Know Your Wine Course

‘Know Your Wine’ : Beginners’ Evening Course

This is a 5-week introductory course. The course is aimed at beginners who want to learn about the basics of wine tasting:

Week 1: Evaluation of Wine  
Week 2: Sparkling Wines & Champagne  
Week 3: White Wines from around the world
Week 4: Red Wines from around the world
Week 5: Major Grape Varieties

You’ll learn how to taste wine together with food as a substantial supper will be served each evening. The course will help you determine which wines suit your palate best, what you should be buying for quaffing or for drinking with food. You’ll also learn how to talk about wines in a relaxed and informal way.
All dietary requirements are catered for.
 

Autumn Term 2010

Tuesday 2 Nov – Tuesday 30 Nov  

Timing:
The course runs on Tuesday nights 7.30 – 9.30 at SFX College, Malwood Road, Clapham South, SW12.

Testimonials

I have had a long held interest in Wines, however, I have lacked the knowledge required to make confident decisions when selecting what to buy. The ‘Know your Wine’ course provided a great, relaxed learning environment in which to develop my appreciation of wine, and ultimately, make better decisions.
Kenneth Harry Putt is a superb tutor, with a vast amount of knowledge and a clear love for his subject matter. His passion for wine (and food) really benefits the course and he brings the subject to life with charm and witty anecdotes to support the core teachings.

Introduction to wine brings together people with a shared interest and allows knowledge to be gained, shared and enjoyed by the whole group. I have developed a real knowledge of all the major grape varieties and a new found ability to accurately describe and interpret a wine. Most importantly I have learnt how to match wines with food.
Whether selecting a wine to enjoy at home or for a business lunch, I now have the confidence to make the best possible choice. The format of the course allows for group discussions enabling you to learn from your fellow pupils as well as from Harry, this leads to an appreciation that everyone’s palates are unique, but that there are solid rules you can follow to find brilliant wines. Most importantly the course is not at all elitist; it is accessible, informative, and most importantly great fun! I can now say I ‘Know my Wine’.

Al Will

 

William Shakespeare once wrote “Come, come, good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used; exclaim no more against it.”     I have never doubted that good wine is a good familiar creature, but to be honest, I never really put much thought into whether I was using it well – until now that is!
Having received a gift voucher for the ‘Know Your Wine’ tasting course run through the Wine & Food Academy, I attended the first class wondering whether there was indeed much more I could actually learn about wine. Harry, the straight-talking oenophile that was our teacher had me eating my words!

The class is a great opportunity to learn about different grape varieties, match wine with different foods (it actually does taste different with food!) and generally explore the wonderful world of the vine whilst picking up some interesting tit-bits from Harry’s extensive experience of wine tasting. All this in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere that gives everyone the opportunity to taste reds, whites and champagne and compare and discuss just how they differ and more importantly why.

Sadly the course has now finished and whilst my head is slightly cloudy today following on from last night’s final class, I know I can now order wine with confidence and spot the difference between a Sauvignon and a Chenin. I would highly recommend this course to anyone wanting to improve their knowledge and confidence with wine, I look forward to attending the ‘Country Comparisons’ class, the next step in my quest to make good use of the ‘good familiar creature’!

Deborah Watson

 

Colour, Bouquet, Taste – this has now become my mantra! After scanning a list of wine courses, I am really pleased that I chose the Wine and Food Academy one. After the first evening, my friend and I both agreed that this was going to be a fun and interesting few weeks.

We weren’t disappointed. The format is very informal – a group of 20 or so (with different levels of knowledge) sitting around a table with our teacher, Harry. Now I couldn’t go any further without mentioning Harry. He imparts his impressive knowledge in an interactive and often very amusing way (we are in stitches most evenings!). Harry doesn’t ‘teach’ about wines in an old-fashioned sense (there are plenty of books which do this very well) but instead gets his audience thinking about their own interpretation of the wines and champagnes. This is either done as a whole group or in break-out seminars. The method of learning really inspired me to go off and learn more about the subject, I even ventured to a British vineyard after the first session!

And finally, the food. Really good quality ingredients which have been carefully selected to complement the wines. It was fascinating to experience the transformation of wines with certain foods – I will certainly be impressing my friends with some quaffing and cooking soirees!

Overall a brilliant 5 weeks, culminating in a 9-wine, 4-course food extravaganza on the last week! Informative, entertaining, sociable and great value for money. I would recommend it to any beginner and will be booking the Country Comparisons one myself straight away!   Amita Vaux