I do feel that I am, quite frankly, a lucky person! This journey to open my cookery school has enabled me to meet the most interesting and sometimes even?inspirational people. One the most energetic and passionate I have encountered is the formidable Linda Johnson-Bell. Her passion for wine is off the scale. You only have to be with Linda for minutes to learn something new about wine that you didn’t know.

The author of Pairing Wine and Food, which was one of the textbooks for the CIA, and most recently Wine and Climate Change is determined for more people to learn all about wine not only for pleasure but also to realise the potential of English wines and how our New World wines could well disappear. Want to know more? I do!

We chatted over several glasses of wine and discussed what, potentially, we could offer as an interesting class here at the Jericho Kitchen.

So, ?a course that covers the basics of wine and food pairing – the big rules, why they exist and how to break them?tasting examples of things that clash and then things that work – an oaky Chardonnay with asparagus and then a champagne with asparagus… or a big red wine with a creamy cheese and then a sweet wine with the creamy cheese – let them learn by tasting. The class is in its early stages but imagine a few of the classic marriages for you to taste: foie gras with Sauternes, crottin chavignol with Sancerre, Tuscan stew with Chianti – I personally can’t wait!

Watch out also for a class on climate change and wine?that will show you how the different alcohol levels change the taste of the wines and how to buy wine now, where, what to look for – a really practical buying course, for investment and for pleasure. Linda was recently interviewed for The Ecologist magazine about the effects climate will have on the future of the wine industry and on investment. It would certainly be a unique course not offered by anyone else!

For more information about Linda visit her website www.thewinelady.com