01/31/2014
Hello wine enthusiasts! I am in the process of selecting and obtaining the wines necessary for the tasting and compiling the costs involved, along with a venue suitable for the class. Costs, comfort, and (if just a classroom): a dishwasher, being the chief concerns. I have a course book designed (working on translating it into Spanish also if there would be any interest for a future course in Español), and this will be an excellent future resource for you to keep in your library of wine textbooks.
Which brings me to some suggested readings before the class, which are (imo) the best resources for Wine Education available:
#1) Johnson, Hugh and Jancis Robinson. The World Atlas of Wine. 7th ed. London: Mitchell Beazley, (Oct 8, 2013) Print. ISBN: 978-1845336899
#2) Stevenson, Tom. The Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia. 5th ed. London: Dorling Kindersley, (Oct 31, 2011) Print. ISBN: 978-0756686840
#3) Robinson, Jancis. The Oxford Companion to Wine, 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, (Oct 1, 2006) Print. ISBN: 978-0198609902
#4) Goldstein, Evan. Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier's Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food. 1st ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, (May 15, 2006) Print. ISBN: 978-0520243774
While there are other great texts out there and even obtaining all four of these is certainly not necessary, I do highly recommend getting at least one of the first three references (my favourite is Hugh Johnson’s) along with Evan Goldstein’s pairing book.
I am happy to see interest in this; it is something I am looking forward to. I do need more time to assemble things and nail down costs. This is very much like the Court of Master Sommeliers level 1 Intro course which costs $525. My course is less technical, but much more detailed; so you will actually learn the wine “language” that students attending the certification classes should already know. (If you read all the books above + Brian K Julyan’s book on Sales & Service & maybe Karen MacNeil’s Wine Bible as well, you could jump right in too! Lol)
The Court of Master Somms & WSAT also have about 150-250 students at each class so cash-flow isn’t a problem! So What I need to know at this point is consensus on:
A ± $225 class that lasts four hours, with a half-hour break in a facility that I provide you with coffee, tea & water.
A ± $175 class that lasts three hours with a 15-minute break, in a classroom where I provide a bottle of water. (I really don’t want to do this as there will not be much time for application/tasting or discussion with question and answers). But, if affordability is enough of a concern with enough students I will try it.
A ± $300 class that lasts seven hours with an hour lunch break, in a facility where I provide coffee, tea, water and we finish with amazing cheese and appetizer pairings.
I may very well do a “blend” (pun intended) of these ideas and wind up with an option in-between as well. First I need numbers!
Keep in mind the more time we have the more wines we will taste. So, again I mention this is wine TASTING, for purpose; you will be encouraged to expectorate throughout the class time. Depending on venue and time we may be at a spot where appetizers turn into a gathering in an adjacent room for dinner and fun conversations about and over tasting for enjoyment and the actual drinking of wine! ☺ Everyone should please make arrangements to have a designated driver pick them up afterwards. I would never want an expensive lesson or a tragedy to arise out of such a great time as we will certainly be having.
Date is looking like April 12th realistically. I wish it could be sooner but I do not want to push it out a second time. I’ll confirm on this site within another week or so.
In the meantime, give me feedback; please! I want to know how many are seriously interested.
Cheers!
Alan
