Ribald annual Ft Mason fun 30 Jan w/ 10,000 party-goers, close to 1,000 wines. Take a taxi.

Zinfandel is so very California. It’s an immigrant, like so many other residents. It has flourished here, like so many other immigrants. It’s unique, yet it can appear in many guises: from chilled, blush-colored quaffers to inky black, semi-sweet after-dinner head-bangers which just invite everyone to leg-wrestle. For decades its most prevalent form was cheap, honest, workingmans’ red wine sold in half-gallon jugs (big discount if you brought your own jugs). Zinfandel goes great with slow-cooked pork, and even better with the blues. In Europe Zinfandel has done for American wine what Levis did for pants.

Background wine education

     Thanks to DNA research by Dr. Carole Meredith at U.C. Davis, we now know Zinfandel grapes came from Croatia, Continue Reading →

      Fundamentals of Taste & Smell on three Monday nights (25 Jan, 1 and 8 Feb) at Fort Mason in San Francisco has sold out. While this news may be mildly inconvenient for prospective students, I’d have to say it is good news for the economy. Bolstered by Gift Certificates from the Christmas season, the class filled up two weeks before the first session.
     The next Fundamentals class at Fort Mason will be a Weekender May 21-23.
     Meanwhile we are also offering a specialty Weekender March 19-21 at Ft. Mason entitled California and Pacific Northwest. This class covers all the best wine growing regions of America’s Left Coast from Ensenada to British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. A number of rare, cult wines are tasted. Take home materials include recommendations on places to eat, and numerous cultural / recreational activities when visiting the region’s various versions of Wine Country.
     There is also a new course coming up in Menlo Park on Wednesday nights starting in February (17 and 24 Feb, 3 Mar). It’s called The Art and Science of Fine Wine. Forty principles which help determine terroir all over the globe are explained and demonstrated with side-by-side wine comparisons. How these differences alter varietal expression are also explored. Finally, winemaker decisions are treated to the same scrutiny. This 3-session course is sophisticated, but entertaining. All the material will be easily understood by moderately intelligent laymen.
     For complete course details, instructor credentials, and online registration visit www.brucecasswinelab.com.

Wine education is a gift which truly keeps on giving. A good wine class pays dividends for a lifetime.

This Christmas give your relatives or business clients something they’ll recall every time they taste a great wine. Give them a Gift Certificate to a completely objective, non-promotional, purely educational Wine Class. They will be thinking of you hundreds of times each year for decades to come.

2010 Wine Classes

in San Francisco and Palo Alto.
     All these classes are three sessions. They meet in the evening from 7:00 pm to about 9:15. We taste 12 to 16 wines in each session, all side-by-side in groups of two or three. There is 30 to 45 minutes of well prepared lecture (with handouts and slides) each night.

Fundamentals of Taste & Smell Series $229 single / $429 couple
     Very popular class. Good place to start. Everyone has a good time.
     Three classes offered: Mondays, starting late January in SF; Tuesdays in July in Menlo Park; and Thursdays, starting in late September in SF.

The Art and Science of Wine $249 single / $469 couple
     New class. Covers all the general factors of climate and soil which define regionality in wines, and how those influence the taste of the major grape varieties. Also teases apart grower and winemaker decisions to show how these affect wine style.
     Two classes offered: Wednesdays, starting mid-February, in Menlo Park; and Tuesdays in April in SF.

Specialty Regional Classes
     Four separate classes covering all the major producing regions of the world, what wines they do best, and why. [see Class Schedule on this website.]

Weekender Wine Classes in San Francisco

     These are also 3-session classes, except they meet over a single weekend to encourage out-of-town visitors. Class totals about seven hours out of the whole weekend, so there is plenty of time for seeing San Francisco’s famous sights. Class on Friday starts at 7:00 pm, but Sat is from 5:00 pm to 7:15, and Sun is 11:00 am to 1:30. [Our website has pages of recommendations for places to stay, eat, and enjoy leisure activities. We even have maps for Wine Bar Walking Tours.]
     CA & Pac NW is taught in March; Fundamentals is taught in May; and a specialty highlights class, Europe vs. New World, is taught over Halloween Weekend at the end of October (how very San Francisco).

Wine Education Vacation

in the Sierra Foothills.
     Nevada City is located about an hour east of Sacramento, about halfway to Tahoe and Reno. Since the 1860’s Nevada City has been the cultural centerpiece of California’s Gold Country. There’s live music, good restaurants, a great deal of art, quaint B-n-B’s, boutique shopping, wonderful scenery, and myriad outdoor activities. Everything about Nevada City screams “Romantic Weekend Getaway.”
     We’re offering seven fine wine events to add that touch of sophistication which will draw your “Let’s take off for the mountains” invitation back from the lurid precipice.
     Four Friday night Varietal Classes starting at 7:00 pm: Feb 12; Mar 12; Apr 9; and May 14. Nevada City is about 2,600 feet of elevation, so it’s just below the serious snow line. Then we will do a Fundamentals Weekender in August. Then two Regional Classes Oct 8 and Nov 12. [See website for suggested restaurants, accommodations, and fun things to do.]

Wine Education Gift Certificates

     If you give a friend, relative, or business colleague a Gift Certificate this Christmas for our classes, they can employ it any time they want during 2010. Moreover, it can be for any dollar amount you choose – just phone (415) 512-9318 to make those arrangements. The recipient can apply your Gift dollars to whatever class suits their interest and schedule. Gift Certificates are quick and easy. They can be sent to you or to the recipient electronically – so this deal can be concluded right up to the last moment. And the classes are a real good time – everyone enjoys themselves.