Customers' Comments on Tastings

Here are a few comments we've recently received about our tastings:
Firstly from a small private tasting a few weeks ago:

"A little late but we would all like to thank you for the wine tasting session you held for us on Sat 24/3/07. We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience and have talked about it many times since. Just this weekend we have eaten out twice with friends and our enthusiasm of the recollection has resulted in your name being passed on. We would not hesitate in recommending or taking part in future tastings."

Then the following from a couple who came to a recent £40 a head tasting:

"I just wanted to write and thank you for an excellent evening yesterday (Thurs 29th). We didn’t really know what to expect from a tasting session, but were pleasantly surprised by how relaxed and informal it was and how it was pitched at just the right level whatever knowledge one had. We thoroughly enjoyed the lovely food, the atmosphere and all the information we were given. Oh yes, and we sampled some pretty good wines too! Once again, thank you for a very enjoyable time. Today’s slightly fuzzy head is more bearable knowing we had a good time getting it!"

Then this one from a great Hen Party tasting a few days ago:

"I would like to thank you all for getting Kirsty's Hen Weekend off to a very enjoyable start on Friday evening! It was fantastic to learn so much more about wine and it really got us all talking! Everyone had a FABULOUS time and it really was the perfect kick start to our party. Can you please pass on our appreciation to everyone involved. Many, many thanks once again!"



Visit our tastings page for details on how easy it is to arrange a tasting.

Cheers

Hen Party Culture

Hen Parties

A couple of years ago, if anybody had thought of mentioning that we, as a wine importing business, would be soon thriving on the hen party circuit, we would have laughed and perhaps shuddered a little.
Hen parties don’t do wine tasting, do they? Hen parties drink, yes, get rowdy and all the rest of it, surely. A ‘veiled’ excuse, if you excuse the pun, for a binge session and woe betide your soft furnishings and ornaments in your establishment.
Well, that is what we thought then. We had experienced hen (and stag) parties in the restaurant business and had never thought of welcoming ‘that’ side of the wedding trade since building up the wine business.

So what’s changed? Is the hen party culture getting cultured? Now, in early 2007, a large part of our trade is providing wine tasting sessions to hen (and stag, but mostly hen) parties and it seems to be on the increase. The great thing is that everyone enjoys the experience AND so do we!
The majority of these parties come to us as part of their week-end. We are lucky in that we are based on the outskirts of one of the most beautiful cities in England, so it is on the destination-of-choice map and has been for a long time. There is, it’s true, a certain romance in the air as you walk around Bath. I put it down to, partly at any rate, the local stone. In the sunshine, whatever season, the stone has a beautiful hue to it. So is it that Bath, with its reputation for being cultural, pretty and romantic, is providing the perfect backdrop for this new breed of hen week-ends?

We tend to hear, via the media, of just the ‘ladette’ end of the market, which never fails to send a pretty gloomy message. But, if our numbers are anything to go by, there is a huge increase of this ‘anything but ladette’ market. Certainly not old fashioned, but a new breed of hens with just a nod towards the traditional.

There is drinking involved for these new hens, yes, but with a little pleasurable work as well. They taste, after being welcomed with something sparkling, a range of wines, interspersed with cold meats, olives and cheese. They make notes regarding the wines’ colour, flavour, acidity, length and anything else they care to mention. There’s no pressure to buy, although a lot do (even to the point of ordering their wedding wines and changing their original choices).

So now we are thrilled to welcome, and be associated with, the hen party circuit where we can provide alcohol without it meaning embarrassing moments, illness and even recriminations before they’ve flown the coup.

Information on our tastings is available from our website by clicking here