Sydney Wine Centre
Sydney Wine Centre
4.5
About
The Sydney Wine Centre is the leading provider of wine appreciation and wine events in Sydney. We host a range of events from fun cheese and wine matching tastings to highly informative and enlightening 4 Week and 1 Day Wine Appreciation courses. So whether you are looking to discover wine, or explore and expand your knowledge and confidence then we have the event for you. Also available for private groups and corporate events
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingWhat is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience nearby attractions
The area
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
5,639 within 5 kms
Attractions
1,061 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
23 reviews
Excellent
20
Very good
0
Average
1
Poor
0
Terrible
2
Cymbid64
Ashfield, Australia1,269 contributions
Nov 2020
This was my first visit to The Sydney Wine Centre and it was a birthday gift from my son.
I’ve done many tasting in the past. Wine is one of my passions and, as it happens, I’m also rather fond of cheese. I’ve done many tastings when cheese is on the table but this was different.
9 rather good area wines matched to 9 cheeses from the same areas in France. I really enjoyed the evening and the presenter, Jim Schwilk, was very knowledgeable and ran the night very well.
Some of the areas were Champagne, Alsace, Burgundy, Provence and of course Bordeaux. The cheeses were excellent examples, sourced from Simon Johnson which spoke to their quality.
Quite simply, if you want a good experience I’d highly recommend this.
I’ve done many tasting in the past. Wine is one of my passions and, as it happens, I’m also rather fond of cheese. I’ve done many tastings when cheese is on the table but this was different.
9 rather good area wines matched to 9 cheeses from the same areas in France. I really enjoyed the evening and the presenter, Jim Schwilk, was very knowledgeable and ran the night very well.
Some of the areas were Champagne, Alsace, Burgundy, Provence and of course Bordeaux. The cheeses were excellent examples, sourced from Simon Johnson which spoke to their quality.
Quite simply, if you want a good experience I’d highly recommend this.
Written 25 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alison H
Sydney, Australia11 contributions
Dec 2020 • Couples
Very informative, not too stuffy, Jim and Laura knew their subject and delivered some very interesting new facts into a fun filled event. Good interesting selection of wine from France on this occasion, without the familiar sycophantic deference to all things French. Instead we were met with a well balanced assessment of their strengths. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening and would recommend to anybody interested in wine.
Written 9 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jeff G
Sydney, Australia12 contributions
July 2019 • Couples
Just a brilliant evening. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed Jim and Laura's tour through Italy. A wonderful selection of wines and an interesting education on varietals and regions from our charming and knowledgable hosts.
Looking forward to joining them again.
Looking forward to joining them again.
Written 24 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Jeff, Many thanks for your kind words, it was a good fun night and we look forward to seeing you again soon.
Ciao for now, Jim & Laura
Written 6 August 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
thatbalmainboy
Sydney, Australia7 contributions
Jan 2017
A fun way to sample and enjoy a wide variety of bubbles. Very informative presentation by Charles Hargrave. Matching cheeses and canapés were superb 😀🍾. Highly recommended for all ages over 18.
Written 20 January 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Christabelle T
Sydney, Australia64 contributions
Sept 2014 • Solo
I am a self-professed total beginner at wines. I basically only know the difference between red and white. After this night, I discovered the difference between types of both red and white wines, and finally found out which ones I liked the most! I learned a thing or two, tasted excellent wine, and lots of fun. Would definitely recommend it!
Written 18 September 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
VinceBates
Maleny, Australia2 contributions
June 2019 • Solo
on the date I was due to attend, I had fallen with the seasonal flu, so had to cancel, hoping to rebook onto another course at a future date. the response I received, was patronising, a "genuinely" sorry but sorry send a friend or pay 50% of full value ticket to get on another course. Of course the T&C's of a booking, clearly states the options and consequences, but a little flexibility, empathy and "customer first" ethos would have been welcome to accommodate the change. I imagine these type of courses thrive on word of mouth recommendation, based on their customer interaction I can't do that. Shame as I was looking forward to the day.
Written 1 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ashlybeee
Sydney, Australia24 contributions
Jan 2019 • Couples
Booked two tickets to Discovering Italian Wines in Jan 2019 for my parents. They came home happy and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
Thank you for outstanding service. 5 stars!
Thank you for outstanding service. 5 stars!
Written 26 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your kind words, we enjoyed having your parents and are pleased that they enjoyed their evening.
Written 9 February 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
John C
Sydney, Australia567 contributions
Jan 2019 • Solo
I was given a gift card and was able to attend a two session course on the Introduction to Wine Course and unfortunately I found it to be lacking in substance and was very, very basic.
Perhaps I chose the wrong course to attend as I did not leave with any additional information that expanded my knowledge of wine. I may have underestimated my own knowledge however even allowing for this, I am also not sure how my fellow attendees felt at the conclusion of the course.
I did however like the cheeses that were paired with some of the wines that were tasted and I do acknowledge that there were some quality wines that were presented for tasting.
However for me, the course was disappointing and it is something I would not recommend.
Perhaps I chose the wrong course to attend as I did not leave with any additional information that expanded my knowledge of wine. I may have underestimated my own knowledge however even allowing for this, I am also not sure how my fellow attendees felt at the conclusion of the course.
I did however like the cheeses that were paired with some of the wines that were tasted and I do acknowledge that there were some quality wines that were presented for tasting.
However for me, the course was disappointing and it is something I would not recommend.
Written 1 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi jc222,
thank-you for your feedback. Sorry to hear that the course content was not at the level you were after. We will review the information we provide about the course on our website to see if we can make the course level more explicit.
The course you attended is indeed an introductory course and designed to give a complete beginner the knowledge and confidence they need to discover wines that they will enjoy. You are obviously more of an expert than you think!
I wish you well on your wine journey.
kind regards,
Jim
Written 3 January 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Kimmyg13
Sydney, Australia204 contributions
Nov 2018 • Friends
The wine centre combined ‘food matching’ and ‘how to read a wine list’ for a fun and informative evening. The wines were all top quality and the variety was superb. The food was delicious and the hosts were knowledgeable and made the evening fun.
Will definitely try another class.
Will definitely try another class.
Written 1 December 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Many thanks for your review, we really appreciate the feedback.
Written 2 December 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Taveaholic
Sydney, Australia128 contributions
July 2018 • Friends
We used to go to the Wine Society for hours but currently they are undergoing renovation so we tried the Wine Centre.
The French cheeses from Simon Johnson were perfectly married to the French wines
Le Dauphin & the Charles Arnaud Grandr Reserve Comte.Wines that were ambrosia from the Gods were Bourgogne Rouge & a Vouvray. If u fall in love with the wines buy it & take it with u. Professional job laced with humor.Give them a go!
Sharmini
The French cheeses from Simon Johnson were perfectly married to the French wines
Le Dauphin & the Charles Arnaud Grandr Reserve Comte.Wines that were ambrosia from the Gods were Bourgogne Rouge & a Vouvray. If u fall in love with the wines buy it & take it with u. Professional job laced with humor.Give them a go!
Sharmini
Written 11 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing