A new education awaits at Drink School Scotland

We all like something different for a night to remember every now and again.

For David Austin, that’s his everyday job. He’s the owner of Drink School Scotland, and he knows what he’s talking about – after all, he has been involved in the wine, spirits and hospitality industry for more than 30 years, at every level of the trade.

Drink School Scotland specialises in wine and spirit training, short courses, tastings, hospitality and events. Offering both professional sommelier and service training alongside public and enthusiast events, Drink School Scotland covers every subject and beverage.

It’s an industry that David cares deeply about, as it’s been in his blood for so long. David’s career began at the Gleneagles Hotel, where he worked his way up to become one of the UK’s top sommeliers.

David said: ‘I’ve been working in the drinks industry for a long time, so it’s quite nice to be able to do this.

‘I’ve always been in hospitality, having been in Scotland since 1988, and was at catering college before that. I previously was a chef doing hotel catering and occasions, and never really considered the drinks industry until I worked at Gleneagles.

‘I had left college and came up to Scotland. I worked as a waiter as my first job, so I had always wanted to work in the industry. At the time there were only five Red Star Hotels in England, and at Gleneagles, the five Red Stars were the pinnacle then.

‘I didn’t fancy London so I came to Gleneagles and was there for 10 years.

‘Apart from being a waiter, which I didn’t take seriously, I was still messing around like I did at school and college. A guy took me under his wing, the head sommelier, Carl Bentley, and he spotted something in me. He taught me about wine and service and display, and I was growing up in a working environment. He really kicked me into shape. I needed it, but didn’t think I needed it!

‘A number of years down the line, I had taken six months off to go travelling and I learned he had left his position when I was away. I was in Australia when I found out. I travelled back and I got the job. I know the people at the hotel were surprised Carl had left. I remember I was on the Murray River, England were playing Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup!’

After his return to Gleneagles, David set about bettering himself whenever he could, working hard to gain qualifications and establish a good reputation for himself.

He explained: ‘I took it on to another level, doing the sommelier of the year competitions, and won both years, and then did a scholarships. I went on to study for the first year of the Master of Wine course, doing as much as I could.

‘I set up the Academy of Food and Wine Service, the first in Scotland, and eventually became a judge for the regional Sommelier of the Year competition.

‘As part of the Academy of Food and Wine, I would do training session and master classes for sommeliers, as part of the preparations for the competitions.

‘I lost touch with it over the last few years as different people ran it, and I stopped doing the competitions and training, because I was doing other things.’

David left Gleneagles, and went on to work as wine & spirits manager and buyer for a number of prestigious hotel groups including DeVere, Malmaison, Hotel du Vin and Rocco Forte Hotels.

Having gained WSET Diploma, David also studied for the Master of Wine and is a qualified tutor for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust – and was presented with the Dom Perignon Award for Excellence for his contribution to hospitality training.

David also opened an award winning cafe/deli & wine-store and created a craft beer bar and brewery in Dunfermline.

He said: ‘When the financial crash happened in 08/09, and along with the entire head office team were made redundant by DeVere. That’s when I decided to set up my own business, as jobs on the level I was at were getting filtered out – everybody was panicking. People just weren’t booking into hotels, so everything crashed.

‘Living in Dunfermline, I had always struggled to find somewhere to buy a nice coffee and lunch, and spent the last few months with Malmaison planning my own business. There was a former menswear shop just waiting to be developed into a nice little coffee shop, which I did. I was off to work in the morning, and went straight back on the train, got back to the shop, got the crowbar out and started ripping out the shell of the building.

‘It was very much about coffee at the time as I had no licence, and started off, really, from that, and then it became the place to go in town.

‘I then got the property next door in the second year, and knocked through into it, and it went very well.’

David, never one to rest on his laurels, set out on a new venture after chatting with one of his cafe customers.

He continued: ‘I thought there wasn’t any local beer available so a friend of mine, who was a customer, said he was a brewer. He made a nice blonde beer, which I liked, and sold it in the cafe. We found we couldn’t make it quickly enough, and when we added a lager, it just sold out.

