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Cooden Cellars Add Some Shiraz-amatazz to Eastbourne Beer Festival Wine enthusiasts will have even more reason to visit Eastbourne Beer Festival from 7 � 9 October, as award winning independent wine merchants and festival sponsor, Cooden Cellars, give festival goers the chance to sample wines from around the World. The South Coast�s biggest beer festival, held at the Winter Garden, will now feature the tutored tasting sessions, free to festival ticket holders, with winemakers from around the World discussing their wines, travelling from as far afield as Australia. All those attending the tastings will also be able to enter a free prize draw to win a case of 12 bottles of wine, featuring a selection of the wines offered throughout the tastings sessions. Speciality food outlet, Trencherman and Turner, as recommended by Rick Stein, will also be supplying the nibbles alongside the Spanish and Greek tastings, celebrating the best of Mediterranean food. Seats are extremely limited and festival goers are advised to pre-book the free tasting tickets beforehand when buying festival tickets. Twelve sessions are available in total spanning across Australia, South Africa, California, Greece and Spain. Ian Jarman of Cooden Cellars said �We are delighted that top winemakers such as Anthony de Jeger of Fairview Estate and Jacqueline Schneider of Bouchard Finlayson, both from South Africa as well as Matt Herde of Australia�s famous producer Plantagenet have agreed to show their wines. And we are especially pleased that Camille Seghesio of Seghesio Family Vineyards in California will be coming, whilst still recovering from her recent car accident. It�s great that they want to come to the town and we hope it will be a fabulous experience and opportunity for people to see and taste their wines.� �The Greek and Spanish tastings promise to be spectacular and a great way to bring out the gourmet in anyone. We see this as being the start of moving the Festival towards being the best of its kind in the country, and perhaps in Europe.� Cooden Cellars supply a number of restaurants and hotels including the five star Eastbourne Grand Hotel�s Mirabelle Restaurant, voted within the top 24 restaurants in the UK by the 2004 Good Food Guide. Eastbourne Borough Council Spokesperson for Tourism, Councillor David Elkin said �Cooden Cellars have done a spectacular job in bringing such well respected winemakers from around the globe to Eastbourne Beer Festival. Coupled with the range of international beers and the Latin American, Indian and Oktoberfest themed nights of entertainment and themed menu�s in the restaurant, visitors are in for a cultural extravaganza this year.� Organised by Eastbourne Borough Council, in partnership with CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) the festival promises even more bars and beer after last year�s runaway success, which saw tickets sell out each evening. Visitors can enjoy over 100 real ales, an array of international bottled beers, ciders and perries, plus themed nights of international food and entertainment from Latin American to the popular Beer Kellar style Oktoberfest night and a games room of traditional British pub games. After last year�s sell out, visitors are strongly advised to book in advance, with advance tickets costing �5 each from the Congress Theatre Box Office on 01323 412000, or �6 on the door (CAMRA members receive 50p discount per ticket). Special accommodation packages are available for those looking to make a weekend of it from �21 per person per night, telephone 01323 647130. To book free Wine Tasting tickets, contact Cooden Cellars, 14 Grand Hotel Buildings, Compton Street, Eastbourne, telephone 01323 649663 or visit www.coodencellars.co.uk for the latest wine tasting programme. The festival runs from 7th to 9th October and opens from 6pm � 11pm Thursday, 5.30pm � 6pm Friday and on Saturday from 11am � 4pm and 6pm � 11pm. For more information visit www.eastbournebeerfestival.co.uk The Wine Tasting Programme currently includes the following wines and speakers: Anthony de Jeger, winemaker of Fairview Estate, South Africa www.fairview.co.za Jacqueline Schneider, winemaker of Bouchard-Finlayson, South Africa www.bouchardfinlayson.co.za Matt Herde, winemaker of Plantagenet, Western Australia www.plantagenetwines.com Camille Seghesio, European Director of Seghesio Family Vineyards, California, based in London www.Seghesio.com Natalie Schaefer, Public Relations Manager of Mount Langi Ghiran, Victoria, Australia www.langi.com.au Robin Nugent, representative of Alliance Wines, UK importer www.alliancewine.co.uk featuring wine from Margaret River, Western Australia. Mary Pateras Director of Eclectic Wines, www.eclecticwines.com importers of Greek wine Chris Quinn, representative of Morenos, UK Importer, Spanish wine specialist |
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