Wine School of Excellence

Fri 14 Nov 2008

I'm not really one for blog awards (I'm not sure I'm a warm and fluffy enough soul!), but it has occurred to me that there is someone who really deserves a bit more of the limelight than she's received.

So, especially for Karen Hardwick, at the Northern Wine Academy, I've created the Wine School of Excellence award. Karen runs classes throughout Yorkshire: mainly Leeds, Harrogate and York. She covers the WSET Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced courses, as well as running small group tastings, themed days and corporate events. Regular readers will know that I completed my Intermediate and Advanced courses in full day formats in Leeds and Harrogate, but the Northern Wine Academy also runs evening courses.

Karen's an incredibly dedicated tutor: she's more than happy to field questions outside classroom hours (very handy when you're having a last minute panic), she provides masses of support material during the courses (yes, that means homework and practice exams ...) and (of course) a great selection of wine to learn about! She also organised the trip to Provence (souther Rhône) I went on in September. In the run up to my scholarship exam she was on hand to answer questions about everything from dress code to question format.

I know that this year Karen has been nominated for WSET Educator of the Year. I really hope she wins it because I've seen first hand that her dedication to her students extends well beyond just ensuring they get through their exams.

And, of course, if you're thinking you'd like to know more about wine - you should check out the Northern Wine Academy site. Karen runs events that cater for all levels of knowledge and hosts events in York regularly.

On top of all of this, the Northern Wine Academy is celebrating its tenth birthday this year! So, happy birthday!!

1. Northern Wine Academy (Karen Hardwick), phone: 01904 701180.

tagged with: wset, northern wine academy, wine school of excellence, yorkshire, leeds, harrogate, york

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