Getting ahead of the Autumn calendar, event formats & getting bang for your buck with Italian whites.
The Autumn calendar is filling up
It might be hard to think about with this weather… but I had three enquiries land in the same week last month, all asking for dates in the same fortnight of October. That's usually the first sign the season's turned - the calendar goes from empty to tight within about a month.
If you've got something on the horizon for September or October, don't wait for the "quiet" summer to actually feel quiet before you think about it. The good dates and the formats that need a bit more planning go first. Drop me a message this week rather than next.
What actually gets a room talking
Let's be honest, most networking events are hard work.
You arrive. Grab a drink. Speak to the people you already know. Hover near the food.
So I think a lot about what gives people permission to talk to each other, and I usually build something into the room to help.
Sometimes it's a blind tasting. Guests rank three wines by price, tasting blind. People become surprisingly competitive. They start debating, defending their answers, trying to convince a complete stranger that wine number two is definitely the expensive one.
Sometimes it's a Wine Safari. Six wines around the room, no seating plan. People move, explore, go back for a second taste, and naturally end up meeting someone new.
I'm also developing something new called This or That. Two wines. One expensive, one not.
Which do you actually prefer? There's no right answer. But suddenly everyone has an opinion.
The wine is never really the point. It's just a very good excuse to get people talking.
If you want something like this in your Autumn calendar, reply and let's find a date before they go.
Drink better without spending more
A trick worth knowing next time you're in the supermarket aisle: look for the place name, not just the grape.
Gavi di Gavi, not just Gavi - more concentration, more minerality, usually a pound or two more. Soave Classico, not just Soave - from the original hillside vineyards around the medieval town. Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore, not just Prosecco - from the steep hillsides where the reputation was actually built.
Same grape, same shelf, better wine. The historic names exist for a reason - stricter rules, better sites, centuries of practice. Once you know to look for them, you won't go back.
Elizabeth Hawthornthwaite
Founder, Elizabeth & Wine
📸 @elizabethwinegirl
Contact:
📞 07850 855818
✉️ elizabeth@elizabethandwine.com
"The wine tasting was genuinely one of the highlights of the day.
We had so many people tell us how much they loved the experience."