Champagne? Cava? Prosecco? Cremant? Sparkling wine? These are all wines with bubbles, but have you ever wondered how they differ? And why is Champagne usually so much more expensive than its bubbly brethren? We are here to help, and although this class is timed perfectly for the holidays, part of our message is that good sparkling wine, in whatever form, isn't just for celebrations. We love it as daily fare.
To order online, choose shipping method "In Store Pick-up" and you will be added to our "Will Call" list.
Pinot Noir. Sigh…Known in the wine world as the fickle one, the jealous mistress, the mercurial, the Holy Grail. Pinot is temperamental in the vineyard, and unpredictable in the winery, but when the resulting wine is good, it is among the wine world's most purely hedonistic. This class will introduce Pinot Noir from the US, New Zealand and Burgundy. It should whet your appetite for further exploration of the grape and the regions where it thrives.
To order online, choose shipping method "In Store Pick-up" and you will be added to our "Will Call" list.
Should we adhere to the old rigid rules and drink only white with fish? Only red with meats? Or are these rules simply a gustatory straight jacket? Should we pair specific grape varieties with certain dishes or foods? Or is the whole idea of wine and food pairing just another ruse used by the wine police to keep consumers in a state of intimidation?
This course is designed to pull back the covers on these questions and more about wine and food pairing.
Rather than address specific wines with specific recipes, we will look at how basic elements in wine and your meal reinforce, detract, ignore, or transform each other.
With the basic principles we illustrate, you will be able to further explore and relish the game of wine and food pairing every time you sit down to enjoy a meal. Understanding these dynamics is not an end point - it is the start of a delicious, life long journey.
To order online, choose shipping method "In Store Pick-up" and you will be added to our "Will Call" list.
Your wish is our command - this is the class most requested by attendees of "Wine Tasting Technique Deconstructed"! Our "Wine Tasting Technique Deconstructed" class covers the all-important fundamentals; in this session we will take your tasting skills to the next level. You will leave this class with a better understanding of your own wine preferences, an enhanced ability to communicate them, and an improved grasp of the differences between wine grape varieties. Along the way, we will continue to address the unending challenge of describing wine, and to demystify the "winespeak" of critics and the wine press.
Utilize isolated components of wine to illustrate acidity, alcohol, tannins, fruit, and wood influence, known in the industy as "component tasting".
Discuss the flavor and texture characteristics of wines made from the best known grape varieies with carefully selected examples of each as reference points.
Address the general flavor descriptors of "new world" versus "old world" wines.
Although it is not required, we recommend taking our "Wine Tasting Technique Deconstructed" class prior to the Intermediate class offered above.
To order online, choose shipping method "In Store Pick-up" and you will be added to our "Will Call" list.
