I first started delivering wine education courses way back in the early 1990s, running night-school classes at the University of Glasgow, and my own classes in the city centre. In 2020 I completely updated and translated the course into an online version. The first online wine course went down so well with the students, my philosophy being to cover the topics with enough depth and expertise, but to make sure it was entertaining and enjoyable too.
Over the many Zoom sessions I have hosted since lockdown I’ve been surprised by how easy it has been to create a similar atmosphere of learning, but in a convivial, friendly atmosphere. The course will go back to the basics of ‘What is Wine’, with its historical development and how exactly a bunch of grapes becomes a bottle of wine, but will go on to explore so many factors that go into wine, how so many different styles have developed, and how the ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’ differ. We’ll also look at the secrets of Natural Wine, how sparkling, sweet and rosé wines are made, how to read a wine label, and of course, wine and food matching.
Each of our five weekly sessions will end with a tasting. I will explain how to taste a wine in order to build your own knowledge and experience, and we’ll discuss the properties of each wine. I will recommend a wine to buy each week to complement that week’s theme, but you are free to choose another similar wine or skip the tasting part entirely if your prefer.
The wine course will be a really enjoyable way to spend an hour or so learning all about wine during the dark winter evenings, without leaving home. It runs on five consecutive Wednesdays between January 19th and February 16th 2022. I hope you will join me.
Read more details and sign-up for The Wine Course.