Example Programs

Wine tasting for beginners
Designed for the person who is just getting into wine. This program introduces the major wine growing regions of the world and the varietals made there. What steps wine makers use to harvest, ferment and age their wines. It will introduce you to wine tasting techniques including identifying grape varieties, fruit flavors, acidity, balance and finding and identifying flaws in the wine such as TCA. It will also explain wine labels and wine laws of the major regions covered.

The Wines of...
This seminar is design for the wine taster who wants more in-depth information on a particular varietal, country or region. Here for example we would look at the wines of the major regions of France including Burgundy, Bordeaux, Loire Valley and Champagne. More in depth programs would examine one specific region like Burgundy and villages like Meursault and Nuits-St-Georges. Programs on sherry, port and dessert wines are also available.

Terroir Seminar
Terroir is the interplay of soil, climate and human intervention in wine making. We will take an in-depth look at the physiology of a grape vine, how and why certain vines grow and perform well where they are planted and others do not. How man has proliferated varietals around the world with examples of success stories. Examples include: Syrah around the world , how this amazing varietal has transformed itself into a world wide favorite from the Rhone Valley to Australia and Chardonnay from Burgundy to the ends of the Earth, how the King of White wines expresses itself differently from the villages of Burgundy to California and beyond.

Wine Dinner
There is no better way to show the subtleties and finesse of a wine than having it perfectly paired with food. Your dinner can be centered on: wine and food of a specific country, a special menu like game or an all mushroom menu, the wines of one winery or wines of the same varietal. There really is no end to the possibilities. A typical program starts with an in-depth look at the wines before the dinner begins including the varietals used, the terroir of the region or regions and what vinification techniques where used. All dinners start with an aperitif style wine, wine for each course and end with a special dessert wine. These dinners are intended to be interactive so before each course your speaker will cover each individual wine and food pairing with a question and answer session.