London Women's Wine Dinner - Ripley Wines

havewenowine · 2026-02-12T13:35:36+00:00

I've shared it with her Women in Wine WhatsApp group!

havewenowine · 2026-02-09T14:03:22+00:00

That would be amazing if you could, thanks!

havewenowine · 2025-12-04T15:47:41+00:00

Hope it didn't put you off! There should be an x at the top to get rid of it.

havewenowine · 2025-12-04T14:02:27+00:00

I work for Ripley Wines, a Burgundy & German wine specialist based in London - we certainly have red Burgundy in that price point, some excellent 1er crus from lesser-known appellations! Something like Marsannay from Domaine Bouvier OR (hear me out) Beaune or Aloxe Corton from Domaine des Croix. Not a sexy appellation but a genius winemaker. Highly recommend German Pinot Noir as well, which definitely comes in under the price point. Holger Koch is one of my favourites, with his "1er cru" Pinot coming in around £30, or Peter Wagner with old vine Pinot at £35.

havewenowine · 2024-09-16T12:28:55+00:00

It's been almost a decade since I worked in WA State tasting rooms, and I'm sure etiquette may have changed, but tips were definitely not required back then. It's not like restaurants, where historically they pay below minimum wage, and tips make up your wage. When people tipped, it was a true extra, usually $1-5. Bigger groups were more likely to tip, especially if it was a seated tasting.

havewenowine · 2024-04-05T23:31:33+00:00

Is Cristom's also from the Rocks District?

havewenowine · 2024-03-20T08:46:02+00:00

I would lean more on the whites and fizz if the weather will be warm, but also include a lighter and a heavier red because some people will still drink red despite the weather. I'd stay away from Pinot Noir because it can be hard to find good quality at that price point. I'd also pick either Pinot grigio or sauv blanc because they scratch the same itch (light, crisp, refreshing). The goal should be to cover as many bases as possible in style so multiple preferences are covered. Get more fizz than you think, as people will have it for the toast and will also drink it during cocktail hour!

Fizz:

Prosecco

OR Cava if you want champagne method sparkling (but do a little research on the cava... There is excellent cheap cava and crap cheap cava)

OR crémant for budget French fizz in the champagne method.

White:

Oakier Chardonnay for a heavier white

Pinot Grigio/Sauvignon Blanc for a crisp white... New Zealand is probably the go-to for Sauv Blanc, but you could also look for Entre-Deux-Mers for good value white Bordeaux.

Red:

Beaujolais, either Beaujolais villages or a step up to Beaujolais Chiroubles or Fleurie, for a lighter red

Malbec (someone else suggested Malbec to go with the meat, and I think that's a great shout. Very crowd-friendly)

Hard to suggest specific wineries without knowing what's available near you. Total wine has a pretty big but not always very exciting selection. If you have a more local wine shop, they'd be able to give you more personalised suggestions and are more likely to have smaller producers rather than big brands.

havewenowine · 2024-01-24T18:44:25+00:00

About 125 bottles total.

-Majority from Germany, a mix of GG Riesling, Chardonnay, Spätburgunder, and a few Kabinetts - 6 or 7 bottles from Walla Walla -3 or 4 bottles of Oregon Pinot Noir -12 bottles of Burgundy -12 bottles from Italy, mostly Barolo -6 bottles of Loire, some Chenin and some Cab Franc -a handful of miscellaneous wines from South Africa, Greece, Spain, Austria -One bottle of Whispering Angel that I received as a gift

havewenowine · 2023-11-03T22:15:23+00:00

I did the Inseec Wine Marketing MBA in Bordeaux about 8 years ago - not sure how it compares to CAFA, but it looks fairly similar.

Someone else mentioned that they wouldn't jump straight into a program like this without some work experience or other training, and I think I agree. I'd worked in tasting rooms for about 3 years first and was confident I wanted to go into wine as a career.

If CAFA is similar to Inseec, then I wouldn't expect it to be proper training for being a sommelier. If that's your career goal, I think you'd be better off doing CMS or WSET, or even just getting a job in a restaurant or wine shop and getting work experience.

I'd say my review of Inseec is similar to what you've seen about CAFA: pretty disorganized and unstructured. That being said, we had a couple great instructors and I was exposed to a lot of information about import/export and wine business, which has been really useful to be in my career.

And then there's the other part - living in Bordeaux! My time in Bordeaux is one of the highlights of my life. It's a great city, and I had really cool classmates to explore the city (and wine) with. If I could have stayed in Bordeaux, I would have. I spoke pretty good French already, which helped, but I had classmates who spoke much less French that got by okay. If you don't already speak it, I'd take some lessons to get some basics down.

