One-Day Introductory Bordeaux School, Saturday 30th November 2024
One Day Wine School
Our one-day wine schools are a great way to get a thorough overview of a region in a day.
Starting in the morning with tea and coffee on arrival, we spend around 2 hours exploring the region, with 8-12 wines showcasing all different styles. With the basics covered, we head to our vaulted Napoleon cellar for an aperitif and to put the morning’s education to the test with 5 more wines paired over a delicious lunch, crafted by Head Chef Stewart Turner.
The day finishes around 3.30pm.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
This comprehensive introductory one-day course explores one of the most famous wine regions in the world – Bordeaux. The morning will consist of a two-hour masterclass in our Pickering Cellar where we will explore the major grape varieties, sub-regions and wine styles of the region, before guests will be invited down to our 17th Century Napoleon Cellar for a four-course lunch with paired wines.
Throughout the day we will cover white, red and sweet wines, including examples from some of the most famous towns and producers found in Bordeaux. As a further bonus, with the lunch we will also try examples with additional bottle age, to highlight exactly why these wines fill the cellars of so many wine lovers around the world.
Wines to be tasted:
Wines at the masterclass:
2021 Château Duhart-Milon Blanc, Pauillac
2020 Berry Bros. & Rudd Good Ordinary Claret by Dourthe
2021 Château Angludet, Margaux 2017 Château Talbot, 4ème Cru Classé, St Julien
2017 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac
2021 Château Montrose, 2ème Cru Classé, St Estèphe
2005 Château Montrose, 2ème Cru Classé, St Estèphe
2019 Château Haut-Bailly, Grand Cru Classé, Pessac-Léognan
2016 Château Berliquet, Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion
2016 Château La Croix St. Georges, Pomerol
Wines at the lunch:
2012 Château Pape Clément Blanc, Pessac-Léognan
2008 Domaine de Chevalier, Grand Cru Classé, Pessac-Léognan
2006 Château Léoville Poyferré, 2ème Cru Classé, St Julien
2005 Château Lynch-Bages, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac
2000 Château Troplong Mondot, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion
2018 Château Coutet, 1er Cru Classé, Barsac
Dress code: smart casual
Event details
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