Bristol Wine School

Learn more about the world of wine in a fun, hands-on way with our six week wine courses, one day courses and one-off master classes in Bristol and Bath.

Behind The Glass...

Bristol Wine School is run by local wine educator Tristan Darby, who has spent over 18 years in the catering and wine trade. Tristan has many years of experience in providing wine courses, wine training and corporate and private wine tasting events, has studied with WSET and truly enjoys every opportunity to share his passion and knowledge with others. We pride ourselves on th

03/06/2020

Saturday's online tasting is now full! There's still space tomorrow 6.30pm if you're quick... grab a glass and come along to learn about everything pink! Booking link in our Bio 🍷

01/06/2020

It's been a scorching, almost Mediterranean, late spring day here in the UK - so the perfect foil at the end of it is a cool refreshing glass of rose!

Rose can be made from a wide variety of grapes, in many different styles, and with varying degrees of sweetness, but on a hot day like today I'd go for a crisp, dry rose from Sancerre in the Loire region of France.

It's world-famous for its crisp and minerally sauvignon blanc wines, but perhaps you didn't know that a minority area of Sancerre is planted to pinot noir, the only permitted red grape variety, which is used for the production of both red and rose Sancerre.

Sancerre roses have a fantastic freshness and minerality, and in the case of the one I'm quaffing tonight from Domaine des Vieux Pruniers, there's a delicious aroma and flavour of ripe raspberries and strawberries to boot.

The pinot grapes that made this wine grew on a combination of sloping and amphitheater vineyards, making the most of the available sunlight and warmth to obtain maximum ripeness of the fruit in this cool climate area. That ripeness translates to a nice intensity of fruit flavour in the wine, that's partnered with a lovely long, dry, crisp and refreshing finish.

Rose Sancerre like this is all about elegance, fruitiness and freshness. It's a delight to drink and really cooling after a day's filming under the hot sun. A perfect aperetif/cooler on its own, this would also be good to drink alongside light summer salads, creamy goats cheese, and salmon or white fish dishes.

I suspect that Provence rose fans will get on well with pink Sancerre, though in the latter the wines are mostly a little crisper. If you haven't tried rose Sancerre just yet, consider this motivation - because now is the perfect weather to give it a go!

31/05/2020

Join us for an online tasting this Thursday 4th, or Saturday 6th, all about Rose wines... Pour a glass of your favourite pink,, tune in, and top up your wine knowledge!

Visit the BWS website for tickets

You don't even have to be in
or for it, so you can tune in and have a sip with your friends anywhere in the world!

26/11/2017

Port, Cheese & Chocolate pairing yesterday afternoon with a lovely, lively and inquisitive group...

16/11/2017

Gorgeous Gubbeen, a wash-rind cheese from west Cork, Ireland. Going down a treat on tonight's artisan cheese & wine corporate tasting!

13/11/2017

Tasting some (very young) still champagne wines in an excellent harvest masterclass today... #2017

13/11/2017

Nice walk to work this morning... off for a day in London with Champagne Bureau UK to learn about the fabulous fizz...

06/11/2017

Monday night Artisan Cheese & Wine tasting with a great little corporate group... there are worse ways to start the week!

30/10/2017

Sherry Tasting on a Monday night?! What a lovely fun corporate group we had, too! Book a onto a sherry tasting and learn more for yourself at: https://www.bristolwineschool.co.uk

30/10/2017

Our second Cocoa Runners Artisan Chocolate & Wine tasting on Saturday at The Chequers in Bath was great fun! Book one of our new dates for 2018 at https://www.bristolwineschool.co.uk