Page 64 - Grapevine July-August 2019

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on grape varietals, production of wine, and how online, so the remaining resources were accessible
those wines will ideally look and taste. The course through the WSET classroom website, including a
also focuses on labels, teaching students the terms forum to post assignments, tastings and questions,
and references relevant to determining the quality as well as the weekly course breakdown and les-
and details of a wine. It ends with a short lesson on sons.
spirits, going through production and labeling.
Students must purchase any wine and food for
American Wine School was founded in 2001 by tasting during the class. I recommend budgeting
Marianne Frantz, who holds a Diploma in Wine accordingly because, to get a good sense of a wine
& Spirits from the WSET and has also earned the style, you should be tasting mid to high-end wines,
Advanced Sommelier qualification from the Court which run a little more expensive. Not that you
of Master Sommeliers. American Wine School is need to spend hundreds of dollars, but a $5-10
an Approved Program Provider for WSET with a wine generally isn’t the best example of a style, and
presence in seven states. They also offer wine tast- quality is important for the course.
ings and events throughout Chicago, Cleveland,
Cincinnati, Columbus and Pittsburgh. WSET qualifications are for anyone who takes
wine seriously and is willing to put in the work.
The Course The class is broken down week by week into les-
sons and assignments focusing on a particular sub-
The value of the class is evident immediately. ject. Tasks include analyzing labels, food tastings
Class materials are presented as a packet and designed to train the palate, and of course, tasting
include a textbook, workbook and a guide for wine. The work isn’t necessarily time-consuming;
describing wines, called “WSET Level 2 Systematic however, there’s enough of a workload that if you
Approach to Tasting Wine” or SAT. These materials don’t follow the week to week plan, you will fall
are invaluable during the class and have person- behind. There’s too many tastings, too much read-
ally come in handy for me since. I took the course ing, and a lot of serious prep that goes into it.

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