ONLINE FINE WINE TASTING: Australian Shiraz with Emma Symington MW

Off the back of the success of the superb Australian Cool Climate Chardonnay masterclass held this summer, we welcome back Master of Wine Emma Symington to expertly guide us through some complex and powerful Australian Shiraz (Syrah in France) ideal to warm us up on a likely cool November evening. The selected wines have been carefully hand-picked by Emma, with world-class examples hailing from Hunter Valley, Eden Valley, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Canberra and Adelaide Hills. Included in the line-up is one of the true greats of Australia, the Henschke Mount Edelstone, which retails at £140 per bottle.

PLEASE NOTE: TASTING KITS WILL BE POSTED OUT NEXT WORKING DAY FROM NOVEMBER 17TH. If you book after this date, we will do our best to get your kit to you as soon as possible. As a reminder, anyone registered for this tasting will also have access to the tasting recording so if you are worried about not receiving your kit in time, rest assured you will be able to watch the recording and taste along at any time that is convenient for you.

Emma Symington MW (Master of Wine)

Emma has worked in the wine trade for the past 15 years in a variety of roles including selling and buying wine as well as working a vintage in New Zealand. She now works for Wine Australia in their London office as Education Development Manager across the EMEA region, organising and hosting a series of tastings, seminars and master classes to increase enthusiasm and knowledge in Australia’s wines and wine regions.

After winning the Vintners' Cup and Vintners' Scholarship for the top WSET Diploma graduate in 2011, Emma embarked on the Master of Wine course, becoming an MW in 2015. A WSET-certified educator, Emma judges at several international wine competitions and also writes for the Wine Monkeys blog, for which she won the Emerging Wine Writer category in the 2014 Louis Roederer Awards.

Australian Shiraz

Shiraz is Australia’s best known and most widely planted variety (40,000 ha) that is grown in virtually every wine region in Australia. As Australia’s stable red grape variety, it makes the most popular red wine and is at the core of the country’s incredible export success. The most widely planted wine grape in the country, Shiraz continues to dominate the Australian wine scene with its bold, ripe flavours and easy-drinking nature. A dedicated band of winemakers are ensuring that Shiraz is known for quality rather than quantity by bringing back traditional, hands-on winemaking that is creating Shiraz with distinctive character and personality. By virtue of its capabilities, army of winemaking advocates and consumer adoration, Shiraz is something special.

The World’s Oldest Shiraz Vines

Australia is home to the world’s oldest continuously productive Shiraz vines with vineyards believed to date back to 1843 (Langmeil), 1847 (Turkey Flat) and 1860 (Tahbilk). These ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines produce tiny crops of intensely concentrated grapes.

Tasting Date: Tuesday 23rd November 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: 85REGONLY 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): 

• Brokenwood, Hunter Valley
• Henschke Mount Edelstone, Eden Valley (RRP £140)
• Peter Lehmann Stonewell, Barossa Valley
• Thistledown Cunning Plan, McLaren Vale
• Clonakilla, Hilltops, Canberra
• Ochota Barrels, I am the Owl, Adelaide Hills

TASTING FORMAT:

Emma Symington and Jimmy Smith will host this exclusive tasting live at 7:00pm on Tuesday 23rd November 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.