Overview
France has some of the world’s most prestigious, complex, and commercially successful wine regions. Through extensive tastings, this course will cover the wines of Burgundy, Alsace, Cotes du Rhone, Bordeaux, Loire, and Champagne. You will learn about varietals, wine production by region, terroir, vineyard sites, and quality levels.
Italy is the largest wine-producing country in the world, with Italian wines being the most widely imported globally, especially in Nigeria and many parts of Africa. Knowledge of Italian wine is crucial for wine professionals, particularly those involved in distribution, hospitality, and retail industries. Through extensive tastings (physical or virtual), this course will primarily cover, but not exclusively, the wines of Piedmont, Veneto, and Tuscany. You will learn about varietals, wine production by region, terroir, vineyard sites, and quality levels. Consequently, you will be able to properly place Italian wines in the market and communicate their value to your customers.
Spain has more land planted with grapes than any wine-growing country in the world and is ranked 3rd in global wine production. Spain has a lot to offer the world of wine. There is something for everyone in this amazing wine-rich country. Class tastings will sample growing regions that are well established (Rioja) and up-and-coming regions. You will learn about Spain’s wine history, varietals, wine production by region, terroir, vineyard sites, and quality levels.
Explore the World of Sweet Wines produced globally. You will delve into different styles from both old world and new world countries. You will also explore different styles such as, Vin de Liqueur (VDL), Vin Doux Naturels (VDN), Fortified, Late Harvest, Botrytis, Ice, and Solera. For each style you will learn the methods of production, and how to pair these wines with desserts, cheeses and even savory foods.
This course will cover the history, geographic locations, climate, soils, wine laws, grape varieties, and important wine producing regions of the world. Students will taste and focus intensively on the wines coming from new world regions such as Chile, Argentina, and South Africa, with a brief introduction to Brazil, Uruguay, and Peru.
Much like other New World wine countries or regions, Australian wine history dates back over 200 years, and its wine regions span a vast area with amazing diversity in climate, soils, winemaking, and wine styles. Together, we’ll explore the origins of Australia’s wine industry, what influenced wines then and what influences them today. Australia is experiencing a renaissance, redefining itself beyond warm climates and generic styles with an explosion of sensational small-batch producers bucking tradition and pushing boundaries. This class will feature some tasting surprises to complement the material.
Learn about what makes sparkling wine … sparkle. From production techniques, major grape varietals, sweetness styles, and benchmark wine regions, we will traverse the globe and delve into much more than Champagne. This is a class not to be missed.