Out & About: February Wine Events

Now January's out of the way, and you've failed miserably at every single one of your New Year's Resolutions, I can finally get your full attention.

You see, I'm a firm believer in Any Time Resolutions, the resolution that you can pursue freely whenever you fancy a change, and the resolution you have more chance of succeeding with without the pressure of your nearest and dearest watching your every move.

My resolution (and a good one to have if you've read Frances' post about being a better wine industry geek/blogger) is to get out and about more this year, to taste more wine and meet more producers, and discover a whole new range of favourites. So where are the wine tastings at this month?

The good news is there are plenty of options countrywide, starting tomorrow:

5th, 6.30pm Wines of Portugal tasting, Hotel du Vin, Brighton. Tickets £25 each.

6th, 6.30pm Cookery Demonstration and Wine Tasting, Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh. Tickets £30, including supper.

6th, 7pm Tutored Riesling Tasting and Supper, Hart's Wine, Nottingham. Tickets £60 including service, wine and food - not bad for an evening's entertainment!

7th 6.30-9.30pm  Matthew Jukes' 100 Best Australian Wines Roadshow, Trumpington Pavilion, Cambridge. Tickets £12.50

8th, 2 or 3pm London Cru Winery Tour. Tickets £15. Have a nosy around London's first winery, which only opened last year!

12th, 7pm Languedoc-Roussillon Wine Tasting, The Secret Garden, Suffolk. Tickets £32 if booked in advance, and include a buffet. (Who doesn't love a buffet?!)

13th 6-9pm New Zealand Wine Tasting, Lord's Cricket Ground. Tickets £20

15th 7.30-9.30pm Introduction to the World of Wine, The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham. Tickets £22.50 - this is run by the very brilliant Birmingham Wine School. There's actually loads of tastings, UK-wide, and you can find your nearest venue's listings at Local Wine School's website.

22nd 11am-5pm Decanter's Spain and Portugal tasting, The Landmark Hotel, London. Ticket's £40, with various masterclasses and short, specialist events that can be purchased at an extra cost (I like the look of the New Age Cava tasting).

26th Alsace Wine Tasting, The Inn at Woburn. Tickets £48, which includes a beautiful wine-matched four-course dinner.

26th Cheese and Wine Tasting, Stonyhurst College, Lancashire. Tickets £10 - a total bargain!

26th  7-9.30pm  Rhone Valley tasting, Avery's wine, Bristol. Tickets £25

27th 6.30-8.30pm Laithwaite's Ipswich Wine Evening, Town Hall. Tickets £20

27th Virgin Wines' Canary Wharf Wine tasting. Tickets £15 which can be deducted from a case of wine if you order on the day.

There are SO many more wine events happening UK-wide in February - some foodie, some geeky, some for total beginners. Ask at local wine merchants and restaurants, and you will find them, and you'll find them every week.
 If you know of one we haven't listed, let us know in the comments!

Image taken from Lehigh Valley's photostream under the CCL.