North East hotel is in ‘glass’ of its own

A top, luxury boutique hotel in North East England boasts the highest percentage of staff trained in internationally recognised wine training courses. Jesmond Dene House hotel and restaurant, in Newcastle, started offering a programme of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust’s (WSET) courses earlier this year that trained forty per cent of staff in the art of wine tasting, supported by funding from Business Link North East. No other hotel runs these courses for its staff.

Wine expert David Borwick - the hotel’s sommelier, who also manages the courses said: “We try to make wine a focal point in the dining experience, where the enjoyment of good food and wine is part of everyday life to inspire an interest for staff and guests alike. In the UK, there is a tendency to make wine intimidating causing many people to avoid it altogether.

“Part of the focus at the hotel is to present wine in a way that is not pretentious. The training means that our staff can serve wine with confidence and in-depth knowledge to our guests as they have tasted the wine and met winemakers, instead of just hearing about it.

“By having knowledgeable staff that can advise which wine matches a particular entrée or dinner increases guests’ enjoyment of their food and overall dining experience.”

Staff at all levels from housekeepers to chefs had the opportunity for wine training.

David said: “It’s unusual for a boutique hotel to offer training on such as scale but is testament to the Jesmond Dene House commitment to staff and guests.”

It was David’s idea to formalise training so that staff receive industry recognised qualifications from the world’s leading provider of wine education.

Eric Kortenbach, general manager said: “We believe the best way to make customers happy is to invest in our staff and ensure they are amongst the best trained. We put staff through training courses and encourage them to fulfil their full potential.”

David, 38 from Ulverston in Cumbria now lives in Newcastle. He started working at Jesmond Dene House as a sommelier in 2006.

His love of wine and learning about new countries and history attracted him to this field.

As well as running the wine training courses, David’s typical day sees him selecting the hotel’s wines; compiling the wine lists; advising customers on the best choice of wine for their meal; ensuring high standards of customer satisfaction and liaising closely with restaurant staff, managers and chefs.

The training was carried out to achieve the WSET’s foundation, intermediate and advanced certificates which are accredited by the qualifications and curriculum authority and form part of the national framework of qualifications.

All three levels of wine training were offered to staff. Level 1 foundation certificate in wine was a one day course about wine style and tasting. Tasks include food and wine matching with apple, cheese and chocolate. The intermediate certificate in wines and spirits and NVQ level 2 qualification runs over three days. It goes into more depth and extends participants’ knowledge about wines of the world; sharpens taste buds and builds confidence in buying, sharing and serving wine and matching it with food. The advanced certificate in wines and spirits is an NVQ level 3 qualification and is delivered over five days involving the tasting of nearly 100 wines and the examination includes a blind tasting of wine.

The next opportunity to learn about wine from the experts is on Friday October 5 at Jesmond Dene House winemaker’s dinner. Guests can sample wines from the Iona vineyard, South Africa. Dinner including wine costs £55 per person.

Business Link North East– the organisation that provides companies with information, advice and support to grow their business, subsidised half of the training costs and examination fees.

For further information visit Jesmonddenehouse.co.uk.