On the evening of Thursday 24th March, the DAFFYs team attempted to address this enduring problem by hosting a wine tasting for beginners in a great new venue for DAFFYs events in the Kitchener Hall.  The evening was led by our very own wine expert Richard Jordan, trained and qualified courtesy of the British Army and mastered by dedicated practice.  He led the gathered eager students through the fine art of sniffing and slurping, in a successful attempt to educate his audience to taste and not just drink.

Once the group had got to grips with the basics of smell and taste (nose and palate!), they had to use their new-found skills to identify 6 different wines.  To help them, there was a panel of experts, headed by Richard and special guest Dr Patrick Porter representing the new world and event organiser, Fiona Rimmer.

The panel offered 3 descriptions for each wine and the guests, in Call My Bluff style, had to identify the correct match.  This encouraged enthusiastic discussion of the wines in a manner that the Dept of Education would refer to as “active learning.”  The night continued with plenty more “active learning” and finished with hazy recollections of some new, but hard-earned skills.

DAFFYs would like to thank all those involved for an excellent evening, especially Richard Jordan for his time and effort, patience, informative tutelage and refined nose!