About Us | Northern Wine School

We’re really into wine, spirits, beer & sake. We love all of them. Luckily.

That’s the feeling that drives The Northern Wine School – and not just for wine; for spirits and sake, too. When he’s not running tastings or teaching courses, John likes to travel – to where the wine comes from, obviously. And the sake, and the spirits. He loves getting to know the vineyards, the families, the inner workings…

Thousands of people have experienced The Northern Wine School, many posting wonderful reviews on Google, on Trip Advisor and on Facebook which is heartening to see. We’re also really proud of the hundreds of qualifications we’ve helped people achieve – some for fun, others for a career-enhancing boost or simply to get onto that ladder.

A Warm Welcome From Our Founder, John Callow

I’m John, the man behind The Northern Wine School, and I just wanted to start off by thanking you for visiting this page and my website. It’s an honour to have you here.

As you’re here, I thought I might share a bit of my story with you, and how Northern Wine School came to be.

My wine story started by accident to be completely honest. I got out of University and started a graduate scheme with Majestic Wine. Now, I’d never been into wine before that really. I knew there were three colours of it, and that’s about where my expertise extended to. But after studying for my first WSET, I was hooked on the world of wine. And I knew I wanted to devote my life to it.

In 2014, I took the plunge and set up the Northern Wine School and we’ve been going ever since.

Passing one course after another, and eventually the Wine Educator Course, I found I had a flair for talking in front of groups of fellow wine aficionados about my passion for wine. And word spread.

Today, we’ve been recognised as one of the fastest growing WSET course providers in the world.

Obviously, none of this would be possible without our wonderful students, who return to us for more and more courses.

During lockdown we absorbed ourselves in digitising the study resources we’d created for the various courses we teach. And these study resources have long been responsible for us achieving a much higher pass rate than the industry standard.

So, I guess what I’m ultimately saying is, I’m glad you’re here, I hope to meet you one day, and if you have any interest in wine, then you’re in great company!

We offer tasting events, wine, spirits & Sake courses, accessories and learning aids, guest expert speaking slots, industry tastings, venue & glass hire.