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New Training Dates Autumn 2011

Helen Brotherton — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:41:45 +0000

New Training Dates for WSET® Wine Courses

The end of Summer is in sight and so plans for a full and exciting programme of WSET® Wine & Spirits Courses are now in place.

All details of Course content, syllabus, prices etc can be found on the Training tab of the main FWW website.

We can, of course, offer other dates outside of this programme for bespoke courses on board etc – just ask us for details.

The courses will be held at the FWW HQ in Vence 06140 (French Riviera) unless specified.

WSET® Level 1 Foundation Certificate in Wines (1 DAY)

Monday 26th September 2011
Monday 10th October 2011
Tuesday 18th October 2011 – CROATIA (ask for details)
Thursday 10th November 2011
Friday 25th November 2011

WSET® Level 2 Award in Wines & Spirits (3 DAYS)
(Intermediate)
Weds 28th – Fri 30th September 2011
Weds 12th – Fri 14th October 2011
Weds 19th – Fri 21st October 2011 – CROATIA (ask for details)
Mon 21st – Weds 23rd November 2011

WSET® Level 3 Award in Wines & Spirits (5 DAYS)
(Advanced)
Weds 26th – Fri 28th and Mon 31st Oct & Tues 1st Nov 2011
(inc weekend break)

We are also in the process of putting dates together for Spirits & Cocktail training courses – watch this space!

Helen Brotherton

Advance! Advanced!! – Our 1st Advanced!!!

Helen Brotherton — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:42:47 +0000

Phew! We’ve done it!! And I very much do mean “we” in this instance – our first WSET® Advanced Certificate in Wines & Spirits, with me as Tutor for the 5 Day course, and hubby Nigel, embarking onthe course as a Student. Well, its over now – the last run to the bottle bank under the cover of darkness, (with over 100 bottles opened over the 5 days, not even FWW can pretend this is normal
household consumption as we tip the glass into the recycling bin!).

Our morning ritual is no longer driven by the need to revise furiously (Nigel) nor to put the finishing touches to a lesson plan or double check a Wine fact (Helen) in the magnificent Hugh Johnson “Wine Atlas” or to confirm the ampelography and parentage or synonym of a particular grape variety with Jancis Robinson’s excellent “Vine’s Grapes and Wines”. Nor indeed, is the kitchen a buzz with late night cooking madness that is us setting out to provide a first class lunch for all the students each day as a welcome respite from the intense vinous absorption of knowledge and wine itself. I have to say, though, that the FWW lunches during a Wine Course have become almost legendary as I try and match a menu to the wines we are likely to have opened during that mornings Sessions.

During the Advanced course we dined on a Seafood Lasagne with various dregs of Chablis and Chassagne Montrachet; a classic Coq au Vin with a passable Nuits St Georges and my Sweet and Sour Pork met its match with a selection of Rieslings from Germany, Alsace and Australia. The last day (yup, the “big Exam in the afternoon” day) of the course gave me the dilemma of the last two course work sessions being Fortified (Sherries and Ports etc) and Spirits. Not ideal as a match for Lunch! However, we’d skipped tasting the two Greek wines in a previous session as the WSET had reviewed and revised some of the Wine regions before this new academic year and Greece, alas, had fallen from grace and was no longer part of the mandatory tastings. I had, however, already purchased said wines as the course had originally been planned for earlier this year in June – you have to be one step ahead with sourcing some of the wines for these courses…have you tried picking up Greek wines here in France?? So, a flash of inspiration and the final days “brain food” consisted of a Meze of the usual Taramasolata, Hummous, stuffed Vine Leaves and a particularly garlicky home-made Tzsatziki. Then I griddled some Oregano Marinated Lamb with Olive Oil for a sort of Souvlaki, served with a big, fresh and juicy Greek Salad of Feta, Tomato and Cucumber. The Greek white, a Vilana from the Peloponnese was a bit underwhelming but the Xynomavro from Naoussa hit the spot superbly. I think, having checked the candidate’s Answer Sheets and assessed the Practical Blind Tasting element of the exam, that “a little of taste of Corfu” at lunchtime prepared the students admirably for their arduous 2 hour long exam. The papers themselves were couriered back to London for final marking, so we shall just have to wait with baited breath for the results!

One final “share” with you all: the intriguing results of a little Champagne tasting we did on the penultimate day! You are probably aware by now, that we are the sole representatives of Vilmart champagnes here on the Côte d’Azur and so convinced are of their sheer quality and “wow” factor that we wanted to “blind taste” them head to head with market leaders in their particular category. As we had a room full of Wine Professionals and Yacht Crew, all candidates for the course and as we had to crack open Champagnes anyway as part of the syllabus, we pitted our Vilmart Grand Cellier Brut NV (35€) against the standard Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut NV (also approx RRP of 35€). Only one vote went to the Veuve whereas the Vilmart (or at this stage it was simply Wine B) was otherwise unanimously praised for the finesse of its mousse, the creaminess of its texture and the full on elegance of the liquid in the glass. The second duo was our top of the range premium Vilmart Coeur de Cuvée 2000 (74€) versus the mighty Dom Perignon 2000 (approx 120€) – one would think that the extra Fifty smackers would have leapt out and throttled you in terms of obvious quality and class, but alas, it was a tricky call between the two of them. This time it was Vilmart’s (Wine A this time) energy and freshness which captivated the tasters against a rather vegetal and subdued DP – a bit of a triumph for our “just different” Vilmart wines. Do check out the Vilmart page on the website to get the full story (and place your orders for Christmas, of course!!)

