The School of Wine – Wine Appreciation Courses in Perth

PLEASE NOTE: The School of Wine is under new management – Find out more here.

Disclosure: I was invited along to The Wonderful World of Wine free of charge to experience the class & expand my wine knowledge further.

Christina Pickard is a wine educator and wine writer. Like myself she has her Intermediate and Advanced Wine & Spirit Education Trust Certificates. Originally from New York she spent many years in London writing for some of the top wine publications (Decanter, Harpers Wine & Spirit, The Drinks Business to name a few) alongside appearing on various TV segments to speak about wine.

Christina has now brought all her fantastic knowledge of the world of wine to Perth. Alongside writing for Scoop, Gourmet Traveller Wine and the James Halliday’s Wine Companion she runs a series of wine appreciation courses at various venues through the city.

I was lucky enough to attend one of The Wonderful World of Wine classes, which is a one-off 2 hour class for $80pp, there are roughly 10-12 people in each class. The class was held at Deco restaurant which is the upstairs resturant in the Raffles Hotel in Applecross. My tip is if you can taxi or take public transport, do it! That way you won’t have to worry about making use of the spittoons!

During the session we tasted 10 wines; 4 whites, 1 rose and 5 reds. The wines were from all corners of the globe from Austria, Portugal, Italy, France, Spain, Greece and of course Australia. During the tasting there were chips, bread, crackers and cheese to munch on as well as some very popular banana chips down our end of the table!

Alongside all that drinking Christina took us through a presentation telling us about everything from the French term of terroir to explaining some of those tricky wine terms like carbonic maceration, testing our senses with black glasses and smelling little vials of typical wine aromas. The class is very interactive with lots of visual’s so it really does make learning fun. Plus you’re drinking wine for 2 hours, so what’s not to like!

The classes will not only expand your wine knowledge but they’ll also introduce you to wines you would not normally  look at in your bottle shop. The class will appeal to your adventurous side and I know that most of the fellow wine tasters around me were shocked to find out what each wine was after raving about how they enjoyed it so much! Who would have thought that you’d enjoy a wine made from a grape variety you have never heard of before!

Christina is very down to earth, super bubbly and you can tell that she just loves the world of wine. She is extremely passionate and it really does come across in these wine classes. I think she could have literally spoke about wine all night, she just loves it. Personally it’ s these types of people who get me excited about wine, the feeling really is contagious. Plus I really resonated with her thought on how wine is so personal. From the tastes to the smells of wine, they’re your opinion and no one is right or wrong. If a wine’s potpourri smell reminds you of your Grandma, then that’s completely fine. Just like fashion, or food, you should follow your own sense of taste.

The School of Wine also offers private wine events to be held at either your home with a group of friends or in a corporate environment at the office. I know I would think my boss was pretty cool if he organised something like this for a team building assignment. It is educational after all!

For more information on wine classes in Perth please visit the School of Wine website, or connect with the school on Facebook or Twitter. I’m particularly hanging out for the next Champagne & Chocolate Class – it sounds like heaven!

For more information check out my Wine Appreciation Courses in Perth blog post.