The Wine & Spirit Educational Trust (WSET) has big plans for its upcoming 50th anniversary with its first ever international celebration of wine education and kicking off the festivities will be a Guinness World Record attempt for the largest ever recorded sommelierie lesson here in London on September 9th.

Taking place at The Kia Oval, London SE11, the event will be hosted by TV personality (Saturday Kitchen) and award-winning wine expert Olly Smith and sommelier Virgilio Gennaro (Wine Director at Giorgio Locatelli Consultancy) and they will attempt to better the existing record which currently stands at 271 people. The hosts will give attendees an insight into the art of pairing food and wine and guide them through tasting four wines matched with complementary foods. Tickets to the event are priced at £20.00 and are available now via Eventbrite. Similar events across the world will mark the beginning of WSET Wine Education Week, starting in Auckland, New Zealand and ending in Los Angeles, USA, with a mission to inspire and inform wine lovers across the world.  WSET CEO Ian Harris comments: “I can’t think of a better way to mark WSET’s 50^th anniversary and the progress we have made in wine education over the last half-century.”

Whether you’re a novice or connoisseur, mad for Merlot or puzzled by Pinot, the world of wine is for you to discover and the WSET will help you do this. Having awarded over 400,000 wine lovers one of its qualifications in the UK alone since it was founded in 1969 the Wine & Spirit Education Trust is the largest global provider of wine and spirits qualifications and will be marking its milestone 50th anniversary from 9 – 15 September 2019, by celebrating the diversity, taste and culture of the world of wine with a programme of interactive events, all of which are focused on learning about and enjoying wines from across the globe.

There will be almost 70 events taking place across the UK, with sessions ranging from ‘Deciphering Wine Labels’ to ‘Matches Made in Heaven’ – and ‘All That Sparkles’. The events will help attendees make wiser choices when choosing a bottle and to discover the delights of lesser-known wines they might not have tasted before.

Olly Smith says: “Wine education enhances the curation of life’s greatest pleasures. By learning the characteristics of a grape or wine region, it’s a shortcut to finding a wine you love at a budget that’s bang on the money. WSET Wine Education Week is all about bringing wine lovers together from across the world to discover and be inspired, so I’m delighted to be involved and, of course, to be raising a few glasses this September.”

Full details about WSET Wine Education Week and the events taking place can be found at www.wineeducationweek.com 

Images from the launch event: