Wine education courses?

[aj_syrah]

Hi all,

I'm 24 and have been drinking wine seriously for about 2 years. My wine epiphany came when I had dinner with my uncle at Jaques Reymond in Melbourne, and he ordered a Peter Lehman stonewell shiraz, and a chardonnay that i think may have been giaconda. I can't talk to my uncle much about wine because he's an expat - he's always overseas. But that started my love of wine, and i've used the internet to try to find out more about wine and i also use it as a purchasing tool.

My problem though, is that although i've learn't a huge amount from forums and blogs and the like, I still can't tell if a wine is; corked, brett, reduction, some other fault. I can tell that there is something wrong with a wine, but i don't know what it is.

So my question is - what are some good wine courses to take in melbourne? Preferably ones that deal with faults. Of course, the gaps in my knowledge aren't limited to faults, so any wine course that could be of great benefit would be good.

Also, i'd be interested in a course run by a person/people that are considered to be authoratative on wine.

Cheers,

Andrew

[Daryl Douglas]

Most of those who are considered to be authorative on wine are too busy being more highly remunerated by authoring articles and books on wine than to present winetasting courses.

I've not participated in a course myself due to my NQ location though I have seen a poster somewhere provide a positive report (from memory, he thought the included lunch was disappointing, not unpalatable, just wanted more/better) on this one but you could look at it. They've been providing wine education courses for a very long time:

http://www.winesociety.com.au/wineevent ... &state=VIC

I have no idea what else is available in Melbourne.

Cheers

daz

[Steve]

Check out The Prince's wine shop website at http://www.princewinestore.com.au/. They run WSET accredited courses on a regular basis.

One of the large sommelier training bodies also run courses in Melbourne but I'm not sure which one or what level or how frequently they are run.

[graham]

How about in Brisbane?????????????

[85luke]

Check out Armadale Cellars, they have some good courses.

[Glen]

Hi AJ

Congratulations on identfying a very important aspect of wine education. Knowing that something is not right about a wine is just as important as knowing what is right about a wine.

Probably better than any course regarding faults, you could purchase a set of Le Nez du Vin (The Nose of Wine) 'Faults'.

These are little bottles with fault odours in them that you can screw the lid off and smell at your own convenience. The benefit is that you can use these over and over again which is ideally the trick to becoming accustomed to any particular smell.

Gavin, who runs this forum and the associated e-wine store sells these, check here:-

Le Nez du Vin Faults in Wine http://www.auswine.com.au/category.asp?CtgID=1010

You will find these at the bottom of the page, and for your interest, there are also sets for red wine, white wine, oak, and ultimately the Grand Edition (54 aromas).

Btw, many of the universities, TAFE's etc actually use these sets in their courses anyway. However this way you own your own set!

The financial benefits are also quite obvious too, if you take faulty wines back to the shop and can acuurately explain what is wrong with these, then you are justfiably entitled to a refund or replacement. Over a lifetime, this adds up.

You should also know that I am the importer of these sets.

However if you are still interested in attending a course, there is a list here:-

http://www.wineindustryjobs.com.au/public.php?page=crc

Safe travelling on your journey of wine, it can be as enlightening as it can be treacherous!

[aj_syrah]

Thanks glen, i just might try Le Nez du Vin set that you recommended. So far with recommendations, i have; the prince, armadale cellars, and wine society. I'd appreciate a view from anyone else, that has tried these or others, and is able to give a view on the best courses based on quality. It would also be good if there was an aged wine aspect to the courses.

AJ

[KMP]

The best listing for wine education I've found for Oz is on the WineDiva site - check out this page.

Mike

[timmartin]

The Wine Society in Bourke St, city has some really good courses going too - they run at least a couple of 4 week courses per month.

[aj_syrah]

thanks tim martin, i'll check it out.

[marsalla]

When I was in Rathdowne Cellars a few weeks ago I saw them spruiking for a few courses, French mainly

cheers

[aj_syrah]

thanks marsalla, i'll add that to the list.

Has anyone been to a wine course, and what were your impressions of it? Is it worth the money?

Andrew

[KMP]

Has anyone been to a wine course, and what were your impressions of it? Is it worth the money?

Andrew

Yep……in the 1970’s!

One with Andrew Pirie, I believe at Bulletin Place. All I remember is sitting on church pews. Another was held at the Sydney Showgrounds but the organizers slip my memory at present. They obviously had access to all the gear at the Showground because there was a standing offer to provide glasses and a talking head for private tastings.

Then in the mid-‘80’s we used to hit the meetings of the Australian Wine Consumers Cooperative (now The Wine Society) for their tastings and options game, then kick on for some food and decent wine!

Are they worth it? Yes. Education through quality wine appreciation classes is an important first step. Most of the best courses will go through the technical aspects of tasting and should also include tasting of different wine styles. You can often meet others at such courses who are willing to taste after class which will at the very least expand your wine exposure and maybe even be the start of a serious tasting group.

Mike