Tutored Tastings at the 2012 Festival

Tune up your appreciation of good food and drink. Events last approx 50 minutes and include tasters specially selected or prepared by our expert presenters.

Saturday 15 September
11.00 – 11.45am / Venue: Angel Hotel Ballroom / Tickets: £6.00

Raw Milk 2
Nick Barnard with dairy farmers John Barron, Dave Paull & Ruth Kimber

Open your senses to the taste of real milk. Compare the taste of unpasteurised milk, cream and butter from Jersey, Guernsey, British Friesian and Shorthorn herds. Following the success of last year's session, Nick Barnard of Rude Health once again presides. You decide the winner.

Saturday 15 September
12.30 – 1.15pm / Venue: Angel Hotel Ballroom / Tickets: Sold Out

What Makes Great Cheese
Randolph Hodgson and Jamie Montgomery

A guided tasting with two of the legendary figures of British Cheese. The owner of Neal's Yard Dairy since the late 1970s, Randolph Hodgson has been a driving force behind the renaissance of artisan cheese-making in Britain. Jamie Montgomery is the third generation of his family to make cheese at Manor Farm. Montgomery's Cheddar is the epitome of traditional, handmade, unpasteurised Somerset cheddar.

Saturday 15 September
2.00 – 2.45pm / Venue: Angel Hotel Ballroom / Tickets: Sold Out

What to Look for in a Beer
Jeff Evans

An introduction to beer-tasting from the man who tastes beer for a living. Jeff Evans has edited the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, written seven editions of CAMRA's Good Bottled Beer Guide, been named Beer Writer of the Year, and runs the online magazine insidebeer.com. Here he presents five of the best bottled beers.

Saturday 15 September
3.30 – 4.15pm / Venue: Angel Hotel Ballroom / Tickets: £6.00

Forage Ahead for Christmas
Trine Hahnemann and Liz Knight

Now is the time to collect and preserve the ingredients that will make delicious Christmas gifts and decorations. Trine Hahnemann shares tips and tasters from her latest book, Scandinavian Christmas, while Liz Knight of Forage Fine Foods shows how her products are inspired by the food she finds around her home in the Welsh Borders.

Saturday 15 September
5.00 – 5.45pm / Venue: Angel Hotel Ballroom / Tickets: Sold Out

Veggiestan
Sally Butcher

Join Sally and Jamshid for a taste journey through Veggiestan – a fictitious land dreamt up to describe the non-meat cookery of a region stretching roughly from Turkey to Pakistan. Sally and her Iranian-born husband run the award-winning deli Persepolis. Veggiestan is the follow-up to Sally's entertaining first cookbook Persia in Peckham.

Saturday 15 September

5.00 – 5.45pm / Venue: Lion's Place / Tickets: Sold Out

The Perfect Martini: Richard Ehrlich

The classic cocktail generates more heated debate than any other. The award-winning drinks writer reviews the arguments and lays down his own prescription. Suitable for over 18's only and recommended for those who are walking home rather than driving.

Sunday 16 September
11.00 – 11.45am / Venue: Angel Hotel Ballroom / Tickets: £7.00

The Gourmet Harvest of West Wales
Scott Davis and Kirsty Manning

A tasting of smoked meat, fish, pates and terrines from the exciting new food company Cnwd. Scott Davis has worked in Michelin-star kitchens in London and New York before returning to Wales to realise his dream: to produce gourmet food of a quality that does justice to the natural harvest of the coast, farms and wild places of West Wales.

Sunday 16 September
11.00 – 11.45am / Venue: Lion's Place / Tickets: Sold Out

New World vs Burgundy Wines
William Hutchings and Tom Innes

A tutored tasting with two of the region's outstanding wine experts. William Hutchings' expertise in selecting wines for The Bell at Skenfrith is widely recognised, most recently winning the AA 2012 Notable Wine List both for Wales and for the UK. Tom Innes is the proprietor of cult Monmouth wine shop Fingal-Rock and a former Wales Wine Merchant of the Year.

Sunday 16 September
12.30 – 1.15pm / Venue: Angel Hotel Ballroom / Tickets: Sold Out

A Taste of Humble by Nature
Kate Humble and Friends

A taster from some of the cooks and artisan food producers who are helping broadcaster Kate Humble and husband Ludo transform their Monmouthshire ex-council small-holding into a centre for rural skills and animal husbandry. Kate is joined by Native Breeds charcutier Graham Waddington, Liz Knight of Forage Fine Foods and Kate's Farm cook Kather Marland.

Sunday 16 September
2.00 – 2.45pm / Venue: Angel Hotel Ballroom / Tickets: Sold Out

Making Fine Chocolates
Marc Demarquette

A tutored tasting with one of a handful of internationally renowned UK chocolatiers. Marc is uncompromising on ethics, a massive perfectionist; but eclectic and free-spirited in his approach to design and flavour. For his popular British chocolate collections he sources Yorkshire rhubarb, Scottish raspberries, Somerset apricot and Kentish cobnuts to capture the essence of the countryside.

Sunday 16 September
3.30 – 4.15pm / Venue: Angel Hotel Ballroom / Tickets: £6.00

Cegin y Ffermdy Cymreig / The Welsh Farmhouse Kitchen
Hazel Thomas

Cyfle blasu unigryw gyda'r gogyddes Gymreig Hazel - wrth iddi ail-greu seigiau traddodiadol cefn gwlad Cymru drwy hel atgofion am ei phlentyndod yng Ngheredigion ac am fwyd gwledig a ffermio.

A tutored tasting with Welsh chef Hazel - as she recreates the authentic flavours of rural Wales, drawing on her own Ceredigion childhood and memories of rural food and farming.

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