A local wine specialist is pouring years of experience into the launch of an independent wine school in Bath, to cater for fans of the popular tipple.
Ruth Wiles, a former regional tasting manager at Majestic Wine, is opening Clifton Wine School, offering evening tastings, Saturday events, four and eight-week courses, private parties and corporate events for beginners and experts alike.
The first tasting will take place on Saturday September 20th at The Porter on George Street and tickets are now on sale at www.cliftonwineschool.com.
All events are also available to buy as gift vouchers for all special occasions.
Ruth, who holds a Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) diploma and is also a qualified WSET Educator and Assessor, is the latest franchise owner within the successful and rapidly expanding www.localwineschool.com family – a UK-wide network of independent wine schools providing entertaining tastings and courses for people who want to learn more about wine.
Following a successful career in management at Majestic Wine branches in Nottingham, York, Swindon, Sheffield and Bristol, including three years of delivering WSET courses at Majestic’s head office, Ruth had been on the lookout for her next challenge.
A friend spotted a franchise opportunity with localwineschool.com on Twitter by chance, and Ruth felt that the time was right to take the plunge and launch a wine school for the Bristol area, offering fun tastings, varied subject matter and WSET courses.
Ruth has visited vineyards in Margaret River, Clare Valley, Barossa, Marlborough, Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Champagne, Cognac and the Cape of South Africa, and has hosted and organised almost 100 wine tastings for customers and colleagues during her time at Majestic.
Ruth said: “I’m really looking forward to bringing more people into the wonderful world of wine and wine tasting. Few hobbies are as much fun as learning about wine.
“It’s a great pleasure to go out and open up this world that many people find confusing and complicated so that it can be enjoyed and understood by anyone with an interest.
“I’ll be hosting a range of events – from cheese and wine tasting evenings to Saturday courses with lunch and champagne – and as time goes on I’d like to work with local businesses and microbreweries to hold beer and cider tastings too.”
NOW Bath is soon to be running a great competition with the Clifton Wine School in Bath, so keep an eye on our Twitter account in the near future!
