Nice clients saying nice things. We’re very grateful to all the people who make a point of
telling us how much they enjoy working with us. The feeling’s mutual.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar conducted by Sarah Abbott whose relaxed delivery and imaginative use of language was a refreshing change. In addition to which my eyes were opened to the attractions, subtleties and complexities of the routinely denigrated prosecco”gfdg
Nigel Floyd, “The Buyer”
“Masterclass was very informative; Sarah is an excellent speaker.”
Finbar Cahill, Sommelier & Restaurant Consultant
“Thank you so much for the excellent, virtual, tour of Georgia. Whilst I agree it is not quite the same as visiting, it was great to be able to get a little bit of insight into the wines and the culture.
I thought the variety of wines was fascinating and there maybe a couple we can add to or current range. Many thanks once again for all your work and time in putting this together.”
Alistair Viner, Hedonism Chief Buyer
“So very interesting! Japanese style: elegant and very culturally Japanese. Masterclass gave great background info on Japanese wine industry and it was eye opening since the information isn’t readily available.”
Vanessa Lam
“Excellent section of wines and an interesting opportunity to appreciate the fast-growing Japanese wine industry. Absolutely fantastic presentation by Sarah Abbott MW. Informative, precise and with a lot of information. Great day, good wines and nice discoveries!”
Juan Carlos Rincon, Wine writer & judge
“Some lovely surprises! I found the masterclass very informative.”
Chris Boiling, journalist, editor of IWC publication Canopy
“One of the best sessions I have attended. Well organized with nice touches. Masterclass was very informative. Sarah was brilliant; the canapés were great with wine pairing.”
Sanjeev Gupta, Internations
“It was truly fascinating! Brilliant masterclass, thanks for the nibbles too. Really intriguing to get a grip on just how diverse, and indeed exciting the Japanese wine scene is”
Peter Richards MW
“Thank you for a fascinating Masterclass and really interesting range of wines to try today. My preference was for whites and particularly the orange wine. There were some really good reds too. I liked the Merlots and Cabernet Franc.”
Vivienne Franks MA
“Just a few words to say thank you for the magnificent Japanese`s wine tasting. I learned so much about these wines and their regions”
Walter G. Bressia – Mg. Ing. Agrónomo – BRESSIA BODEGA
“Thank you so much for the wonderful experience at Ginza Onodera at the Japanese wine tasting on the 28th Feb. Most of all thank you for sharing your knowledge with so much passion that kept me motivated and interested in this fantastic reality that is the wine world here in London.”
Giovanni Giannini – Head Sommelier @ Theo Randall
“We have been working with Sarah, and her company Swirl Wine Group, since 2014, when we first invited her for the Int’l Wine Tourism Conference in Tbilisi and the same year for the judging panel also here in Tbilisi for Int’l Wine and Spirits Competition. We also had case-by-case events held in the UK to promote Georgian wines.
In 2017, we launched a full-scale marketing programme to build the Georgian Wine brand on the UK market. The programme is led by Sarah and her company on the ground. I must say that she has prepared a very thought-through and comprehensive campaign which already started to bear fruit in this very short term. The UK is a very sophisticated wine market and her expertise is already having impact on Georgian wine producers in a way to help adjust to and be established in this very vibrant and competitive wine market. Besides all of the above, she is a fantastic personality with cool sense of humour which was one of the important features to make me decide to have her as the ambassador of Georgian Wines in the UK. Keep it up, girl!”
NATIONAL WINE AGENCY GEORGIA (Government agency) Irakli Cholobargia, Head, Marketing Dept.
PRIVATE & CORPORATE EVENT TESTIMONIALS
“What can I say? It was AMAZING!! Everybody has said how much they enjoyed it, and how much they learnt. They were all captivated! We are already thinking about the next event we’re going to do.”
Sophie, BGL Group
“I am sure that you have received lots of praise for your work but I just wanted to add mine. You obviously know your stuff but imparted it with a warmth, humour and passion that really made me see wine in a new light. You also managed to facilitate the exact task of the evening which was to get everyone better acquainted. We all know each other much better now and wine was a perfect medium through which to create those links.
Thank you very much for such a professional presentation. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and the complimentary e-mails are flooding in. These have included a client now optimistic that he will be able to “bluff my way through a wine list at a fine restaurant”.”
Tom, Like Minds Learning
“Thanks for a very enjoyable and educational wine tasting evening. We have had some very complimentary comments on how much fun it had been and not at all “stuffy” as previously envisaged! It just proves that drinking wine is a sociable and fun thing to do –and with your knowledge educational too! I understand that we have established some new contacts as well as re-kindling others – so all in all a successful evening.”
Sylvia Goulding, Woodfines LLP
“Thank you so much for a fascinating and hugely insightful tasting of Georgian wines last Friday. I’m extremely grateful for the time you gave up to walk me through the 12 wines.
I had missed the learning element of our wonderful wine industry and you brought that back for me on Friday with clear detail about the different Georgian grape varieties, what they bring to the wine, the winemaking techniques and how the styles differ by region or winemaker.
It was also incredibly useful to better understand the background to qvevri and how different producers are applying their use in different ways – fascinating to taste this so evidently in the wines.
I will use the very helpful Georgia Connect website to get in touch with a number of producers and consider visiting the regions at some point.
Once again thank you for the enlightenment on the wines of Georgia. It was such a great tasting.”
Ray O’Connor MW Wine Director, Naked Wines UK
“Thanks, Sarah, I know as everything is gearing up, we are busier than ever so I appreciate your help. You were tremendous, really truly, during that lengthy Prosecco seminar. You were nothing short of brilliant.”
