Sydney Wine Centre has been improving knowledge and sharing appreciation of good wine with local and out-of-town wine lovers for 15 years, and they’re not ready to put a cork in it yet. Located above Pyrmont Cellars, Sydney Wine Centre is a hidden portal, a place where you can travel across Australian and international wine regions through your taste buds and imagination.
“We run a whole series of different courses ranging from introductory and advanced wine education classes to the fun and funky ones, which are things like a tour of France, a tour of Spain, a tour of Italy,” says Jim, who owns Sydney Wine Centre and Pyrmont Cellars.
For those who’d like to hone their palate, the wine centre offers three levels of wine courses: introductory, intermediate and advanced. The courses are run either across two or four evenings or on one big day (depending on which course you do) and they are held on the premises.
Course content varies depending on the level, but you can expect to cover some or all of the following: how to taste wine; how to identify quality; identifying specific flavours and aromas; food and wine matching; tips on ordering/serving including glassware and decanting; trends in wine; wine making techniques.
There are specialty master classes for pinot, shiraz, and sparkling, all conducted by experts in the industry.
“We’ve actually got an MW, (Master of Wine) who does some of our top end courses. We’ve got a bloke who has made more bottles of bubbles than anyone else in Australia who generally does our sparkling classes; and we’ve got a French-born semellier,” says Jim, who himself occasional conducts classes on other topics.
Recently, Sydney Wine Centre launched the European Odyssey night which explores some of the more esoteric wine regions across Europe. Their Italy and Spain themed nights each cover 12 wines (four flights of three wines), accompanied with a tasting plate featuring meats and cheeses from the respective countries and regions.
“It’s literally like doing a tour of Italy using your wine glass as a vehicle and having a nibble along the way,” says Jim.
The upcoming French Wine and Cheese event will take your taste buds through nine wine regions of France including Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, The Loire Valley, Alsace and Côtes du Rhône. At each stop, your glass of wine will be accompanied with a matching slice of cheese, selected in conjunction with the experts from Simon Johnson Provedores.
Public tastings and courses are held in the purpose-designed rooms of Sydney Wine Centre. They typically run for 2 hours on a Thursday night. Participants tend to come in small groups and couples, and some come by themselves — it’s an atmosphere that is welcoming and you’ll quickly make friends.
Sydney Wine Centre also offers private events, either on their premises or at your work location, or at a suitable venue.
