I'm tutoring online wine appreciation courses tasting champagne and Prosecco, as well as helping you choose the right wines for Christmas, as part of the adult education courses offered by Buckinghamshire Adult Learning. Starting on 17th November 2020, these hobby courses will allow you the opportunity to sip and learn online. Primarily designed for Buckinghamshire residents, these online courses are also open to you if you live in another part of the UK but you'll pay slightly more.
These new wine courses are designed as an online class in a glass where anyone with an interest in wine can log on and learn, taste and chat with other wine enthusiasts.
I started running popular wine tasting courses in 2002 through adult education evening classes and these courses were so popular they were regularly over-subscribed. These new online versions will offer the same chance to learn about wine in an informal way but have been specifically designed to use the online Google Meet system so that everyone can see and hear each other through a webcam in real-time and non-one gets left behind. You'll open your wines at home and we'll all have a go at tasting them together - tasting is a key part of learning.
They'll also be in-depth knowledge of places, grape varieties and wine styles backed up by shared maps and summaries, plus links and wine lists available in the any-time area of Google Classroom accessible to anyone enrolling.
Those new to online learning needn't be afraid of not knowing how to get started as Buckinghamshire Adult Learning has a dedicated website explaining how to get online and what's involved.
There's an online afternoon Sparkling Wines masterclass on Saturday 5th December 2020 which explains why champagne is different to Prosecco and cava and a longer 5-week course runnning on Tuesday evenings (17th November 2020 - 15th December 2020) that covers grape varieties and food and wine matching.
The cost of wine is not covered by the course fee and you will need to purchase the wines to be covered during each class - three sparkling wines for the Saturday afternoon masterclass and two wines per evening session for the 5-week course - expect to spend between £6.00 and £20.00 a bottle. These will not be specific wines from a specific retailer but wines that can be found in many places and at various prices. A list of suggested wines will be provided along with places to purchase – both online and locally - on booking the course.
Buckinghamshire champagne specialist Moore Champagne is offering a 10% discount to anyone enrolling, while national online wine specialist Virgin Wines is also offering a special discount of 15% to students.