Local Wine Events

Event Details

Wine OR Wine & Food

Please join Spec’s fine wine buyer Bear Dalton for this new four-week Wine Basics course. Wine 101 is focused both for those either just developing their interest in wine and for those who feel the need for a good review to help organize their tasting and thinking about wine. This class also would be a good place to start for a service professional looking to move more into the wine side of the restaurant business or anyone looking to move into the wholesale or retail wine trade. As wine from all over the world is now so readily available, the 40 wines we will taste over the four week class will come from all over the world.

Week 1 (1/5/10): Starting at the beginning: The basics of tasting. Tasting wine versus drinking wine. Types of tasting. Blind tasting. Playing “The Options Game”. Ten wines will be tasted. Additional topics will include proper glassware, wine tools, and the restaurant wine ritual.

Week 2 (1/12/10): White wine making and white wine varieties and styles. We will taste ten white wines including Chardonnay with & without oak, off-dry whites, and sweet dessert wine. Topics will include how grape growing and winemaking affect wine style and flavors and how the types of wine represented by those tasted pair with food. We also will talk about wine storage and wine preservation and the concept of terroir.

Week 3 (1/19/10): Red and Rosé wine making and red wine varieties. We will taste ten red wines representing a range of styles and varieties Including a new world versus old world comparison. Topics will include how grape growing and winemaking affect wine style and flavors and how the types of wine represented by those tasted pair with food. We also will talk about age-ability and age-worthiness as well as wine keeping and wine collecting.

Week 4 (1/26/10): Fortified wines (focusing on Port & Sherry) and Sparkling Wines (ranging from the Charmat bulk process wines – such as Prosecco – to real French Champagne. We will discuss grape varieties, styles, techniques and their impact on flavor. We will discuss decanting and decanters and pairing these unusual partners with food.