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

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

Gourmet Dinner - 10 courses and 8 wines!

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

“While in the shipyard in La Ciotat, a neighboring yacht had organized an all day WSET foundation course onboard, and had an extra space to fill. They were kind enough to invite me along, and I proceeded to have a fun and very informative day tasting a number of different wines and learning a healthy dose of basic wine knowledge from Helen and Nigel of FineWineWorks. I was so impressed with both the knowledge I came away with and the team-building atmosphere of the program, that I immediately booked the three day on-board intermediate course for our own crew. Helen and Nigel were very accommodating and had no problem spending three days in La Ciotat onboard the yacht, even though it was a busy shipyard period with a number of power blackouts, interruptions by carpet cleaners, carpenters and endless phone calls. We managed to have a fabulously good time, some of which could possibly be attributed to the lack of spittoon use after tasting over 50 wines in three days! Helen is a walking encyclopedia and her passion, humour and enthusiasm made even the difficult bits not only interesting but also exciting to learn. If you are a chief stew, or a captain, and are looking for a great way to bring the crew together and give everyone a deeper understanding of a topic that almost any owner or charter guest will be impressed with, do not hesitate to call Helen and her lovely and helpful husband Nigel and book into one of their varied course offerings- you won’t regret it!”

Mackenzie Daggett, Interior Manager
Amorazur Fleet