IT looks like we all want to be in the dark about wine – with light at the end of the tunnel. ToM was tickled by the Lidl roadshow designed to demystify the process of buying wine (a third of us just pick from the label design with no notion of the quality inside the bottle) by staging the ultimate ‘blind tasting’, coming to Manchester on November 16 and 17.
In a scramble reminiscent of Glastonbury, tickets for the first ever ‘Wine Tasting in the Dark’ pop-up from a UK retailer sold out in just six hours. As a result, Lidl is releasing FURTHER TICKETS for this hourlong rom Tuesday, October 29.
Lidl Chateaux Noir, hosted by the chain’s in-house Master of Wine Richard Bampfield, aims to help wine lovers across the nation identify top quality wine regardless of design, label or price in the run up to Christmas – even in total darkness.
Visitors to the sessions underneath the Barton Arcade will start in the ‘Discombobulation Chamber’ (pictured above) – a candy cane striped space which throws off their senses with clever tricks of scale before moving through to the ‘Cellar Noir’, where Bampfield will guide tasters through eight glasses of quality wine served by waiters wearing night vision goggles. Once guests have finished their tasting, they will then be taken into the ‘Salle de Noel’ – a festive wonderland decked out with real Christmas trees, mince pies, and a cheeseboard of snacks.
Tickets to the event cost £4 plus an extra 90p booking fee, with all proceeds going to the NSPCC. Book here. There will also be a limited number of walk-up slots available on both days, subject to availability.
Lidl Chateaux Noir, Saturday, November 16 and Sunday, November 17. Deansgate Underground Arches, Barton Arcade Manchester, M3 2BH.