Helen Brotherton
05.10.09

Our first FWW Summer!

Helen Brotherton — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:31:08 +0000

Yachting, Trotting, Wining & Dining, Drinking & Thinking – our first FWW Summer! The Brotherton Family Hotel has now closed its doors for the season! All visitors and friends who have descended on us over the last three months have now gone back to the UK. The last batch left this morning, a good two hours later than planned so yet another FWW working day goes pear-shaped! However, even though we have had Thomas the Tank Engine to trip over, Shrek on DVD just as we need to make a phone call, a bathroom full of Strawberry Bubblebath and Plastic Sharks and a fridge full of Kinder Chocolate and Winnie the Pooh Yoghurt, we HAVE managed a pretty busy and exciting Summer workwise!

We’ve done lots of Wine Tasting Events: our own Fun Wine 4 Women concept has been very successful; we re-vamped our Food & Wine Matching Masterclass into a full blown 10 course Degustation Extravaganza Gourmet Dinner – you seriously have to skip lunch to get the most out of one of these! Plus we’ve run some Private Tutored Tastings on board a couple of Yachts and run Wine Tasting Challenges at various Summer Fetes, Charity Fundraisers and the International Club’s big Summer Event – the “We Are The World Party”.

Also, having sworn never to get back into her Chef’s gear, Helen has found herself catering for all sorts of Events and Tastings, big and small – have you any idea how hot a kitchen here on the Riviera can get in July and August???? The trick is to get up at around 5am and tackle pastry and other “oven” work, in the relative cool of the day – chopping can be done later when the temperature hits the mid 30’s!

The Wine Training courses for Yachts have, naturally, taken a break over the Summer, as crews have been busy with their Summer Med season. However, lesson planning and preparations for forthcoming Autumn courses have been ongoing. Oh, and wine sourcing for the Courses too! If anyone can find me a modern Greek red from Naoussa or Nemea here in the South of France in time for my Advanced course in November, I’d be very interested to hear from you!

Marketing plans for our Vilmart champagne are also blossoming nicely (take a look at our sexy new Vilmart Champagne page here on the website!) and we will be working with the Riviera Times to showcase the Champagne at the Monaco Yacht Show later in September. More of that anon!

Our new Winefinder Consultancy Service idea is still in its infancy but more of how that will work when we return from holiday. Yes, we at FWW are taking a very short break to address the now desperate state of affairs that means there is far too much Riesling in my blood stream and a trip to Germany’s wine regions is well overdue! I’m sure we will have tales to tell on our return – so watch this space, as they say.

Helen Brotherton – 28th August 2009

Gourmet Dinner - 10 courses and 8 wines!

Helen Brotherton

Hello to Cosmo Crew – a new partnership!

Helen Brotherton — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:34:38 +0000

Building yet further on our Wine & Spirit Education Trust APP status and the booming side of our business in providing Wine Training for Yacht Crew, we have started an exciting new partnership with a dynamic young Crew Placement & Training company, Cosmo Crew based right on the port at Marina Baie des Anges, Villeneuve Loubet.

As usual it was the incredible networking chain down here on the
Riviera that led us to Cosmo – someone saw a posting on Anglo Info about one of our Wine Tasting Events earlier in the year and promptly booked themselves on our inaugural “Fun Wine 4 Women” event in April. Meeting and talking with Sally, led to the discovery that she shares office space with Cosmo and that we “really ought to come down and meet them”. From a totally different direction comes the same “hot tip” and introduction from Anna of The Galley Shop (one our linked Partners) that she had met the Cosmo team at their offices, seen their currently not used basement room, and advised them that it would be the perfect venue for Wine Courses and told them to get in touch with us.
Serendipity indeed!
So down to the Marina and a chat with the delightful Virna Causa of Cosmo Crew and before you know it, a deal was struck and we “test ran” a Level 1 WSET Foundation Course for some Stews on 14th May. It worked brilliantly and the ease of travel arrangements for Yachties, rather than getting them all the way up to us in Vence, was a real bonus! We reckon we can comfortably run courses for up to 6 students at Cosmo and the location on the port for a quick pre-course coffee and a choice of eateries for lunch is excellent. We will continue to offer the incredible FWW flexibility of “on board” at a time and place to suit, but that is obviously directed at existing Crew teams. The great link with Cosmo is that they have a huge pool of Yacht Crew “wannabe’s” and experienced Stews looking for new employment.
Cosmo offer specific Yacht training courses themselves at another classroom site, but have also had enquiries about Wine Courses specifically for Yachts and so the fact that they can now recommend FineWineWorks is a great boon to us. In return we have also proposed that as we are in contact with so many yachts that we refer them to Cosmo whenever it is appropriate. Small businesses working together!
P.S. We had a 100% pass rate for the course that day – so congratulations to all the candidates!
Helen Brotherton 04.05.09

New Wine Courses & Events Dates

Helen Brotherton — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:00:08 +0000

You can find all the details for the following Wine Courses and Forthcoming Events under the relevant sections on this site but as we have such a jam packed Summer & early Autumn ahead I wanted to have the opportunity to shout about it – LOUDLY!

