Cheshire’s wine school hits a six! #Blog
Briony Wilson
25th June 2019
Chester based The Wine School of Cheshire has turned six years old this week. The business is led by local wine expert Richard J Smith who hosted the wine school’s first ever Chester tasting on 22nd June 2013.
Richard said “I have no idea where the last six years have gone but it’s been an incredible journey! Having hosted over 100 tasting events in the past year alone, I could do with a holiday but there is still so much to be done.”
The wine school expanded into other areas of Cheshire by the end of 2013 and hosts regular public wine tastings in Chester, Knutsford and Macclesfield. Their home base is Restaurant 1539 at Chester Racecourse where guests can enjoy a four course lunch at the Saturday wine schools and Fine Wine Fridays are held at The Chester Grosvenor and include a three course dinner from Michelin Star Executive Chef Simon Radley in the hotel’s prestigious Riedel Cellar. In Knutsford tastings take place at the historic Court House and in Macclesfield at the iconic Arighi Bianchi.
Richard commented “this year alone has been so exciting! I’ve introduced wine blending lessons into our signature Saturday one day wine schools which we’ve called ‘Super Saturdays’ – guests try 15 different wines over the day and our fine wine events at The Chester Grosvenor have moved into the Riedel Cellar which is within the hotel’s working wine cellar – a truly memorable experience for everyone. I’m thrilled to have welcomed The Court House in Knutsford to our family of wine tasting venues and we’ve held a Saturday Kitchen style event in the new Kitchenality studio at Arighi Bianchi too – such a fun space which we will feature again soon.
All of the wine school’s events include food and wine pairing. “Food and wine matching is something I featured at our first event in 2013 and this has remained the focus of everything we do since. It’s remarkable how much wines can change with the right food match and importantly how much can go wrong if the matching isn’t done well – and most importantly there’s a great wine to suit everyone’s budget – wine snobbery is never on the menu at wine school as it’s very much about enjoyment and learning whilst having a great time in a fantastic setting” said Richard.
This year Richard appears again at RHS Tatton park with Wines of Great Britain, presenting English and Welsh wines, the fourth year of a partnership he is very proud of and in March Richard was intronised into the into the Confrérie des Compagnons de Grandgousier at a ceremony in The Loire Valley in recognition for his support of the region, particularly Touriane and Touraine-Mesland.
The Wine School of Cheshire regularly hosts wine tasting events in Marks and Spencer stores around the region for Sparks Card holders and has a stellar list of businesses as corporate clients.
Is there room for anything more? Richard added “This year I’m particularly chuffed to have begun a long-term partnership with Colleg Cambria, giving my time and guidance to the hospitality students with all things wine and we have some fantastic events planned for the future at the Deeside campus. Wine School has also welcomed Manchester based First Class Holidays on board as our travel partner, with destination specialists joining us at our new world wine events and we’re launching an escorted wine and safari tour to South Africa in October 2020!”
With so much happening it looks like another exciting year of wine in Cheshire! You can find out more about The Wine School of Cheshire on their website, www.cheshire.wine