This is a required course for the Level III Certification. If you would like to take a detailed, technical course on French wine you can take this course without being a Level III student. However, we strongly recommend that you first take the Guild Certification Seminar before attempting a Level III course.

This course covers the following regions in France:

The Loire Valley

Champagne

Alsace

Burgundy

The Rhône Valley

Bordeaux

You will also learn about:

Geography and terroir

Wine production techniques by style and region

Wine growing and obligation requirements for each Appellation in the regions studied

How to use vintage data, by region

Wine character data, by appellation

You will receive more than 900 pages of material, specifically designed for this course and taste about 100 wines

The 1-week intensive study course meets from 8:30AM to 5:30PM daily, Monday through Friday, February 2nd through the 6th, 2009, for a total of 44 contact hours. Cost of the course includes registration fees, handouts, wine, lunch each day and instruction. We taste older vintage wines in this course. There is no difference in course content and instruction between the 11-week and 1-week courses.