Tour of France, Saturday 9th 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.
Book
Description
Do you want to know your Beaujolais from your Bordeaux, and your Côtes du Rhône from your Cornas? This tasting and luncheon is the perfect opportunity to learn about the great wines of France amongst like-minded Francophiles. Our one-day course will begin with a two-hour masterclass, where your expert host will guide you through the classic regions, grape varieties and styles of French wine, as well as introduce you to some lesser-known, under-the-radar gems.
Following the tasting, we will then invite you down to our cellars for a Champagne apéritif and sumptuous four-course luncheon where we will discuss how to serve fine wine and the fundamentals of food-and-wine pairing. You will also get the chance to taste some examples of wines that have been cellared to perfection and are beginning to show the additional complexity gained with age.
Wines to be tasted at the masterclass:
2023 Sancerre Blanc, Domaine Vacheron, Loire
2019 Riesling, Domaine Rolly-Gassmann, Alsace
2020 St Véran, Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon, Burgundy
2020 L'Etoile, Chardonnay, Montmorain, Domaine de Montbourgeau, Jura
2016 Côtes du Rhône, Brézème, Vieilles Roussette, Eric Texier
2021 Domaine Rostaing, Puech Noble Blanc, Languedoc
2021 Régnié, Julien Sunier, Beaujolais
2019 Beaune, Les Perrières, 1er Cru, Domaine de Montille, Burgundy
2020 Chinon, Coteau de Noiré, Philippe Alliet, Loire
2017 Château Talbot, St Julien, Bordeaux
2020 Cornas, Guillaume Gilles, Rhône
2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine de la Janasse, Rhône
Wines to be tasted at the lunch:
2018 Champagne Leclerc Briant, Millésime, Extra Brut
2018 Pinot Gris, Réserve Personnelle, Trimbach, Alsace en magnum
2018 Saumur Blanc, Bréze, Domaine Guiberteau, Loire
2020 Meursault, Les Charmes Dessus, 1er Cru, Jérôme Patriarche, Burgundy
2018 Volnay, En Champans, 1er Cru, Domaine de Montille, Burgundy
2019 Côte-Rôtie, Terrasses, Jean-Luc Jamet, Rhône
2016 Château La Gaffelière, St Emilion, Bordeaux
2018 Pour Ma Gueule, Bénédicte & Stéphane Tissot, Jura
Dress code: smart casual
Event details
Delivery and quality guarantee