Local Wine Events

PENCHANT for PINOT
A softer red wine, Pinot Noir is best known for its elegant Burgundian wines, but is also making a name for itself in New Zealand and Oregon.

Penchant for Pinot is part of our Great Grape Series, in which we select a single grape variety and explore its inherent characteristics, flavor profile and how these are expressed in the Old World vs the New World. With the belief that comparison tasting is important, participants will be guided through a tasting of several different wines, all of this same variety, but from five different winemaking regions.

Grand Cru Classes is located in the heart of the Long Island wine region. Classes are held in our state-of-the-art tasting classroom, adjacent to our educational vineyard.

Your Instructor
Tracy Ellen Kamens, Ed.D., DWS, CWE adores wine and loves to teach. So much so that when the idea to combine her love of teaching with her passion for wine presented itself, she jumped at the opportunity and founded Grand Cru Classes.

While she promises to make wine more approachable for consumers, she is proud of her wine credentials, which include the Certified Wine Educator credential from the Society of Wine Educators, Wine & Spirits Education Trust’s Diploma of Wine & Spirits (with Merit) and its Intermediate and Advanced Certificates (both with distinction). She also holds the titles of International Bordeaux Instructor from L’Ecole du Vin de Bordeaux and Greek Wine Ambassador from Wines of Greece. In addition, she has completed the Napa Valley Vintners’ Wine Educators Academy as well as the Wine Australia USA AusWISE program. 

In addition to teaching at the International Wine Center in New York, Tracy currently serves as an adjunct faculty member for New York University. She previously taught at Cornell University and Baruch College. Tracy successfully completed the Institute for Teaching and Learning’s Academy for Academic Leadership and is a WSET Certified Educator for the Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced Levels.