The Wine Club by The Cookery School at Donnybrook Fair

Many people have the misconception that all French people are wine experts but I can tell you that unfortunately, this is not the case. My mammy never put drops of wine in my bottle as a baby nor did we have a mandatory wine course for le bac (the French leaving cert).  


At the moment I'm very eager to learn about wine and try different things, so when The Cookery School at Donnybrook Fair invited me to their Wine Club back in February I couldn't possibly say 'non'.

The Wine Club ran for 4 consecutive weeks on Thursdays for two and a half hours and was tutored by wine consultant Laura Peterson. 

The course was very informal, Laura was bubbly and approachable and the size of the group was small which made the atmosphere friendlier. 

For the first hour of each class Laura taught us some theory and the rest of the time was all about practice: tasting 6 different wines and learning about them. Tough job but someone got to do it, right?

The first week was about wine production, regulations and the approach to tasting, as well as some wine terminology.

The second week focused on French wines only, oh la la!

The third week went fancier with Champagne and sparkling wines.

The fourth week was about food and wine pairing and you’d probably guess that this was my favourite part of the course. 

Of course I had to be a little nosy and look at what was going on in the kitchen.

Niall Murphy, head chef at Donnybrook Fair, made a 6 course tasting menu designed to perfectly match the wines chosen by Laura.

Chianti 'When We Dance' (2011, Italy) served with a charcuterie selection.

Circumstance Sauvignon Blanc (South Africa, 2010)  served with cherry tomatoes marinated in a basil sugar syrup with red onion and cucumber.

Laurenz V, Sunny Grunener Veltliner (2010, Austria) served alongside scallop with peas and orange vanilla cream.

Innocent Bystander, Syrah (Australia, 2010) served with Lamb Tagine and couscous.

Wagner Stempel, Spaetburgunder Trocken (2010, Germany) served with the cheeseboard

Elysium, Black Muscat, Desert wine (2010, USA) served with a cherry sorbet, chocolate mousse with a macaron base and crème anglaise.

The Wine Club is priced at €195 and includes a four week course taught by an expert, 6 wines each week and a fabulous tasting menu matched with wines on the final week. The course is a great introduction to wine tasting and would ease any beginner into the subject in a fun way.

Merci beaucoup Laura, Niall and Donnybrook Fair!

Keep an eye on Donnybrook Fair’s website for future dates.

Donnybrook Fair
89 Morehampton Road
Donnybrook
Dublin 4

Some of my classmates were bloggers, have a read at Laura’s and Jean’s posts for other perspectives.

Disclaimer: I was invited to the Wine Club by Donnybrook Fair free of charge. The words above are, as always, my honest opinion.