Charlemagne Wine Club - 2014 Tastings

Monday 17th March 2014

Southwest France with Brett Jones, the Wine Maestro

Spreading South from Bordeaux lies the wine region we call Southwest France, but it isn’t actually a single region, rather it is a mosaic of many smaller wine regions. It’s a region that many Britons visit each year for their dose of warm sunshine and to sample the tasty local produce.

Bergerac, Cahors, Madiran, Jurancon will be names familiar to many but others like Gaillac, Irouleguy and Gers may be less so. Brett Jones is an enthusiastic and frequent visitor to the area and will be offering wines in a variety of styles, from interesting grape varieties, which feel like classic French wines, but with their own individuality.

Brett, the Wine Maestro, has spent over forty years learning about, working with, teaching others about, and – naturally – enjoying wine. His initial interest was kindled during training at the Swiss Hotel School in Lausanne in the 1960s. After further experience in a number of top European hotels, he opened a wine bar and bistro in Billericay, in 1976. Here he organised regular wine tastings, both in the wine bar and at customer venues. The growing interest prompted the formation of his wine club which has now been running for fourteen years. 26 years on, he has sold the business to concentrate on lecturing, running wine tastings and the wine club.

Brett is a member of the Association of Wine Educators and a recommended tutor for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust. He is also a member of the Circle of Wine Writers.