Our Wine Fairs in London on October 29th and in Edinburgh on 12th November were absolutely fantastic – thank you to all who exhibited and all who bought a ticket. Over 800 people enjoyed tasting over 900 wines and sat enthralled by eight amazing masterclasses and our programme of free Wine Walks.

Please put November 3rd and November 17th in your diaries as the provisional dates for the London and Edinburgh Christmas fairs 2012, though we hope to be announcing a lot more Wine Gang Live events for 2012 at the start of the year.

Our third Wine Fair in London on October 29th was an outstanding event – completely sold out in advance, and a day full of fascinating wines and masterclasses being enjoyed by a wonderful mix of wine lovers. And now we are doing it all again in Edinburgh!

Auld Reekie Steps Up

See ticketSOUP.com for info and tickets for Edinburgh, Nov 12th.

The Merchants’ Hall is our venue, just off Princes Street on Hanover Street, where we’re open from noon to 6pm with a terrific array of wines to taste, free wine walks and a programme of exceptional masterclasses. Here are just some of the wines freely available for you to taste, included in your £15 Earlybird ticket (£14 for members):

• 2000 Vega-Sicilia Unico (£220.00 a bottle)
• 2008 William Fevre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros (£69.00)
• 2008 Neige Canadian Ice Wine (£25.00)
• 2009 Mt Difficulty Central Otago Pinot Noir (£24.99)
• 2005 Yalumba The Signature (£26.99)
• Cattier Brut Antique Champagne NV (£29.00)
• and many, many more…

Sign up on the day for a Wine Walk, and one of the Gang will take you on a tour of the room, stopping at half a dozen tables to taste and discuss some of our favourite wines.

One of the absolute highlights for many people is the programme of tutored masterclasses. These sit-down, tutored tastings of 8 wines are optional (tickets £10) and take place in the calm of an adjoining room. You will get to taste some seriously fine and rare wines with expert speakers, and can choose from:

Portugal: Europe’s Best Kept Secret with Tom Cannavan
The Portuguese Wine Writer of the Year 2010 will present a selection from his ’50 Great Poruguese Wines’ that will unlock some of Portugal’s vinous secrets. Wines include Prats & Symington Chryseia 2008, Quinta do Portal  Touriga Nacional 2009 and Dão Sul Cabriz Reserva 2008.

Magnificent Malbec with Anthony Rose
Ant has recently returned from an extensive visit to Argentina and will conduct a tasting of some of the country’s top Malbecs, including premium cuvees from outstanding producers including the Achaval Ferrer Bella Vista Malbec, Mendel Finca Remota Malbec and Catena Adrianna Malbec.

Chile’s Key Valleys with Jane Parkinson
Featuring a selection of the Premium Wines of Concha y Toro’s portfolio, Jane will take us on a tour of Chile’s Valleys, both the traditional heartlands of Chilean production and newer Valleys like Limari and Bio Bio. Wines to be tasted include some of Chile’s rarest and most scintillating Pinot Noir and Syrah.

Think You Know Chablis? with Martin Straus
Martin is an official Chablis wine ambassador and his fascinating tasting will present a ravishing tour of Chablis terroir. In his masterclass Martin will compare the wines of the Chablis appellation including some of the top estates and vineyards of  Chablis 1er cru and Chablis Grand Cru.

See ticketSOUP.com for info and tickets for Edinburgh, Nov 12th.

We’ll see you there!

Do you have your tickets for our Fairs?

ticketSOUP.com for info and tickets for London (Oct 29)

ticketSOUP.com for info and tickets for Edinburgh (Nov 12)

These absolutely outstanding events offer extraordinary value: full price tickets are £20, but you can still buy at an Earlybird £15 and members at just £14. As well as literally hundreds of wines in the £6 to £12 range to taste there’s an amazing array of high-end wines: the fine and rare wines below plus dozens and dozens more are there for the tasting. There’s no catch!

• 2006 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon (£105.00 a bottle)
• 2007 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Artemis Cab Sauvignon (£48.00)
• 2007 Marquis D’Angerville Volnay Champans 1er Cru  (£43.00)
• 2006 Chateau de Blagny Meursault Premier Cru (£42.99)
• 2007 Fontodi Vigna del Sorbo Tuscany (£39.99)
• 2007 Chapoutier Hermitage Monier de la Sizeranne (£52.00)
• 2007 Errazuriz Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve (£44.00)
• Champagne Delamotte Blanc de Blancs (£34.99)
• Taittinger Prélude Grands Cru Champagne (£45.00)
• 1985 Fonseca Port (£85.00)
• and many, many more…

£15 Earlybird tickets still available for our fabulous wine fairs!

London (October 29th 2011 – click for info and tickets)
Edinburgh (November 12th 2011 – click for info and tickets).

We’re putting the visitor catalogue together for London: 600 wines on tasting! Quantity’s not everything, so how about the 2006 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon (£105 a bottle), the 2007 Volnay Champans 1er Cru from Domaine Marquis D’Angerville (£43) or the Fonseca 1985 Port (£85)? Then there’s Chapoutier Hermitage Monier de la Sizeranne 2007 (£52), Chateau de Blagny Meursault 1er Cru 2006 (£42.99) and on and on. We reckon 200 wines @ over £20 so far and an average bottle price close to £15. With free wine walks and a free prize draw for someone in the room to win £250 of beautiful Zalto crystal glassware from aroundwine.co.uk too…

Did we mention amazing value?

£15 Earlybird tickets still available for our fabulous wine fairs!

