I got into wine when I inherited my husband’s wine cellar twenty-six years ago. At the time, I knew very little about wine, so I enrolled on a wine course in the hope of learning what I should do with his collection — drink it or sell it.
I never imagined that course would change the direction of my life, but it set me on a four-year learning path that resulted in the WSET Diploma, just one step below the exalted title of Master of Wine.
The qualification is aimed at people working in the wine industry, and despite having spent my life in sales, I realised I didn’t want to sell wine. Instead, I moved into wine education. My motivation was simple: I wanted to do better than some of the wine teachers who had taught me — many of whom were boring, snobbish, or simply didn’t know how to bring this fascinating subject to life.
I was fortunate enough to become a wine teacher at a prestigious college, and I also started my own wine school and for the next five years I taught hundreds of people about wine and loved every moment of it — apart from the dull classrooms. They felt entirely wrong for such a colourful subject. I wanted to be in vineyards where the grapes grew beneath Mediterranean skies, not in rainy Birmingham.
So, after much planning, in 2009 I headed to France and began a wine tour business in the Languedoc. You can read about those adventures in my Languedoc memoirs. Sixteen wonderful years later, I sold the business and returned to England.
Wine remains one of my greatest passions, reflected in my books The Wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon and The French Bed. And now I’ve found a new way to combine my love of wine with my writing because today, I’m delighted to introduce Book Tastings.
Think “meet the author” combined with a relaxed and enjoyable wine tasting led by someone with a lifetime of wine knowledge and two books to share — one all about wine, the other a romance-mystery with wine woven into the story.
Expect a fun and informal evening with no wine snobbery — just good wine, good stories, and plenty to discover along the way.
I hope to take Book Tastings the length and breadth of England for book clubs, wine clubs, and groups of friends. I’ll arrive with my books, a selection of delicious Languedoc wines, and stories inspired by life in the south of France. Over the course of two hours, guests will enjoy a guided tasting alongside tales from the vineyards, behind-the-scenes moments from my books, and plenty of laughter along the way.
So fellow writers and readers — tell me honestly — would you host a Book Tasting?
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