Wine
Email this page

Fundamentals of Taste & Smell

Our most popular class! ‘Fundamentals’ is a perfect introduction to the basics. A 3-session course designed to create a strong foundation for wine appreciation while developing your confidence about wine.

Class 1: The Physiology of Smell and Taste
Begin categorizing the smells and flavors used to describe wine. A highlight of the Fundamentals series is tonight's extensive component tasting to demonstrate “acid”, “sugar”, “tannin” as well as various wine faults. Learn tricks used by wine judges to reveal wine characteristics. Find out the impact that age and gender have on our sensory perception of wine.

Class 2: The Psychology of Preference
Blind tasting comparisons demonstrate the effect of environment on preference. Learn differences between wine quality and style. Add new tricks to aid sensory memory and new vocabulary to improve wine description. Gain confidence in your own abilities and opinions about wine.

Class 3: Service, Etiquette and Wine Styles
Get background, explanations and “pros and cons” on glassware, corkscrews , letting bottles breathe, serving temperature, saving half-consumed bottles, pairing food with wine, building a cellar, and wine investment. Side-by-side comparison tasting is used to illustrate the characteristics that distinguish all the major categories of wine.

Schedule

Summer Semester - San Francisco, SFSU Downtown (Westfield Mall)
Fall Semester - San Francisco, Fort Mason Center
Fall Semester - Menlo Park, Burgess Recreation Dept
Fall Semester - Berkeley / Oakland location TBA