In addition to Frankly Wines I also contribute to:

Glass Of Bubbly Magazine

Glass Of Bubbly® is an internationally read bi-monthly Champagne and sparkling wine magazine, the only magazine dedicated to the sparkling wine industry read by both consumers and industry.

Glass of Bubbly also runs an online news and information web portal for the Champagne and sparkling wine industry. The website will soon offer an ecommerce platform to buy sparkling wines from around the world directly from merchants and the labels themselves.

Check out the list of writers or order a copy!

I have also contributed to TheTaste.ie, wine+ magazine and The Old Man Club

The Wine Bug

I caught the “wine bug” as a student in France in 93/94. Pubs and bars were very expensive so as a student it was much cheaper to have a few friends round for a glass of wine or two. I found to my surprise that even inexpensive wines tasted quite different from one another, so I set out to try as many different ones as I could without breaking the bank. When I returned to England my best mate had experienced the same situation as me so we teamed up to teach ourselves about wine, though with a broader range than available in France.

Wine Tasting Events

I’ve been holding wine tastings for friends and colleagues since the late 90s. Usually they have been informal blind tastings where participants try to guess some of the attributes of the wine in their glass (country, vintage, grape(s), ABV etc.), mainly for fun but also hoping that people would find out more about what they like.

At a tasting event arranged by the Sports & Social (S&S) committee of a previous workplace in October 2008 I was underwhelmed so I volunteered to hold them thereafter – they are still the most popular S&S events.

I stepped in to host one of the fortnightly tastings at Sweeney’s in April 2011 when the main man Kevin was away.  I also hosted one of the four tables at the Sweeney’s Wine Fair in April 2012.

Wine Courses
• 2010 Sweeney’s “Learn About Wine” Course
• 2010/11 WSET Advanced Certificate (Merit)

Selected Wine Trips
• 2000 Margaret River, Coonawarra, Hunter Valley
• 2003 Yarra Valley, Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Eden Valley, McLaren Vale, Glenrowan, Rutherglen

• 2009 Waipara, Central Otago, Nelson, Marlborough, Martinborough, Hawkes Bay
• 2012 Champagne, Alsace
• 2013 Champagne, Alsace

Contact Me

• Twitter: @frankstero
• Instagram: @frankstero
• Email: frankiecook72-at-gmail-dot-com