Firstly, our accredited Wine Courses with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. Aimed particularly at Yacht Crew here on the Riviera but open to everyone with a lust and thirst for Wine.
As well as hosting these courses here at our villa, we have also linked up with Cosmo Crew to run some courses at their offices in the Marina Baie des Anges in Villeneuve Loubet. We can also run these on board, when required. Call us to discuss your particular requirements.

WSET Foundation Course (Level 1) – 1 Day
Thursday 11th June – venue tbc
Wednesday 1st July – venue tbc
See Training page for all details as to cost, course content etc.

WSET Intermediate Course (Level 2) – 3 Days
25th – 27th June – Vence 06
7th – 9th September – Vence 06
We are also planning to run this as a 9 session Evening Class for Working Wine Lovers who perhaps cannot devote a full 3 Days to the course. From mid-September – see Training Pages for details

WSET Advanced Course (Level 3) – 5 Days
We will be splitting this course over a short period to give students time to absorb the facts and cover all the ground with home study.
Mon 5th – Tue 6th Oct (2 Days)
PLUS
Mon 12th, Tue 13th & Wed 14th Oct (3 Days)
All details on the Training page of this site.

Forthcoming events:
(Details of all these can be found on the Events page under Forthcoming Dates)

Sat 6th June – “Fun Wine 4 Women”, Vence 06
Weds 17th June – “Vin-dezvous” at the Kookaburra, Nice 06
Fri 17th July – Masterclass – Food & Wine Matching, Vence 06
Sat 1st Aug – “Fun Wine 4 Women”, Vence 06
Fri 14th Aug – Masterclass – Food & Wine Matching, Vence 06

Coming soon – details of our big Autumn event to be held in conjunction with Riviera Times plus our Vilmart Champagne Winemaker Dinner – e-mail us at info@finewineworks.com to go on our Mailing List and receive regular FWW Newsletters plus special offers on our Wine List

Helen Brotherton

Wine Appreciation – 9 glorious weeks of quaffing!

Helen Brotherton — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:02:44 +0000

We have been pretty busy so far this Spring, and will be right up to May with our WSET Accredited Wine Courses, mostly for Yacht Crew in the run up to what will no doubt be an interesting Summer season…..but that’s for another Yachtie BLOG! Meanwhile we have been asked continually for a gentler approach to Wine Appreciation, skills and knowledge that might be acquired at a more leisurely pace.

Our WSET Courses tend to be “intensive” 1, 3 or 5 days to fit in with Yacht Crew timescales and their naturally nomadic lifestyles. But there is a wider Anglophone community here on the Riviera, more accustomed to a relaxed way of life, but who are still passionate and fascinated enough by wine to want to know a little bit more. We’ve looked as a starting point at the WSET Intermediate Level 2, which needs no prior Wine Training, just enthusiasm, greed for knowledge and a basic ability to tell the difference between a Red and a White wine. Rather than cram it into 3 days, we opted to run it over 9 consecutive weekly evenings, each around 2 ½ to 3 hours. We would also propose that taking the exam itself on the 9th session is entirely optional – some folk, would prefer not to have the pressure of lots of study and homework but just to enjoy exploring the wines of the world and getting to taste rather a lot of them! We did originally plan to run the course in this format from late Spring, but have found that the urge to learn gets clouded by visiting friends and rellys (it is amazing how popular one becomes in the Summer here on the Cote d’Azur!). We are also finding that the more people who attend our Events (see piccie) and start to understand what we are really about, then express interest in doing a Wine Appreciation course. So, in order to spread the net as wide as possible and give lots of gourmands and wine fans a chance, we have moved the dates to the Autumn and will kick off with the 1st session on Thursday 10th September. The details are all on our Training Page of this website and also show that we’ve managed to reduce the cost and instead of a full price of 750€ TTC, we’d split it into weekly sessions at just 70€ per session (this is if you are wishing to take the exam in Week 9), making a saving of 130€ all told!
There are also a few more tempting peeks into what we will cover in the 9 weeks, on my original BLOG on this course in January 2009. As I usually get a bit carried away with things, we are bound to taste a few more than the 50+ wines you are required to experience throughout the course. I can’t resist pulling another bottle from the rack if I think it will illustrate my point better – wine is such a real, tangible and practical subject, one can only talk about it for so long before the need to taste an example becomes apparent. If you, (or you know and love someone enough to give it them as a pressie), are interested in possibly getting together with like-minded individuals to taste wines and learn about their origins, then get in touch. Roll on Summer then we can start planning a decadent and vinous Autumn – something to really look
forward to!