ONLINE FINE WINE TASTING: Alto-Adige with Nancy Gilchrist MW

We are very much delighted to announce the second mouth-watering online tasting hosted by a master of wine this summer. On this very interesting evening, Nancy Gilchrist MW who represents the Consorzio Vini Alto Adige here in the UK, will lead us through the delights of this mountainous wine region nestled in the far north of Italy. Indigenous and international grape varieties combine here and reflect a terroir which is cool climate and dominated by dramatic topography producing some of the most beautiful wines of the whole of Italy and a far cry for the typical styles found in other regions.

Nancy Gilchrist MW (Master of Wine)

Representative of the Consorzio Vini Alto Adige

After a time of great vinous curiosity at Cambridge University, Nancy Gilchrist MW spent a glorious year driving a double-decker bus as a tour guide in Washington DC. Then the siren-call of wine drew her to run the Carlton Wine Bar near the White House and later to write a wine column for The Boston Globe. Upon returning to her native UK, she ran Grants of St James’s School of Wine, eventually leaving to work independently, passing the Master of Wine exams in 1995. Clients have included IBM, Coca Cola, Chanel, Allen & Overy, and Cordon Bleu but she teaches regularly at Leiths School of Food & Wine where she devised the module on the interaction of wine & food. Nancy took over running the Christie’s Wine Course from Steven Spurrier and Michael Broadbent MW and resurrected it in 2018 as Academie du Vin. She was Champagne Ambassador UK for 2013 and is now consultant to the Oxford Wine Company.

Alto-Adige (Südtirol)

Positioned right below Austria in the far northern reaches of Italy, Alto Adige lies in a ‘Y’ shaped glacial valley and it’s name stems from the river that runs through it, the Adige river. Vineyards in Alto Adige creep up the sides of glacial valleys in horizontal rows between 200-1000 metres in altitude but the best ones are those that grow at around 450-500 metres because they are elevated enough to provide grapes with complexity, but still not too exposed to frosts. The region is quite small at only 13,000 acres (smaller than Manhatten) but varies enough to have seven distinct growing sub-regions producing about 2/3 white production to 1/3 red. It competes for the top spot with Friui-Venezia-Giulia for producing the greatest white wines of Italy.

Tasting Date: Wednesday 21st July 2021 at 7:00pm (the tasting will last approximately 2 hours).

TASTING FEE STRUCTURE:

For this special two-hour tasting, an exclusive tasting kit is included in the listed price which includes a 75ml tasting sample of each wine, as well as tasting mat, tasting note paper and pen. Note: Tasting kits will be despatched to attendees within the week leading up to the tasting. Upon placing your order, you will receive a link to confirm all delivery details in your booking confirmation email.

Currently, we are only able to deliver tasting kits within the UK.

DON'T WANT TO RECEIVE A TASTING KIT? We understand that not everyone will want to receive the wine samples, and would rather just register to participate in the online evening without the wines. That is absolutely fine! The fee to just register for this evening without receiving a tasting kit is £10. Just enter the promotional code: 75REGONLY when checking out to ensure you just pay the registration cost. 

Tasting Kit: What's Included:

• 75ml tasting sample of each wine (6 in total) contained in a sterilised glass bottle and preserved with an inert gas (designed specifically for wine preservation)
• Tasting mat
• Tasting note sheet
• West London Wine School pen

Wines Included in Tasting Kit (6 in total): TBC – Nancy is currently curating this special line-up in conjunction with wine school owner Jimmy Smith to produce the most compelling line-up of Alto-Adige wines. Wines likely on tasting will be whites such as Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Muller-Thurgau/Sylvaner and reds such as Schiava and Lagrein.

TASTING FORMAT:

Nancy Gilchrist and Jimmy Smith will host this exclusive tasting live at 7:00pm on Wednesday 21st July 2021. This single-evening tasting will be approximately 2 hours in length. 

Unable to commit on the evening? No problem! Anyone registered for this tasting will gain access to the video recording of the live event, so you can always watch it at anytime in the future - whether its because you missed participating in the live evening or if you want to revisit the presentation at a later date.