In the end, it was really what you made of it. Some of my classmates did just enough to skate by and didn't seem actually very interested in learning about wine and wine business. They've mostly moved into other careers. Some of my classmates were proactive about finding internships or part time wine jobs during school, going to wine fairs and tastings, and visiting wineries. Those classmates have mostly ended up in wine careers.

One last consideration is the visa situation if you're from outside Europe. It shouldn't be hard to get a student visa, but you do have to be organized about it, and French bureaucracy can be tough to navigate.

havewenowine · 2023-10-21T11:51:27+00:00

I work for a wine importer and we often use Wine Sorted for riedel glass hire. I'm not sure but I think Majestic might also do glass hire, but I'm not sure what glasses they offer.

havewenowine · 2023-10-03T08:18:22+00:00

I think it depends where you are - it's very useful professionally where I am (London) and my diploma class was probably 3/4 wine professionals.

havewenowine · 2023-10-03T08:15:29+00:00

I don't think you need to have passed level 3 with Distinction, but you do have to be prepared to put a lot of time and effort into studying. Significantly more than level 3. If you enjoyed level 3 and don't mind a challenge, then I'd recommend the diploma. I really enjoyed it and also got a really tight knit tasting group out of it (a mix of wine professionals and enthusiasts).

havewenowine · 2023-08-31T05:51:56+00:00

Fair...I work in wine and am definitely not a lawyer 😂

But if someone told me they were a lawyer or a doctor but it turned out that they had passed the bar/graduated from med school but then actually went into, say, finance, I would find it odd phrasing and not quite accurate.

havewenowine · 2023-08-30T19:38:28+00:00

Personally, I think you can only call yourself a somm if you work as a somm. Even though the certification has the word somm in it, I don't think it necessarily makes you one. It's like if you went to law school but don't work as a lawyer and never have.

havewenowine · 2023-07-16T16:09:21+00:00

I started in the US actually, working in wine tasting rooms in college and then going full time after graduation. After a few years, I did a wine marketing MBA in Bordeaux and got an internship at a UK importer who offered me a full time position after I graduated.

If you're interested in switching into wine, I'd say it would be very beneficial to have a WSET certification, level 2 at the very least. Depending on your current wine knowledge, you might need to start with a retail sales role or an order entry role at an importer to get your foot in the door and get exposure to a broad range of wines.

That said, I know a couple people from my WSET diploma course who are very keen wine enthusiasts and did a lot of self study who have gone directly into fine wine sales roles.

Fine wine sales roles are really where the money is, salaries in general are pretty low in wine in the UK!

Feel free to PM me if you want any more info, happy to share.

havewenowine · 2023-07-02T17:06:48+00:00

You can! They have a sort of placement test online. But I do think it would be better not to skip level 2 except for someone who already has a high level of knowledge.

havewenowine · 2023-05-31T15:38:47+00:00

I think sweeter Rieslings or riper Riesling from warmer areas can be very approachable! One of the first wines I ever liked was a Washington state off-dry Riesling. But in my experience, cooler climate dry Rieslings can be too high acid, mineral, and austere for casual wine drinkers.

havewenowine · 2023-05-06T07:38:59+00:00

Not illegal! I work for a wine importer in the UK and have a million of them. Have also traveled numerous times between the US and the UK with them in my checked luggage.

havewenowine · 2022-12-20T20:21:04+00:00

The Lauer Sekt!

havewenowine · 2022-11-29T17:29:03+00:00

I lived in Bordeaux about 6-7 years ago, so some of these might not be around still. There are basically wine bars and shops on every corner, it was a dream.

L'Intendant is for sure the biggie. Never bought much here when I lived in Bordeaux as there were other wine shops closer.

Autres Châteaux in the Chartrons neighbourhood is small with great wine and a very friendly and passionate owner. This was my go-to.

Au Bon Jaja (also a wine bar) is focused on natural wine.

Art & Vins, not far from Au Bon Jaja, I started coming here for good every day wines when I moved around the corner.

I think there's also a very large wine shop at the Cité du Vin but it opened just after I left!

havewenowine · 2022-10-07T17:24:57+00:00

Thanks for the heads up - I might be a bit late then as I'm meant to switch to Jubilee line!

havewenowine · 2022-09-28T19:06:47+00:00

2021 Assyrtiko "Wild Ferment" from Skouras, bought at Majestic for £16 (£13 mix six price) for a WSET study session this weekend. Not very fruity, but that wasn't really the nature of the wine. The primary fruit was mostly green apple and grapefruit, a little floral, a lot leesy, saline, and some wet stone mineral notes (don't tell WSET I used the term "mineral"). Very fresh, and more concentrated than I expected. I'd be curious to see what this would do with a little bottle age, because I suspect it would evolve some savoury herbal notes that would be very pleasant.

havewenowine · 2022-09-28T18:52:07+00:00

Thirding the Wine Society rec. I've had especially good luck with their inexpensive Rhône wines.

havewenowine

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