Having awarded nearly one million wine lovers one of its qualifications since it was founded in 1969, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), the largest global provider of wine and spirits qualifications, is marking its milestone 50th anniversary this week with the first ever global WSET Wine Education Week.
Celebrating the diversity, taste and culture of the world of wine with a global programme of interactive events, the week kicked off at London’s Kia Oval yesterday evening with a bid to break the Guinness World Record for the largest ever recorded sommelierie lesson.
Hosted by TV personality and award-winning wine expert Olly Smith and sommelier Virgilio Gennaro (Wine Director at Giorgio Locatelli Consultancy), the event saw over 330 attendees take part in the attempt to better the existing record which currently stands at 309 people. The hosts provided an insight into the art of pairing food and wine, guiding them through tasting four wines matched with complementary foods.
Olly Smith commented “It’s been a pleasure to be involved in raising more than a few glasses this evening to kick off WSET’s Wine Education Week. I’m firmly of the belief that learning about this wonderful drink can help you appreciate and enjoy it even more, and our Guinness World Record attempt is the perfect way to launch the exciting programme of events that’s taking place across the globe in the week ahead!”
The London event was part of a 24-hour global food and wine pairing session to mark the launch of Wine Education Week. Launch events took part across the world at 6pm local time in 24 countries starting with Auckland, New Zealand and ending with California, USA.
Full details about WSET Wine Education Week and the complete list of events taking place can be found at www.wineeducationweek.com
