Offerings
Tastings
Events
Consulting
Testimonials
| "Thanks so much for providing such a wonderful Scotch Tasting event on Friday evening for the Canadian Association of Radiologists. Everyone had a great time and your selection of scotch was a huge hit. The extra traffic in the exhibit area was greatly appreciated by all of the sponsors... and I know the President and the CEO really enjoyed the event. You certainly provided the attendees at the conference something a little out of the norm!" |
- Cindy Scott, First Avenue Events, www.firstavenueevents.com |
| "Thank you so much for the fabulous Burns Supper. I keep telling everyone what fun we had with all the delicious food, toasts and recitations, talented musical performances, and sweating up a storm stripping the willow!! I can't remember when I've had such a wonderful evening!!" |
Tastings
Private wine tastings
Whatever the occasion, location or number of people, our aim is to delight you and your guests with a wine tasting, customized for your event. GrapeScot will work with you to plan and orchestrate an unforgettable experience. We'll look after everything you need and select wines geared to your taste and budget.
Whether you want to organize your own food for the occasion or allow us to introduce one of our excellent culinary partners, we'll aim for the ultimate experience of well matched food and wine.
Our presentation will be geared to your audience - everything from just a few fun filled but interesting stories about each wine to in depth information about the wines, regions and winemakers.
Along the way, we'll share information on everything your guests want to know about selecting great value wines, storing, serving, decanting, stemware selections, gift buying, deciphering wine labels, understanding wine menus, matching wine and food, and much more.
Great occasions for wine tasting include:
- An at home party for friends or family. No special occasion necessary!
- Birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, retirement parties, graduations, special achievements, showers, holiday weekends, housewarmings. Limited only by the imagination!
Contact us for more information.
Private Scotch tastings
| "If a body could find out the exact proper proportion and quantity (of Scotch) that ought to be drunk every day, and keep to that, I verily trow that he might leeve for ever, without dying at a', and that doctors and kirkyards would go oot o' fashion". |
- Attributed to James Hogg, 18th Century Scottish poet. |
Praise indeed for the efficacious qualities of a drink whose growth in popularity knows no limit. The Scottish Whisky export market is in excess of $5B and a growing percentage of that is attributed to Single Malt Whiskies, of which there are now thousands of different products. The interest in Single Malts is limited only by sufficient opportunities for tastings, offering a range of profiles, styles, price points and flavours. Single Malt sippers thirst for knowledge of the product as well as the Whisky itself. GrapeScot provides both.
Carol Anderson's interest in Scotch was established over 50 years ago, when her dummy (soother) was first dipped in whisky to calm the crabbit (upset) and teething baby. An apocryphal tale perhaps, although verified by several family members. Her interest in the taste, history, culture and making of Scotch goes back a long way. The 'soother' Scotch was almost certainly an inexpensive blend and, although not averse to a tasty blend, of which there are many, Carol's main research is with Single Malts and premium whiskies.
As with our wine tastings, GrapeScot customized Scotch tastings aim to exceed your and your guests' expectations, whatever the occasion, location or number of people. We'll work with you to plan and orchestrate an unforgettable experience. We'll look after everything you need and select Scotches geared to your interests and budget.
We'll suggest food or snacks for the occasion that won't confuse with the Scotches. Whether you want to organize your own food for the occasion or have us introduce one of our excellent partners, we'll help you out with your culinary requirements.
As well as enjoying a tutored tasting, during which your guests will be led through a tasting process to enhance their experience, they can also learn about the origins of Scotch, Scotch regions, the whisky making process, distilleries, and the different factors influencing the myriad of flavours. They can find out about the pros and cons of chill filtered Scotch, double wood options, and other 'mysteries'.
Carol's knowledge, background, experience and presentation style is unique. In addition to Scotch, Carol has other Scottish passions; among them - the country itself, Robert Burns and Scottish singing. She organizes a highly popular and traditional annual Burns Supper every January and is well known as a Scottish singer. Carol will be singing at the Colorado Longs Peak Highland Festival in September 2008, as a guest of the Ottawa based Highland Mist Pipe Band. And January 2009 is Robbie's 250th birthday!
As with our wine tastings, a good Scotch tasting needs no occasion. However, consider them for a special social gathering. Great occasions for scotch tasting include:
- An at home Scotch tasting for friends, family or close colleagues.
- Birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, retirement parties, graduations, special achievements, showers, holiday weekends, bachelor parties, housewarmings. Limited only by the imagination!
Contact GrapeScot for more information.
Corporate wine or Scotch tastings - a competitive edge
In today's busy and competitive environment, management and sales teams are continually searching for new ways to interact with clients outside of the meeting room. Lunches, dinners, golf tournaments, facility trips - everyone's vying for a limited amount of social interaction to develop business opportunities and partnerships; to celebrate a business transaction; to launch an idea or product, to integrate with an important presentation or to simply show client appreciation. Consider a wine or Single Malt whisky tasting. It can be simple or sophisticated; and completely customized to your requirements. GrapeScot's Carol Anderson has many years of experience in business sales and sales management and knows the importance of quality events. Contact us to discuss your idea. Use her business experience as well as wine and Scotch knowledge to gain a competitive advantage and create the perfect event, in town or out.
