SOME of the world’s leading wine authorities were on hand at the Oxford Union over the weekend at the first Oxford Wine Festival.

Visitors were given tasting tips and introduced to a range of wines by experts including Jane Parkinson from BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen Live and Dr Neel Burton and Dr James Flewellen, authors of The Concise Guide to Wine and Blind Tasting.

Festival organiser Chris Bowling said: “It has gone amazingly well. We have been really happy, there’s been a lovely atmosphere more than anything else.

“This is the first year we have done it but we have decided we are going to do it again next year because the turnout has been great.”

The festival, which was held on the courtyard and historic rooms of the Oxford Union, was arranged into several zones, including English wines, emerging regions, Old World and New World wines.

Mr Bowling said about 2,000 people visited the festival over Saturday and Sunday.

He added: “People are saying this is a unique event in Oxford and one thing people have been commenting on is the feel of the event.

“There has been a great continental atmosphere and people are taking their time to appreciate the wines.”

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