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.
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 "It’s
a great opportunity to bring quality wines and their producers to
Eastbourne so that people can see and taste some of the vast range
available and enjoy matching wine with food. We are pleased to be
working with Eastbourne Borough Council and see this as just the
start, over the next few years, of moving the festival towards
becoming the best of its kind in the UK, and in time,
internationally."
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 menus 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 from £21 per person per night,
for those looking to make a weekend of it.
To book free Wine Tasting tickets, contact
Cooden Cellars, 14 Grand Hotel Buildings, Compton Street, Eastbourne,
telephone 01323 649663 or visit