If you are up to date on what is currently happening on the blog, you know I have started taking a wine certification course. If you are REALLY up to date on my blog, you may know that I graduated from culinary school in May and after a summer of dealing with health problems, I will be foundering my way into a new career. At any rate, since wine consumption has absolutely skyrocketed in the last 10 years turning out a whole phalanx of people knowledgeable about the virtues of fermented grape juice, I knew this Wine certification course would be a terrific asset to my culinary career, and in some ways a necessity for success. And since I am leaning towards the personal chef track and offering services for dinner parties and such, this would make my appeal a bit higher. Several people have expressed interest in knowing what goes on in a Professional Wine Certification course. Well, it’s simple. We drink wine. Lots of wine. Lots of good wine. And we talk about it. But it is WAY more complex than just that.
The instructor was my favorite one from my culinary days, as the course is taught at the same school. She is an absolute hoot, and when she gets a little wine in her, she becomes hysterical. Plus she is as genuine as they get and I think highly of that in a person. Not to mention her incredible depth of knowledge about all things wine related. The course is not a Sommelier type, those are much more intensive. What the course teaches is the different nuances associated with different wines from all over the world. We study geography (in the wine world- terroir is the key; the tiny details of soil composition, topographical influences, climate and weather that affect the taste of the grape) We study the different varieties of grape and what they taste like as a cold climate wine (most of France is considered cold climate, except the Rhone region in the South) and a warm climate wine (like California’s Napa Valley or Australia) We taste anywhere from 15-20 wines per night (the key is TASTE….we do not drink excessively, most pours are about 1 1/2 oz) where we apply the standards of swirl, smell, sip, swish, savor and swallow (or spit, if you are so inclined- which we do when we encounter a wine that….ugh….is nasty) We evaluate what aroma is present…is it fruity, floral, mineral, complex? What elements are we smelling? Stone fruits? Citrus? Wet rocks? (yes, you do get that scent!) We evaluate what we taste…is it lemon, mossy, earthy, grassy, pepper, spice, leather, smoke? Certain grape varietals have very distinctive scents- any wine with a blend of Cabernet Franc, for instance, will have the undeniable scent of green peppers, and I have discovered I do not like this in a wine probably because I am not a fan of them in my food. We evaluate the wine for acidity….does it dry out the mouth indicating the presence of tannins, or is it highly acidic wine that makes you salivate? We learn about growing the grapes, harvesting, wine making, aging the wine, making sparkling wine (DON’T call it Champagne unless the grapes are actually grown in the Champagne region of France!!! This is a BIG deal in the wine world) We learn about what grapes grow best in what climates- warmer climates favor red grapes and colder climes make for better white grape growth. We learn about proper service temperatures, proper methods of serving wine, food and wine pairing (the book is EXHAUSTIVE in it’s listings- an absolute treasure trove!) wine storage, and a million other things. It is extremely comprehensive and is designed for people in the hospitality industry, for the most part to educate and de-mystify wine.
We are educated to hold our own when ordering wine and dealing with it, instead of being at the mercy of someone who thinks they are somehow better than everyone else because they know about wine; like they should be worshipped, put on a pedestal and sheathed in gold. If you ever deal with wine in a restaurant you may have encountered someone like that, hopefully you didn’t, and this course is set up to give us all the knowledge we need to put those high-n-mighty’s in their place. Wine is meant to be enjoyed by everyone and if you at all interested in it, there are lots of places to go to become more knowledgeable, but quite frankly, nothing beats tasting, tasting and tasting to find what types of wines you like best. Even the pros will tell you that. No one should tell you what wines are best to drink, if one thing this class has shown all of us involved, it’s that 24 different palates will taste 24 different things. I have known for a long time that I prefer dry wines with lots of flavor, both red and white. Someone else finds dry wines too overpowering, and prefers them with a sweeter edge. And as for food pairing, forget the tired, old mantra of white wine with white food and red with red. It’s outdated and old hat. It’s flavors that need to be paired, not color. You miss out on some awesome stuff with that old route. And if you’re confused and need some assistance, come and ask me. I wil do my best to steer you in the right direction.
