(PLEASE NOTE: This event has been moved to 23rd July): Bare’s Wineyard and Deli is marking this years’ Tour de France with a special French-themed tasting next week.
“I’ve been busy looking through our French wines and picking out some likely candidates that we can try, and have got a stonking line-up planned,” says Ben Hodgkinson, the Deli’s Assistant Manager of the planned tasting on Friday 23rd July.
“It includes wines from Champagne, Burgundy, Provence, the Rhone, the Midi/Languedoc, the South-West, and Bordeaux — a cracking journey through most of France’s best regions.”
The Wineyard and Deli – nominated for Deli of the Year – hosts regular tastings, but they’re clearly rolling out the, um, barrel, for this one.
“As the French are rightly seen as making some of the best wines in the world, I’ve decided to nudge the budget up a bit for a one-off,” Ben explains, “so that we can taste some really top-notch wines (a £27 Bordeaux for example, and a £35-40 Champagne).”
In all, ten wines will be included in the tasting, including some top-value picks at the more affordable end of the spectrum, and the usual 10% discount will be given for any orders taken on the night. 10 different food samples from the Deli will also be on offer.
If you’re keen to taste your way along the route of the Tour de France 2010, though, you’d better be quick. A lot of people have been enthusing about the Wineyard to some of us here at virtual-lancaster, and there has been a lot of interest in this event already.
“No prior knowledge or expertise is needed to attend our tastings,” Ben reassures those of us who don’t go around sniffing plonk on a regular basis but prefer to twist a screw cap on a £3 bottle from the local supermarket and drink it as fast as possible. “We’re dead informal, and are just really passionate and enthusiastic about tasty wines, and helping you to find what you do and don’t like, and why.
“I always try to pitch the material at the amateur level, and explain any technical or confusing words in everyday English,” Ben adds. “If you have any reservations about coming along and joining in, get in touch with me and I’ll do my best to put your mind at ease!”
• Tickets for the Tasting are £15 each. More info here. The Wineyard and Dei is at 23 Princes Crescent, Bare, Morecambe, Lancashire LA4 6BY, tel: 01524 400011, or via Twitter, Facebook or by e-mail – Ben@thewineyard.co.uk Web site: http://thewineyard.wordpress.com