Saturday 26th May - A full day

Three tastings today which kept all of us happily busy. Ifor looked after a birthday group in the afternoon which, judging by the noise from the lower room, seemed to go very well.

I looked after seven lovely ladies in the main room (what a difficult job this is) and the hours whizzed by. They came here from a morning being pampered at the Spa and they set off from here for a full evening in town. Sauvignons, Cabernets, Merlots, Rioja and the more obscure Jurancon all featured.

Will then guided a party of ladies during the evening through a range of sparkling wines - Prosecco, Cremant de Loire, Champagne Blanc de Blancs, Rose, Vintage and Grand Marque Champagne. This was a first (and a special request) and one that we hope to do again.

So a busy day at the Tasting Room. Very enjoyable for us and we hope for our guests.

Cheers!

Corporate Whisky Tasting

A week or so ago, Will went out to a nearby country house hotel to give a whisky tasting to a large corporate group as part of their weekend 'get-together'. He led them through a range of malts from the different regions - Lowland, Speyside, Highland and Islay - showing a wide range of flavours and aromas. Grouping these whiskies in taste 'clusters', makes it easier to identify the styles that people like from the sweet honey end to the medicinal peatiness of the Islays. Some of them were un-chillfiltered (chillfiltering being the widely used process which results in the whisky not clouding when ice is added) so showing a more authentic flavour and some were cask strength and some were from now sadly closed distilleries. Bladnoch 1992, Banff 1980, Glen Elgin 1991, Edradour 1995 (Scotland's smallest distillery) and Bunnahabhain 1997 were tasted with Glen Elgin being the star of the show. It's 59.8% so a certain respect was duly shown! Will treated them to some 15 year old Somerset Cider Brandy at the end of the tasting just to reassure them that we could make fantastic spirit down here in the southwest.

It seemed to go reasonably well(!) so we are holding our first general Whisky Tasting evening on the 28th June at the Tasting Rooms. Spaces are limited and tickets are available at £25 per head.

If you can't wait that long, we'll be at the Bath and West Show next week with a few.

Cheers!

Great Birthday Surprise

The other morning, a man woke up on his birthday at home in Edinburgh. He was taken to the airport and flown down here. He still looked bemused when they arrived on our doorstep for a afternoon tasting organised by his friends. What a great idea! Hopefully he enjoyed the experience. Three or so hours later, when they left on their next leg of the surprise week-end, his expression had certainly changed. Happy birthday again from us here.

More Feedback Received

We received this email the other day, referring to a tasting we did last week-end (Saturday 19th May), which really pleased us (especially Ifor!)

"....I just wanted to write and thank Ivor for a wonderful wine tasting afternoon on Saturday. It was really interesting and really good fun and was a talking point for the rest of the weekend. Everyone thinks Ivor is lovely, especially since he then kindly dropped off the girls swimming costumes which they had left behind after our spa! and everyone now thinks I'm wonderful for having organised it, so huge thumbs up! I will definitely recommend you and hope to come back at some point for another one...just have to think up an event...!......."

Booking a tasting is easy. Give us a ring or email us with your thoughts.

Cheers!

Teaching Department Tasting

Last Friday, a small group of teachers, from the same department, came for a tasting as part of their week-end in Bath. We've awarded them top marks for their behaviour and attention in class and their head's marking technique was truly professional. I hope that they enjoyed their time with us and also the Bath Spa visit on Saturday.

Tasting on the 5th May

We had an excellent group of ladies here for a tasting on the 5th. They tasted a range of 9 wines with some interesting results. We wish Clare all the very best this Saturday (I think it is this Saturday).

Last Week's Hen Party Tasting

Last weekend we had a great tasting for 18 ladies. Rosie and her party were staying at the nearby Old Mill hotel and were visiting Bath from all over the country. Most of the group were new to wine tasting and were guided through the session by Charles, which lasted for about three and a bit happy hours. We wish Rosie the best of luck for the future.