Edinburgh Local Wine School

once more.

A wine, a little off the beaten track this week. We're in the South of France, but not with traditional varieties like Grenache, Syrah and Clairette.

Clovallon En Noir Et Blanc is a Pinot Noir vinified as a white wine meaning the grapes were pressed immediately allowing no colour to be present in the final wine. Co-fermented with a splash of Riesling for deliciously high acidity the wine is fermented in stainless steel for a clean, fresh finish.

Why we love this:
🍇Languedoc is a wine school favourite with the greatest diversity of grapes in France
🤓 We get all wine geeky happy when someone does something unexpected with grapes
😋The wine is ridiculously tasty!
🌿Made from 40+ year old vines farmed organically

What does it taste like?

Apples, pears, lemon, pithy grapefruit, floral hints, herbal tea, it's savoury and nutty in the finish. Lovely chalky texture. A great food wine for sure!

We got our bottle from

We love to receive your reviews after tastings. Stephen left us a review after our last Crisps and Wine pairing evening. What we really loved about this was that he picked up on the atmosphere that is both educational and fun.

Thanks for the review Stephen, we look forward to welcoming you along again.

Flashback to one of our bestselling events a few weeks ago. Crisps and Wine!

A very simple concept, 7 different crisps matched with 7 different wines. Last time the line up looked like this...

🌟 Sea salt crisps with Grüner Veltliner
🌟Pringles with Rosé
🌟 Torres Pickle Crisps with Riesling
🌟Wotsits with White Rioja
🌟Frazzles with Pinotage
🌟BBQ Beef Hula Hoops with Carmenere
🌟Torres truffle Crisps with Nebbiolo

A fun food and wine matching evening with a splash of wine knowledge along the way!

Out next food and wine matching evening is Friday 12th June where we'll be matching sparkling wines with cheese, 2 essential food groups 😆

So why not join us and join in the fun!

Big news!

With our lovely friend .newman.whispering.wine we are launching a brand new wine fair for Edinburgh.

Hosted at Summerhall and organised by Edinburgh Wine School and Whispering Wine, this relaxed walk-around tasting is designed to connect wine lovers directly with the people behind the bottles. You’ll have the chance to explore a wide range of wines, meet passionate experts, and hear the stories that make independent wine so special.

Each merchant will showcase a curated selection of wines, from classic regions to exciting new producers, all available to taste, with many also available to purchase on the day.

Whether you’re looking to discover something new or simply enjoy great wine in a vibrant setting, Edinburgh Wine Fair promises an engaging and memorable experience for all wine lovers.

Sunday 28th June
2pm-5pm
Summerhall
Tickets £27

Tickets on sale now! Link in bio.

once more.

Off to an Edinburgh Local Wine School favourite region this week. Alsace. Why we love this region:

🍇Grape variety on label
🍚Since the 2021 vintage they have had to put the sweetness Level on the bottle (no more guessing!)
🤓53 AOCs yes, but...1 for the whole of Alsace, 1 for Cremant (the fizzy stuff) and the rest cover each individual Grand Cru sites!

This wine from is labelled as Pinot Blanc. A little quirky rule in Alsace means that you can label Pinot Blanc as the grape Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois or a combo!

Either way the wine is tasty. Notes of almonds, apples, lemon, pears and white peach. Lovely fresh acidity and not too heavy. Perfect aperitif wine!

We got ours from

Tastings this June!

May is nearly over and it's time for summer tastings. Here's what is coming up in June.

12th June Fromage & Fizz. We love cheese and sparkling wine in equal measure. It felt only fair that we finally brought them together for an epic night of food and wine pairing!

19th June Rosé Tasting (sunshine not guaranteed)! Summer is the best time for Rose wine. As the sun comes out we really get in the mood for everything from the pale roses of Provence, Rose Champagne and spicy savoury roses that match summer salads.

25th June Grower Champagne Masterclass. The Grower Champagne movement has become one of the most exciting trends in recent years, shifting the focus from traditional house style and consistency to an emphasis on 'terroir' - capturing the unique sense of place in each wine.

26th June Scottish Food & Wine Pairing. On this workshop we match up some of the delicacies from Scotland's world famous larder with some delicious wines from around the globe. We'll see how the complex flavours can complement each other, bringing out the flavours of both. Food and Wine matching is a true gastronomic delight, and we're going to talk through some general principals to give you some really good tips to take away and practice at home.

Book today for a tasting in June and get in the mood for summer with us!

Last week we wrapped up our current classroom sessions for our latest batch of WSET Level 3 students. Here's how it looked:
🤓 14 very diverse students
🍷84 wines tasted
👎 1 faulty bottle
💪 2 timed practice tasting exams
🍪 copious amounts of biscuits consumed
🤭 Some ridiculous tasting notes
🧑‍🎓 1 exam to study for
🤪 1 knackered educator

If this sounds like fun. Check out our WSET courses for the rest of the year! You don't need to work in wine. In this room we had a Dr, an accountant and a lawyer!

Oh, and if we hadn't mentioned already, we've enhanced our L2 and L3 WSET courses with online learning support from . Giving you flexible support alongside our quality classroom sessions.

What are you waiting for? Get signed up today!

Our Level 2 & 3 courses now include structured online learning support from !
Giving you flexible support alongside our top-quality expert-led classroom teaching.​

A more complete way to learn.​
A better way to prepare.​

👉 follow link in bio to see our upcoming WSET courses 🍷

Big news coming 🍷​

Edinburgh Local Wine School are about to make our WSET courses even stronger.​

More support.​
More confidence.​
More ways to help you succeed.​

Launching soon.

once more.

This week we're off to Oregon for some fantastic Pinot Noir tasted today with our current cohort of Level 3 WSET students.

Pinot Noir is one of the trickiest grapes to grow. It's thin skin makes it prone to rot. It prefers a cooler climate and ripens early making it difficult to judge ripeness at harvest time.

This is a beautiful example from . From plots across the Willamette Valley all farmed organically, the grapes are mostly destemmed at the winery avoiding any green, unripe notes for the final wine.
Some of the berries are left while during fermentation with around 30 days skin contact for maximum colour and tannin.
Aged in a combination of new and used French oak barrels. Unfined and unfiltered to ensure purity of character.
Bag of flavour, signature cranberry, redcurrant, and cherry. Some dried herbs, mushroom, savoury notes and hints of toasty oak.

Our bottle came from