Introduction to wines
This session is an introductory lecture on vine, grape and the wine making process, followed by an initiation to sensory analysis with two tests on flavors and aromas and a first wine tasting of different styles of wines and grape varieties.
• 6 hours: Lecture/ Lab/ Tasting
Meet the Winemaker
This session includes a field trip to a Thai vineyard to gain a deeper understanding of vine growing, wine making. The visit includes a tasting and a meal in the vineyard.
• 6 hours: Field Trip/ Tasting
The Loire and the Rhône
This session will illustrate the importance of these two rivers in the propagation of the vine and wine culture in France in the middle ages. The tasting will illustrate how geography and climate affect wine styles.
• 3 hours: Lecture/ Lab/ Tasting
New World Wines
This session covers the expansion of the wine culture to the “new world”. A tasting of wines from the Americas, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand illustrates a major differences between old world wines and new world wines.
• 3 hours: Lecture/ Lab/ Tasting
Alsace and Germany
This session explores the Rhine valley’s wide variety of white grapes of different styles, and an introduction to late harvested and botrytized wines. The tasting illustrates the difference between two countries wine styles.
• 3 hours: Lecture/ Lab/ Tasting
Burgundy
This session is a deep exploration of “terroir” and how a few grape varieties express different characteristics depending on a multitude of factors such as soil, slope orientation, weather and wine making techniques.
• 3 hours: Lecture/ Lab/ Tasting
Review and Preparation to the Examination
This session is a review of the food and wine matching concepts introduced during the course and is followed by a blind tasting where each student will receive individual feedback on their analysis.
• 6 hours: Lecture/ Lab/ Tasting
Final Examination
This Wine Studies Course concludes with a final examination composed of:
- a multiple-choice quiz on wine knowledge
- a blind tasting of three wines
- an oral examination on food and wine matching
• 6 hours: Written, practical and oral examination