Karen Krizanovich
“Without a doubt the best organised and most interesting virtual events I have taken part in.”
Emily Silva, Head of Retail, Oxford Wine Company
“Extremely well organised and full of great content Keep doing them please!”
Elizabeth Hawthornthwaite, Elizabeth & Wine
“You’ve got the mix right, Sarah is one of the best speakers in the business, it’s essential to get the wines (when there are lots I am tasting them after the event to get full appreciation) to taste and the quality of the background material is second to none.”
Peter Dean, The Buyer
“Thank you so, so much for your help with our tasting on Thursday. You were amazing. You and Lado were so complementary, and it worked perfectly. The feedback that we have received from the participants was overwhelming in their positive words for you. Every single respondent commented on how you were able to de-tangle Lado’s words into something more approachable for the ‘average’ wine drinker. They also loved your tasting notes and the part where you explained how to taste wine. We are hugely grateful to you and the rest of the Georgian Wine UK team. Thank you.”
Dani and Anzor
info@gvinouk.com
www.gvinouk.com
“Just a quick note to thank you both so much for your extraordinary wine masterclasses, I think they are brilliant and feel honoured to take part. Thank you so much.”
Elizabeth Hawthornthwaite
Elizabeth & Wine
@elizabethwinegirl
“I just wanted to say a huge thank you for having me on the tasting yesterday. I thought it was brilliant. Really interesting and informative.”
Tom Bennett
“Thank you all so much for your time during the session yesterday – I had great feedback about it from the sales teams already, but you could tell from the amount of questions that they were really engaged. It’s one thing everyone enjoying the wines but getting a sense of where they come from and who makes them really helps them when it comes to expressing to customers why they should buy the wines, so I think it is so important that we do things like this. And especially when travel is not possible, I think this showed useful things can still be done.
Sarah, I think you are one of the best communicators in the wine trade – no guile or ego, just great knowledge expressed with genuine passion and it’s so helpful to be able to use you for things like this! You and Swirl are doing a great job!”
Matthew Jones
Boutinot Quality & Product Manager for Central & Eastern Europe
“Another great, in depth tasting – and a brilliant hook for articles too.”
Helena
Award-winning drinks writer, TV presenter and author. Wine & Spirits Judge for IWSC and PCDA.
“Thanks for inviting me to such an interesting tasting. I must also say it was extremely well organised and run. Well done for that.”
Christine Parkinson
“I just wanted to convey my thanks for pulling together yesterday’s session on Gunma Sake – It was extraordinary and very much appreciated. Thank you once more for this amazing opportunity.”
Luisa Vogliolo-Welch DipWSET; Sake1WSET
• wine educator • wine judge • wine writer
Euposia Wine Education
“Many thanks for yesterday’s Gunma Sake tasting – fascinating. Thanks again for your time and for asking me along. I enjoyed them all.”
Robin Naylor
Product development manager for Boutinot Ltd & Invino
“Thank you for today! Lovely interesting sakes from Gunma. Fab variety of surprisingly different styles albeit from a small area of Japan. I was particularly impressed by Tsuchida. Love the funky notes that this young Toji is experimenting with to move the Earth! The Awazake is delicious and Nagai Shuzo are doing a great job. So clean, fresh and bright. That Bessen was amazingly structured for a futsu. I’m all for futsu and have been campaigning this category for years. Affordable, so stable and tasty. A true winner for the Gaijin market. Well done for organising this. The sakes all arrived perfectly too which sometimes can be a worry. Really enjoyed the session.”
Marie Cheong-Thong
WSET Certified Educator
JSS (Japan) Certified Educator
Board Director British Sake Association
SSI Shochu Certified Educator
CouncilMember Assoc of WineEducators
Member Circle of Wine Writers
PanelChair International Spirit Challenge
Spirit Judging Committee IWSC
AsianSpirits Director CINVE (Spain)
“Thank you again for the Japanese wine tasting invitation. As usual it’s super professional, well-organised, interactive and fun. I learned a lot and enjoyed the Japanese hamper. That is so generous. I look forward to participating to the next wine tasting!”
Rebecca
Enotria & Co
“Wow, sensational event …Massively looking forward to receiving a copy of the slides and becoming a mini ambassador for the region henceforth …”
Francesca Bridgewater FCIM
Wine Director, Consultant Somm, Senior International Food & Wine Judge proactively supporting the Gerard Basset Foundation
“A huge thank you for an absolutely fascinating and informative tasting this morning. It was incredibly well put together and the wines were incredible and it has certainly sparked my imagination. Sarah, your presentation and hosting were excellent as always! I’ll be back in touch when I come to feature some of the wines in The Sunday Times. Have a great weekend.”
Will Lyons | Wine Columnist
The Sunday Times | www.thesundaytimes.co.uk
Instagram: @mrwill_lyons
Twitter: @Will_Lyons
“That session was very enjoyable. I learned so much – and it was organised to perfection! Please thank the wine producers for their time.”
Jane Clare
One Foot in the Grapes is an Approved Programme Provider for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust
“Thanks Sarah, that was really good. Extremely informative and a lot of info delivered in a digestible way!”
Graham Holter, Editor and Publisher, The Wine Merchant
Twitter: @WineMerchantMag
www.winemerchantmag.com
“Thank you so much for the amazing presentation, organisation and generous set of wine samples. Truly fantastic. Really helped me to increase my knowledge and so impressed with the wines and styles and the culture.”
Rebecca
The Rebecca Lamont Wine School
@rebeccalamontwineschool