Port Wine Educational Seminar

Hotel du Vin is hosting a Port wine educational seminar on Monday 28 October, from 10:00am to 11:30am. It's a morning session, ninety minutes in total, held in The Burke & Hare room at 11 Bristo Place in the Old Town. The whole thing is free, which makes it an easy one to drop into if you're around the city on a Monday morning.

Leading the session is Manuel Lima, Head of Tasting Chamber at the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (IVDP). The IVDP is the public institute responsible for regulating and promoting the Port and Douro wine sectors, and for safeguarding the quality, authenticity and reputation of these wines. Lima's role puts him right at the heart of that work, so he's coming with a proper understanding of what makes the stuff tick.

The seminar combines a guided tasting, wine education and food pairings: you'll taste six Port wines, each served with a carefully selected pairing. It's not just a flight of glasses; there's a bit of teaching woven in, so you'll get a sense of why certain things work together. The Edinburgh session is part of a series taking place in London, Birmingham and Edinburgh this October, so it's one of a few stops on a wider tour.

IVDP President Gilberto Igrejas sums up the idea behind it: 'Many people think they know Port, but there is much more to discover. Port is not only a wine for the end of a meal or for special occasions.' If you've only ever had it as a dessert wine or on a Christmas afternoon, that's exactly the kind of thing this is meant to broaden. It runs from 10:00am to 11:30am at The Burke & Hare, Hotel du Vin, 11 Bristo Place, and it's free to attend.