Booze Points! Philharmonic Hall event explores The Wines of Eurovision

There’s just weeks to go until artists from Europe set out to secure douze points in the world’s most popular singing competition.

But over at the Philharmonic Hall, it’ll be a battle for Booze Points as it prepares to go on a journey through The Wines of Eurovision.

The Music Room event on Friday, May 12 – just 24 hours before Graham Norton guides us through the Grand Final in the city – aims to prove that wine and Eurovision are the perfect pairing, like Conchita and cabernet, and Celine and sauvignon.

Patrick Gossage, from R&H Fine Wines in Queen Avenue, will be leading the tour of European wines after which, in true Eurovision style, people will be asked to award points from nil to douze.

He says: “It’s basically a blind tasting, and we are going to have about eight or so wines that people are going to be sampling, and the way we have pitched it is old Europe versus new Europe.

“We are going to pair up wines from countries that people are probably going to have tried wines from before, like France, Spain, and Portugal, and pitch them against some wines from more unusual European countries like Hungary, Romania, Austria and Bulgaria, in a way that’s supposed to be fun.

“We wanted something that was light-hearted, enjoyable and accessible.

“We always move towards wines that are hand-crafted, that are made with care and attention, that are generally organic and made with sustainability in mind, but are also, crucially, delicious!”

There’ll be a selection of charcuterie platters, luxury European cheeses and antipasti to accompany the wines.

Patrick adds: “It’s having the opportunity for people to drink wines they wouldn’t normally drink, to explore and have fun.

“People are used to wines from France, Spain and Italy and so forth because they’re countries that have perfected and developed the art, and they are much better represented in wine shops and supermarkets.

“We try to give people a nudge towards left field, and a more interesting option.”

The wines will include reds and whites from the European selection, with Patrick – when pushed – favouring Portugal for ‘lovely wines and great value at the moment’.

“But I’m just hoping people find something they like and make up their own minds.

“There is so much going on in the city with Eurovision and we are happy to be involved, especially with the Phil. We supply their canned wines which again, is a bit of an unusual one, but canned wines are delicious, more sustainable and easy to transport and refrigerate (we’ve been chipping away at converting people).

“It would be a stretch to say I’m a Eurovision fan but we get loads and loads of European visitors in the shop and you can tell that there’s a definite buzz that’s going to be about when Eurovision’s on – it’s started now.

“We especially love it when we get European visitors because wine is a different experience everywhere and people will be coming from countries where alcohol sales are very regulated, and they come here and see that choice and value for money is great, so we’re really excited to see those people. Their experience of wine is different, they’ll have different favourite styles of wines and makers, and we are in a really privileged position to get to meet people and chat to them.”

Booze Points! The Wines of Eurovision is on at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall’s Music Room on Friday, May 12, at 5pm – followed by a separate event, Douze Points!, at 7.30pm when the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra will play iconic Eurovision songs from Boom Bang a Bang to Waterloo.