For the true wine lover, wine is a constant tasting of discovery. This is what the newcomer and the veteran wine lover have in common: the engagement of tasting a new grape, or a new place, or a new style from everywhere around the world. In this class, we’re discovering Croatia’s long history of growing one of our favorite wine grapes already – Tribidrag – which we call Zinfandel, so everyone will be feeling at home right away.
Meet Posip, a full-bodied, seafood ready white wine that grows naturally right near the ocean. Zinfandel is one of the genetic parents of Plavac Mali, Croatia’s signature grape. You’re going to learn all these new grapes and some new geography, but most importantly, you’re tasting a unique world of wine styles for the very first time with great education and like-minded wine and food lovers.
Bread, cheese, olives and antipasto are served with class to help everyone start experimenting with wine and food combinations.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
“Discovery Series” classes are Level 1 introductory courses for beginners and enthusiasts. It assumes some exposure to wine but little or no formal wine knowledge. This program is appropriate for both consumers and professionals in all wine, food, hospitality and service industries.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
Students will learn technical wine tasting, the major wine grapes, wine and food pairing basics, and fundamentals of wine style. The emphasis in Level 1 classes is on providing an overview of wine and wine tasting, plus an introduction to wine and food pairing concepts.
PROGRAM FORMAT
2 hour classroom program
6 – 8 wines tasted
PROGRAM SYLLABUS
TASTING LIST (tentative – subject to change)
Terra Madre Posip Premium 2018
Terra Madre Plavac Mali Rose 2018
Rizman Plavac Mali 2015
Rizman Tribidrag (Zinfandel) 2016
Volarevic Plavac Mali 2015
Terra Madre Plavac Mali Premium 2016
Terra Madre Plavac Mali Barrique 2016
Volarevic Plavac Mali Gold Edition 2013
REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS
Guests, students and certificate candidates must meet the legal minimum age for the retail purchase of alcoholic beverages in the country where the program is being held: 21 in the USA and China.
YOUR EDUCATOR
JONATHON ALSOP is founder & executive director of the Boston Wine School, author of The Wine Lover’s Devotional and In Vino Veritas, and a commentator for National Public Radio on WGBH | Boston Public Radio and Under The Radar.
He began writing about wine, food and travel in 1988 and emerged as a wine expert through his syndicated wine column. He has contributed numerous articles to the Associated Press, Frequent Flyer Magazine, La Vie Claire, Beverage Business Magazine, Mobil Travel Guides, Fodor’s Travel Guides, Boston Globe, and many others.
Jonathon founded the Boston Wine School in 2000 where he teaches wine and food classes in a dedicated 100% snob-free zone. His new book Wine Life: A Collection Of Verses will be published in 2020.
VENUE
SOLERA – A SHRINE TO WINE is a neighborhood specialty wine store nestled in the heart of Roslindale Square (Boston). The store, now in its 18th year is warmly decorated in green and deep purple resembling the colors of the grapes and filled with rack after rack of “offbeat wines”, pretty much everything a modern wine geek seeks out and loves, at more than reasonable prices.
With nearly 500 bottle selections from across the globe, unlike the monster chain stores and supermarkets, Solera takes a back seat to none and offers a stellar sampling of the world’s best and some unusual vineyards with average prices from 10 to 20 dollars or more, if your budget allows. Since wine education, and customer service are vital to our business, individual attention to the customer is the reason why the press has designated the Solera staff as “well versed grape-talkers”. When you want to smarten up on your wine there is no better place to do just that than in this little gem of a store, where wine is constantly being discussed with purpose and a smile!