Classes Upon Classes Upon Classes…
What do we hear from people who book a wine tasting with us? That we’re really good at teaching about wine. We just finished our first four-week, in-person class in Manchester, VT Wednesday night to positive reviews and are excited to announce more ways you can learn with us, no matter your location, schedule or budget!
Wednesday Night Wine Hangs (Virtual)
First up, we’ll be tasting every Wednesday evening at 7 pm EST on Zoom. For the first 18 weeks – of which you can attend one, all or any number in between – we’re doing one grape a week, alternating between red and white. First it’s a Pinot Grigio tasting on April 5.
For this tasting (and all of the first batch of Wednesday night wine hangs) you’ll buy a bottle of the week’s grape to taste everyone together. During class, learn about the grape’s history and DNA, where it grows, it’s general profile and then we’ll go deeper using the wines in the tasting. You can really have fun with this and get multiple bottles, for example, you could get a typical Pinot Grigio from Italy but also one from Alsace in France, which is going to be very different! For a really crazy time bring an orange version of a white grape or rosé of a red grape!
These virtual hour-long sessions are $20 for your first time and $15 every time after (whether or not you attend weekly or just drop in whenever). They’re a great way to get together with friends who don’t live nearby, too, so spread the word and join us!
Wine Tasting 101 (Bennington VT)
Four weeks, 90 minutes each week, a final tasting exam and a lot of learning in between. That’s what we can promise you if you sign up for our next round of Wine Tasting 101, this time taking place at Bennington Community Market on Fridays, April 7, 14, 21 and 28 from 6-7:30 pm.
Learn how to identify body, acid, alcohol, sweetness and tannins and then how to properly taste a wine and write a tasting note in the first class. In the next, put those skills to use assessing white wine. The week after, red wines are up. Finally, participate in a deductive tasting exam to see just how much you’ve learned.
Upon completion of this class you’ll better be able to select wines that you’ll like.
Food + Wine Pairing Basics (Manchester VT)
Be the person who always gets handed the wine list at restaurants! Pairing food and wine scares people (it used to scare us, too!) but it doesn’t have to. In two weeks you’ll cover 5 components in wine (acid, fruit, sweetness, bitter, intensity) and 7 in food (Salt, Acid, Sweet, Fat, Piquant, Umami, Bitterness) and how they work with and against each other when it comes to pairing.
You’ll learn our favorite pairing hack for when you just can’t figure it out plus the tried and true rules of a pairing. And you won’t learn by just listening, you’ll also taste your way through examples of these things and even try your own hand at making pairings.
Upon completion of this class you’ll be able to taste a wine and decide what to eat, and taste a dish and decide what wine to drink. This is a great skill!