The Academy of Food and Wine Service has launched a new website for its popular UK Sommelier of the Year competition. Anyone interested in the competition can find details about how it is run, past winners, sponsors, media partners, judges and how to enter as well as the latest update on entries received and the […]
Category Archives: Academy Blog
Blog: Don’t miss Gerard Basset’s tutorial on Champagne
Academy director Gerard Basset MS, MW, OBE, and the current holder of the title World’s Best Sommelier, explains the basics of storing, opening and pouring champagne as well as looking at the different styles and when they should be drunk.
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Blog: Academy and BII host wine tasting at Chinese Embassy
On Friday 11 November the BII and the Academy of Food and Wine Service were invited by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to host a wine tasting event at the Embassy in London for a delegation of top officials. The event was hosted by Neil Robertson, BII Chief Executive, and Nick Scade, […]
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News: Gerard Basset appointed OBE
Sommelier and hotelier Gerard Basset MS, MW, the Academy’s technical director and owner of the highly successful Hotel TerraVina in Hampshire, attended an investiture at Windsor Castle last Thursday [20 October] to be appointed OBE by Princess Anne, The Princess Royal. Gerard, who last year added to his long list of award and competition successes […]
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Blog: De Vere apprentice gains manager position
De Vere is one of the first hotel companies to join the Academy of Food and Wine Service’s Academy Centre of Excellence scheme. The group’s De Vere Academy of Hospitality has gained recognition as an ACE training centre, meaning that it has achieved a high standard of excellence for its front-of-house training. The training is […]
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Blog: sommelier Anja Gottwald’s visit to Portugal with Ramos Pintos
Anja Gottwald, Ramos Pintos Award, 2010. Click on the link to read sommelier Anja Gottwald’s diary of her fabulous visit to Portugal as her prize for winning the 2010 Ramos Pintos Award, part of the Academy of Food and Wine Service’s Awards for Excellence.
Blog: Hospitality Leadership
Click here to read the latest blog from the website Hospitality Leadership, including contributions from the Academy’s Nick Scade and front-of-house guru Fred Sirieix.
Blog: UK Amateur Sommelier of the Year visits Texture
As part of her prize for winning this year’s UK Amateur Sommelier of the Year, Catherine Ward-Brown visits the Michelin-starred Texture in London. Here’s what she thought… HAVING worked together at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, Agnar Sverrisson and Xavier Rousset established Texture in 2007. I’ve dined at Le Manoir a couple of times […]
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Blog: sommelier Louise Gordon visits Burgundy
At the 2010 Academy Awards for Excellence Louise Gordon, head sommelier at London’s Clos Maggiore, won the Louis Jadot & Savoy Educational Trust Sommelier Scholarship. Louise was singled out as being an excellent ambassador for her hotel and for the role of sommellerie and as someone who as well as holding down a demanding position […]
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Tagged burgundy, louis jadot, louise gordon, savoy education trust, wine trip
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Champagne tasting at LIWF
At this year’s LIWF the Academy organised a Champagne tasting as one of a series of educational sessions. The Academie de Lanson is working with AFWS to promote Champagne and educate the trade about Champagne. Here are the highlights of a presentation of malolactic and non-malolactic Champagnes involving a blind tasting of different Champagnes across […]
