Master of...Your Wine
Each day I get a news feed about the wine world from Wine Business, a daily online publication. Today's issue had a compelling piece about the difficulty of successfully completing the Master of Wine program, which confers the right to place the coveted letters "MW" after one's name on a business card...and pontificate about wine in ways you never imagined. There are, in fact, fewer than 300 MWs in the world.
Anyway, I was fascinated with this article, especially as I got to the last few paragraphs about Rebecca Chapa, whom I don't know but have corresponded with, and who runs a wine consulting business in California called Tannin Management. Rebecca has taken - and failed - the MW exams (there are three) four times, most recently in 2004. And then I saw another piece that detailed the travails of Sonoma resident Geoff Labitzke, who got a "happy ending" on his eighth and final attempt, under the rules, after 11 years. So - who's up for, say, ten years of study and a lot of "Fs"? (No, your other F). I don't want to study that hard...it cuts into my drinking, really.
Let's please note that Ms. Chapa, the new-ish Estate Ambassador for Rubicon, formerly Neibaum-Coppola winery, does have impressive credentials. She is a Certified Wine Educator and holds the Diploma Wine and Spirits from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust in London. She also teaches at the Rudd Wine Center at the CIA in St. Helena, my second home in Napa Valley. So while Rebecca is not and never may be an MW, she certainly knows her stuff.
The point of all this is that you don't have to know everything about wine to enjoy it, to learn how it goes from grape to glass, or even to teach how to evaluate and appreciate it. Hey, the MWs don't know everything...Jancis Robinson MW tells of a tasting with a newly-minted fellow MW who blind-tasted a bunch of varietals and got most of them wrong, right out of the gate. And depending on your interest and available time, a few hours in a basic wine class, or a few hours each year in some varietal appreciation classes goes a long way.
I enjoy reading but hate memorizing, so my hope is that the dozens of wine books in my library will ultimately sink in, multiplied by what I learn in the professional classes in which I keep finding myself. I probably have more freedom than you (maybe not) to pursue my formal wine education, attend tastings and wine contests, and visit winemaking regions. But you don't have to do any of that to get a basic grounding in wine. And since wine begins with the soil, "grounding" is a very appropriate word.
Instead, just find a starter class to begin your "vinous education," and unless you live in a very remote area, chances are there's one within an hour's or two drive. Here are some possibilities:
Anyway, I was fascinated with this article, especially as I got to the last few paragraphs about Rebecca Chapa, whom I don't know but have corresponded with, and who runs a wine consulting business in California called Tannin Management. Rebecca has taken - and failed - the MW exams (there are three) four times, most recently in 2004. And then I saw another piece that detailed the travails of Sonoma resident Geoff Labitzke, who got a "happy ending" on his eighth and final attempt, under the rules, after 11 years. So - who's up for, say, ten years of study and a lot of "Fs"? (No, your other F). I don't want to study that hard...it cuts into my drinking, really. Let's please note that Ms. Chapa, the new-ish Estate Ambassador for Rubicon, formerly Neibaum-Coppola winery, does have impressive credentials. She is a Certified Wine Educator and holds the Diploma Wine and Spirits from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust in London. She also teaches at the Rudd Wine Center at the CIA in St. Helena, my second home in Napa Valley. So while Rebecca is not and never may be an MW, she certainly knows her stuff.
The point of all this is that you don't have to know everything about wine to enjoy it, to learn how it goes from grape to glass, or even to teach how to evaluate and appreciate it. Hey, the MWs don't know everything...Jancis Robinson MW tells of a tasting with a newly-minted fellow MW who blind-tasted a bunch of varietals and got most of them wrong, right out of the gate. And depending on your interest and available time, a few hours in a basic wine class, or a few hours each year in some varietal appreciation classes goes a long way.I enjoy reading but hate memorizing, so my hope is that the dozens of wine books in my library will ultimately sink in, multiplied by what I learn in the professional classes in which I keep finding myself. I probably have more freedom than you (maybe not) to pursue my formal wine education, attend tastings and wine contests, and visit winemaking regions. But you don't have to do any of that to get a basic grounding in wine. And since wine begins with the soil, "grounding" is a very appropriate word.
Instead, just find a starter class to begin your "vinous education," and unless you live in a very remote area, chances are there's one within an hour's or two drive. Here are some possibilities:
- Your local chapter of The American Wine Society
- Your local university or college's adult extension school or school of continuing education
- Local wine events calendars online (Here, too)
- Professional wine schools such as The Wine School of Philadelphia
