WINE SCHOOL FOR THE CURIOUS

Virtual wine classes make knowledge more accessible

By Sharon Flesher

Wine education may start at the tasting room, the bar, or even the supermarket. But for those who catch the bug, it can morph into something akin to a gardener’s obsession with roses. So many varietals, styles and regions to geek out on. For wine enthusiasts obsessed with training and expanding our palettes, the global pandemic threw up thorns. Tasting venues of every sort were closed. While we could still buy wine–often with convenient curbside pickup–conducting comparative tastings alone at home wasn’t efficient or effective, at least not for me.

So I turned to the internet, where I had company. Virtual wine classes were popping like corks at a wedding. I could watch furloughed sommeliers drink and evaluate wine on YouTube or Instagram, and I could try new streaming services such as

SommTV for wine documentaries and tasting shows. While interesting, those were not the full sensory experiences I wanted. The second year into the pandemic, still waiting for in-person tasting opportunities to resume, I began searching for a way to continue my wine education by my preferred method: tasting and comparing notes with knowledgeable human guides. The Seattle-based Wine Folly was getting into online courses, with recommendations on wine one could purchase to accompany the lessons, but the initial content was for beginners.

What I wanted was a course from the London-based Wine & Spirit Education Trust, or WSET, which is the gold standard for professional wine certifications. The WSET offers courses for wine enthusiasts as well as industry professionals. In 2019, I had considered a WSET Level 2 weekend class at a wine school in

North Carolina but I couldn’t justify the cost when I could access complimentary education and tastings while shopping for wine, traveling or attending events. The pandemic changed my calculations.

I began searching for reopened WSET schools and stumbled upon the online offerings of the Napa Valley Wine Academy. Could an online course deliver an adequate tasting experience? It was getting positive reviews, so I was intrigued enough to investigate.

Wine education online

Founded in 2011, NVWA is a two-time winner of WSET’s Educator of the Year award. It offers classes at its physical locations in Napa and Tampa and has offered online courses since 2014, so it was positioned to turbo-charge those when the pandemic hit. One crucial component for a WSET course is to taste wines with the instructor, and NVWA was the only online school I could find that included a tasting kit with the course.

I thought about it, and thought about it some more, and finally as 2021 was drawing to a close but the pandemic was not, I enrolled in the course as a holiday gift to myself.

The books and tasting kit of 12 100ml bottles were shipped to my door. I received login instructions for the portal, where I found a detailed syllabus and schedule of live webinars for the five-week course.

WSET Level 2 does not require the completion of WSET Level 1 as a prerequisite. Those who have some experience with wine and know the difference between, say, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc, can dive right in. I had skimmed through a Level 1 book and knew I could skip it, and although some commenters suggested skipping Level 2 as well, I was hesitant to start with Level 3. I made the right call. As soon as I opened the book, I discovered I had a lot to learn.

The webinars utilized the “Zoomish” technology of which many of us are now familiar, plus a smartphone app to instant tabulated feedback on questions that would have been accomplished with a show of hands in a physical class, such as “who thinks this wine has high acidity?” My class had several dozen students, yet it felt intimate and personal. The instructor, Desiree Harrison-Brown, was outstanding at answering all questions and making us feel we were in a room together. If anything, the large class size was a bonus because it reduced the likelihood that tasting notes could be skewed by an unusual palate or two. Also, the ability to ask questions via the chat feature is helpful for shy students.

The tasting kit was crucial in overcoming any disadvantage of online learning. We were tasting the same wines together using the WSET’s trademarked Systematic Approach to Tasting, or SAT (much more enjoyable than that SAT from high school). For the first time in my 40-year career of wine drinking, I was able to calibrate my palette to a standard. I learned, for example, that I have a particularly sensitive nose. A wine of pronounced intensity that most students detect with a glass at chest level will reach me from the navel, or maybe from across the room.

Tasting is a key activity for WSET 2, but the exam itself has no tasting component. That isn’t required until level 3.

WSET 2 focuses on 30 of the most common varietals and the best known regions for wine production. In the United States, for example, the included regions are Napa, Sonoma, Santa Barbara County and Oregon. In France, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Alsace, the Loire Valley and the Rhône are covered; the Languedoc-Roussillon, which I adore, is not mentioned, although it is presumed to be included in a broad category called “Southern France,” which receives a couple of paragraphs in the textbook. Italy, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Hungary receive attention.

In other words, WSET 2 focuses on the wines one is most likely to find at the bottle shop or on a restaurant menu. That’s not to say it’s basic. The book may appear relatively thin, but it is densely packed with wine information. If one were to highlight facts that may appear on the exam, the text would be covered with yellow. Studying for the exam required me to

A few weeks later, my worries ceased when I was notified by e-mail that I passed with distinction. I celebrated with a 2018 Mosel Riesling Trocken which I rated on the WSET’s BLIC assessment as outstanding based on its balance, length, intensity and complexity.

I believe I learned more about wine in those five weeks than in the previous four decades. I haven’t continued (yet) with WSET 3, mostly because I’m back at that cost/benefit equation and doubtful that I could justify the greater investment of level 3 by my occasional wine writing. Still, I remain on the NVWA mailing list and often see mention of level 3 boot camps in Napa and think, maybe one day? After all, the value of learning deeply about something one loves need not be measured in economic terms.

About The Author

Previously a journalist for United Press International (UPI), the News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) and Congressional Quarterly, Sharon Flesher now writes independently from Traverse City, Mich. She is an enthusiastic student of wine and she reads too much. Find her on the web at http://twofemmes.com/