‘We did some research into funding, and did the Scottish Edge Fund. I went up to Inverness to do a presentation, Dragons’ Den-style, and got through to the last group, but we didn’t get the funding. I went back to the shop and looked at other ways to get funding, and we then learned Dragon’s Den were looking to feature a micro brewery. I sent them my business plans and forecasts, and did a little presentation audition, then two weeks later myself and my brewer did the actual Dragon’s Den.

‘I’ve never been as nervous as that before, and we were the last ones to go, after waiting the green room for about 12 hours. We were frayed at the edges, but we did a great pitch and got some fantastic comments, although Duncan Bannatyne didn’t get it at all. Sadly, we didn’t get any money, as they didn’t think it was scaleable. We weren’t ready for it anyway.’

Again, David was looking for something new, and established the brewery on a small scale.

He said: ‘We opened up a brewery, the Bruery, within 300 yards of where Robert the Bruce is buried. I contacted the Laird of Elgin, about using the Bruce family name, and he was delighted, and give us permission. It was De Brus beer.

‘We had a great business going – I was really snowed under, as I won an award for the coffee at the Scottish Retail Awards, for the best coffee in Scotland as an independent.

‘So, I decided to sell the shop to a customer after six years, which fired me up to do other things. I was marketing De Brus, and got help with the setting up of the building, but that was it – and over two-and-a-half years ago I decided to move away from the brewery and set up Drink School Scotland.’

David’s aim was to create a business that would deliver professional training for the drink industry and tailor talks and tastings to suit every occasion from stag and hen parties to corporate events and staff incentives. And it’s not just wine, as David explained: ‘I had been a tutor for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust for 10 years, so have always done that training and tutoring side of things. I requalified as a tutor with them and decided to do the Drink School.

‘From the name, you’d think there’s a huge premises, but it’s actually just me! Having had massive overheads in the past, I decided I didn’t want them again, so I will go and do the training sessions, with the tricks and whatever other things people want me to do.

‘I’ve done a few courses for wine merchants and suppliers, and done a training day at Gleneagles. It’s nice going back – I did a course a few weeks ago, for the Scottish Apprenticeship programme, doing the wine side for them. All the kids on it were interested in wine and also in my background and the famous people I’d met. There were still quite a few people still at Gleneagles who I’d worked with before, which was nice.

‘I’m also working with Movendum, to help with the business around Edinburgh.

‘I’ve got my own little programmes of wine training, which can be tailored to whatever they want – if they want training on rum, I can do that, or if a hotel has a request for gin tasting for clients or guests, that I can cater for that.

‘I can work with hen and stag nights to do things like prosecco and gin tastings, or whisky and craft beers, as well as wine.

‘I also go to hotels and meet with groups of residents or event companies particularly, who like to book these events, especially for whisky and wine tasting.

‘Another event I did was at a castle which some women had hired in Dundee, and they wanted me to do a wine talk on a one-to-one basis.’

However, David’s expertise has been on demand internationally, which resulted in him cruising around the world – whilst being paid.

He laughed: ‘In the middle of setting up the Drink School, I accepted a role with Carnival UK, whose fleet includes P&O and Cunard.

‘I became their wine specialist, a completely new role, and they wanted to develop their beverages on the ships. I was with them for nearly six months and worked at sea for four months – I really enjoyed it.

‘I went round eight different cruise ships, doig rum in the Caribbean and Cuba, wine in the Mediterranean, and also worked in Norway. They flew me from one to another, doing the crew training. I was treated like a passenger, not a member of the crew.

‘If I was 20 years younger, I would have still been there doing it – it’s a long time to be away from home and family, as I’ve got a girlfriend and son.’

He added: ‘I picked up the drink school when I came back. I’m not adverse to taking ricks, but I’m quite happy with what I’m doing at the moment.

‘It’s great, as I’ve always enjoyed the training and development side of the business, so this is a chance to do some practical stuff.

‘There’s so many training models out there. But for me, the best thing is one-to-one.

‘For me, having a mentor or a tutor in this industry is crucial – it’s all about havingn the contacts. You don’t get that from E-learning.’

For more information on Drink School Scotland, click HERE.