Corporate wine or Scotch tastings - for employee teams
All work and no play make Jack a dull boy - an antiquated saying but nonetheless true. Corporate environments are hectic and demanding. People are juggling more and more demands on their time. Employee teams need appreciation, some fun and the opportunity to develop camaraderie with other team members. Whether it's a respite at the end of a long day of meetings, a seasonal gathering or a wrap up at the end of a sales conference or training week; a customized GrapeScot wine or Scotch tasting will raise the spirit bar.
Custom Events
Wine or Scotch seminars and classes
Contact us for information or to discuss requirements.
Sommelier services
For private, Corporate or restaurant events, sommelier services are available for wine selection advice and pouring services. Contact us with questions or requirements.
Music, food and wine events
At GrapeScot, we love wine, Scotch, good food and music. If you're looking to entertain your guests musically, contact us with your concept. Whether it's jazz, opera, a popular song rewritten to celebrate a special occasion, a string quartet, a pipe band or any other performing art you can imagine, we can provide superb entertainment.
Celebrations
Contact GrapeScot with your requests or ideas. We'll help you plan an outstanding private or corporate celebration, incorporating a wine or Single Malt tasting to delight your guests.
Golf Tournaments
A champagne tasting on a special hole? A premium Scotch on a bottleneck par 3? A pre-dinner arrive-when-you-like tasting as guests appear from the changing rooms? Wines for dinner, selected and served by knowledgeable sommeliers? A post dinner high end Scotch tasting? Music, comedy, song? To explore more of these ideas, contact GrapeScot.
Fundraisers
A wine or Single Malt tasting as part of a fundraising event is a terrific way to maximise attendance, have fun and raise funds at the same time. Contact us to learn more.
Scotland Distillery Tours
Contact us to learn more.
Consulting
For individuals
Wine and Scotch cellar selections and management
Whether you're interested in regularly restocking an existing cellar or starting from scratch, we'll work with you to customize selections to your tastes, culinary needs and lifestyle. No matter how small or large your planned or existing collection, there's an economic advantage to cellar management, in addition to the obvious pleasure. Contact us to discuss your needs.
Wine and food matching consultations
Websites galore offer suggestions for wines to pair with foods. GrapeScot offers personal consultations. We work with you to understand in detail the foods you like, the accompaniments, the sauces, the spices, the appetizers, the desserts, your entertaining patterns, even the takeaway pizzas you like to call out for occasionally. We'll customize a wine list just for you and, if you wish, we'll update it on a regular basis as new vintages and new selections appear. Contact us for more details.
Wine and Scotch shopping trips
Contact us to schedule one-off or regular shopping trips.
For Corporations
Wine education seminars for Sales Teams and Management
There is nothing more conducive to a good business relationship than lunch or dinner with clients. If you or your teams dine out with clients, a little knowledge is NOT a dangerous thing. Being intimidated by a seemingly unintelligible wine list or a more knowledgeable client can be a relationship building barrier. Our custom designed wine education seminars are designed to assess existing breadth of knowledge of wine and provide a little or a lot more. No more house red or white, unless it's a conscious decision. We'll help your teams understand and navigate wine lists with ease. Never underestimate the business potential of fabulous food paired with fabulous wines.
For Restaurants
Wine Menu Selections, Design and Content
New or existing restaurants can benefit from GrapeScot's expertise. We'll work with you to select wines to complement your food menu, delight your customers and provide the best return on investment. Our qualified graphic design partners can provide design and layout services. We can provide intelligent and enticing descriptive content. And we can assist with sourcing, stocking and cellaring strategies. Contact us to discuss further.
Wine Server training
GrapeScot offers staff training as a complementary service, to maximise the benefit of a new or reworked wine list. Based on the existing expertise level, we'll work with staff to provide wine education, in depth familiarity with the wine list selections, service techniques, and food and wine pairing. Contact us for more details.
Sommelier services
For restaurant special events, extra or urgent staffing requirements or banquet staff, contact us.
Testimonials
| "Carol gave us a great evening. The event was very well organised. The wine tasting interspersed comfortably with the socializing and we were given interesting wines and the facts about them to chew on and discuss. Her presentation style is lively, informative and entertaining but all the details are there. Painless education!" |
- Sue W |
| "Carol is very knowledgeable about wines and the regions they come from. She is extremely savvy when it comes to pairing wines and foods." |
- Mike and Janie B |
| "Carol's knowledge and enthusiasm created an educational and entertaining evening of wine tasting that started with an unusual aperitif and lead into a well balanced spectrum of tastes. I found it most enlightening the extent to which pairing of certain foods with wines could enhance both the intensity of flavors of both." |
- Geoff K |
| "We thoroughly enjoyed your recent wine tasting presentation. What a delightful way to spend an evening! Like ourselves, fellow participants both novice and learned, all seemed impressed with the breadth and scope of the information gleaned and were eager to try out some of the suggestions and pairings." |
- Andrea M |
| "An imaginative tour of some popular and some new wines, made all the more interesting by Carol's commentary and wine notes." |
- John C |
| "This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. The presentation was well organized, interesting in its variety, and obviously reflected a very knowledgeable background." |
- Doug S |
| "We were very impressed with the event - great value for money; perfect mix of information and education; excellent food; and interesting pairing ideas." |
- Nicole |