activities really made the wines come to life [...] We can’t wait to join you again for future tastings.’ (Alana & Jon, 2012)

‘Thank you Susie and Peter for a great evening. We were given vouchers for the night as a wedding present. We thought it was a brilliant gift, fun and very informative, and I am sure we will use our new found knowledge to impress our friends!’ (Vithya & Hamilton, 2012)

‘We really enjoyed it – thank you for a great evening!’ (Sarah, 2011)

‘Thanks for such a lovely evening – I have been to wine tasting events before and they were so boring in comparison! I really enjoyed it, and look forward to reading the newsletter and spreading the word of your events around!’ (Louise, 2011)

‘Raved about it – so enjoyable and informative’ (Nicola, 2011)

‘We had such a lot of fun and enjoyment last night. You both have such a great gift of welcoming and sharing your love and knowledge of wine – very special. And I never once felt ‘stressed’ by my inadequate know-how, but on the contrary will be happy drinking what I enjoy!’ (Belinda, 2010)

‘Really enjoyed ourselves – thank you!’ (Lisa, 2011)

‘Thank you very much! We really enjoyed ourselves and learnt a lot. You both conducted it with such panache and enthusiasm!’ (Heather & Jo, 2012)

‘Just finished my back 2 basics course with @wineschools. A fantastic evening! Great atmosphere, learnt loads, highly recommend, really good!’ (Tweet by @VictoriaKennard, 2010)

‘Thanks for a lovely evening – me and the guys had a great night and we actually learned something! We will definitely be attending the next event and will join [the wine club] asap so we are kept up to date with what’s happening in the wine world.’ (Gary, 2011)

‘Congratulations on putting together a great intro to the world of wine tasting. [We] thoroughly enjoyed it; we’ll definitely be recommending you to our friends and look forward to seeing the WWS storm onwards and upwards.’ (André, 2010)

‘I had a great time! I have already been to Majestic today – I bought the Rioja but they’ve run out of the Sauvignon Blanc…Maybe there was a rush on it after last night! I hope to attend another wine tasting soon.’ (Vicky, 2011)

‘It was good to participate in the first Winchester Wine School course, we all enjoyed ourselves a great deal. It was a great idea to start the school in Winchester – I’d been looking for something like that ever since we moved to Winchester.’ (Ian, 2010)