London (October 29th 2011 – click for info and tickets)
Edinburgh (November 12th 2011 – click for info and tickets).

Each includes a programme of sit-down, tutored masterclasses featuring some of the world’s top winemakers and wines. A highlight of the Fairs for many people, here’s the menu:

LONDON- all masterclasses £15

1:00pm – The icon wines of Yalumba, with Jane Ferrari
Winemaker Jane Ferrari will lead a tasting focused on Viognier and Cabernet/Shiraz, with museum wines going back for over a decade.

2:00pm – Champagne Bollinger – SOLD OUT

3:00pm – O. Fournier, with Jose Manuel Ortega
The irrepressible owner of one of Argentina’s star estates considers terroir, comparing with top wines from Chile and Ribera del Duero.

4:00pm – Michel Chapoutier – VERY FEW TICKETS LEFT
Michel puts the great 2008 Hermitage vintage in the spotlight including his Hermitages Le Meal, Le Pavillon, De l’Orée and L’Ermite.

EDINBURGH – all masterclasses £10

1:00pm – Portugal: Europe’s Best Kept Secret with Tom Cannavan
The Portuguese Wine Writer of the Year 2010 will present the most exciting and high quality wines from Portugal’s native grapes.

2:00pm – Magnificent Malbec with Anthony Rose
Anthony will conduct a tasting of the country’s top Malbec wines, looking at the diversity of styles from Argentina’s regions.

3:00pm – Chile’s Key Valleys with Jane Parkinson
With the Premium Wines of Concha y Toro, Jane explores both traditional and new valleys like Limari, Elqui and Bio Bio.

4:00pm – Think You Know Chablis? with Martin Straus
Martin will present a ravishing tour of Chablis terroir, comparing Chablis, Chablis 1er cru and Chablis Grand Cru from top estates.

Thinking of coming along to our fabulous London or Edinburgh Wine Fairs? Note that members of The Wine Gang receive an additional £1 discount. And how about this for a deal: during September all new subscribers and those upgrading from a free trial to an annual membership (which costs only £19.99) will receive a fabulous, high-performance Wine Cooler Sleeve courtesy of Le Creuset worth £12! The high performance sleeve will be delivered to your door absolutely free of charge when you take an annual membership before the end of September. To join click here, to upgrade from a Free Trial follow the upgrade link.

Our fabulous pre-Christmas wine fairs in London on October 29th and Edinburgh on November 12th have an amazing line-up of wines to taste, extraordinary masterclasses and free Wine Walks led by The Wine Gang. Last year 600 wines were on show, average bottle price £15.16 – and this year’s event is bigger and better than ever!

Right now, tickets are £5 cheaper than last year too. Full price is £20, but with our Earlybird offer they’re just £15 each. For details and tickets:

ticketSOUP.com (London)

ticketSOUP.com (Edinburgh)

There’s no need to join The Wine Gang to come along, though members will save another £1 per ticket via a special code.

To see more details and to buy £15 earlybird tickets, go to ticketSOUP.com (London) or ticketSOUP.com (Edinburgh)

The exhibitors

See below for info on our fabulous wine fairs in London (October 29th 2011) and Edinburgh (November 12th 2011). Details of the Edinburgh Masterclasses are still being finalised, but meanwhile, a little more on the stunning masterclass line-up for London:

1:00pm – The icon wines of Yalumba, with Jane Ferrari
Jane Ferrari will lead a tasting focused on Viognier and Cabernet/Shiraz, with museum wines going back for over a decade. Wines to be shown include The Virgilius, the Wrattonbully Botrytis Viognier, The Signature 1999 and 2005 and the extremely rare FDR 1A 2008.

2:00pm – Champagne Bollinger – SOLD OUT
A once in a lifetime tasting exploring the top vintage and non-vintage cuvees of this illustrious Champagne house with their ever informative Marketing Director, Stephen Leroux. A feast of fizz! Wines to be shown include the 2000 and 2002 vintages, and the 2002 rosé vintage.

3:00pm – O. Fournier, with Jose Manuel Ortega
Jose is the irrepressible owner of not one, but three top estates in Argentina, Chile and Ribera del Duero. This session considers terroir: Old World and New. Wines to be shown include the Alfa Spiga from Ribera del Duero,the Alfa Crux from Argentina and the Alfa Centauri from Chile.

4:00pm – Michel Chapoutier – VERY FEW TICKETS LEFT
Last year’s audience was mesmerised by Michel as he presented his unique biodynamic wines from the Rhone Valley. This year he is putting the great 2008 Hermitage vintage in the spotlight. Wines to be shown include Le Meal (red and white), Le Pavillon, De l’Orée and L’Ermite.

book London tickets and masterclasses with ticketSOUP.com

Our fabulous pre-Christmas wine fairs in London on October 29th and Edinburgh on November 12th have an amazing line-up of wines to taste, extraordinary masterclasses by the world’s top winemakers and free wine walks led by The Wine Gang. Last year’s *average* bottle price of the 600 wines on tasting was over £15, and with this year’s events being bigger and better than ever, we are confident this is the best quality, best value and best fun wine tasting event on the calendar. There are even discounts on wines purchased on the day.

Tickets for the event cost £20, but right now there’s an Earlybird offer with tickets at just £15 each! So why not join us in London or Edinburgh for a guaranteed vinous feast and great day out?

To see more details and to buy earlybird tickets, go to:

ticketSOUP.com (London)

ticketSOUP.com (Edinburgh)

There’s no need to join The Wine Gang to come along to our events, though members will save another £1 via a special code. We look forward to meeting everyone and tasting some amazing wines later in the year.