Norwich Wine Festival 2011

The Organisers

The Norwich Wine Festival is the brain child of four Norwich business women, who realised that it’s all well and good to have a Beer Festival and a Food Festival, but what about a celebration of wine?

The organisers. Clockwise from top left : Emily Barclay, Amanda Wright, Rebecca Lewis Smith, Laura Jennings

Emily Barclay, owner of The Perfect Wine

“Having completed my first wine exams back at school, worked in the wine trade and lived in France for several years since, I can be known to be too enthusiastic about wine. So when Amanda suggested we set up a wine festival in Norwich, I jumped at the chance of getting involved.

The Perfect Wine is an independent wine merchant, based in Norfolk. All of our wines come from within1,000 miles of Norwich and my approach to wine is all about making it accessible to everyone.

I realise that a lot of people plump for the safe option of Pinot Grigio or Merlot, and really hope we'll be able to get them out of their comfort zone in September, and showcase some great venues with interesting wine lists. I’m a huge fan of some of the less popular regions and grapes, and am really looking forward to being able to try some interesting wines during the festival.

What amazes me really is that no one has organised a Wine Festival in Norwich before - it seems so obvious that a city with a beer festival and a food festival should have one for the wine lovers.”

Amanda Wright, owner of Little Bird Web Services

“Emily and Rebecca often credit me for coming up with the idea for the wine festival although it’s fair to say that it would have never been anything more than an idea without them.

As a native to Norwich and a wine drinker I always wondered why Norwich had a beer festival and a food festival but no wine festival. As a web designer and developer and owner of Little Bird Web Services, I occasionally attend business networking events around the Norwich area. I’d already previously met local wine merchant Emily through one of these events – so with the Wine Festival idea burning in my mind I set about tracking her down to see what she thought of the idea. I was thrilled when Emily said thought it was an exciting idea too. Rebecca agreed. The rest is history.

While I’m enjoying building a website and designing promotional literature around subjects close to my heart (Norwich and Wine) I also hope that the wine festival will be a way for people to discover the exciting wines and wine drinking venues that are available in Norwich. I know that I’m looking forward to the chance to do just that again this year in September!”

Rebecca Lewis Smith,
Managing Director at Fountain Partnership

“At Fountain Partnership we specialise in internet marketing and copywriting. We use persuasive writing techniques to promote local business and help to get them noticed on Google and beyond.

Emily and Amanda approached me about getting involved in organising the first Norwich Wine Festival at a networking event back in May 2010 and we’ve enjoyed a great working relationship since.

It’s a pleasure to be part of this team: Emily’s expansive knowledge of wine (and overwhelming passion for it) combined with Amanda’s skills with all things web and design have made the process incredibly enjoyable (if a little non-stop at times). With Laura joining us this year, the team benefits hugely from her organisational skills and passion.

We had an overwhelmingly positive response to the festival last year – I’m really looking forward to it all coming together again in September.”

Laura Jennings,
Director at Fountain Partnership

“I’m really delighted to have joined the Norwich Wine Festival team. This year I am organising the large number of events we have coming up and working with the venues to get excellent offers for everyone who buys a programme. I really enjoyed last year’s festival, so am looking forward to seeing this year’s come together in September.

It’s also great to be working on something that involves so much coordination – I love the SEO work that I do at Fountain, but organising wine and cheese evenings or live music events has a certain appeal too – especially when they can be enjoyed by friends, family, colleagues and clients.

I’ve lived in Norwich all my life and have always loved the diversity the city has to offer. We have such excellent places to go out for a meal and for a drink – and I love how this festival gives us a chance to celebrate them (and of course an excuse to sample lots of lovely wines!). I’m also a big fan of all the independent businesses in Norwich and am really pleased that so many locally owned venues are taking part.”

The organisers would like to thank Dan of Banana Fudge Studio for the use of his photography.