by Adam Chase | Mar 13, 2023
Many people who take WSET courses go on to great wine career opportunites. Others use their WSET education to forge lifelong relationships that open the door to exciting wine and food travel, as well as unique cultural experiences. Two people who studied WSET Level 3 Wine and Level 4 Diploma with Grape Experience have gone on to become exceptional producers of one of the most difficult plants/grapes to work with: Pinot Noir Michael Green who now owns Elswick Vineyards focuses on grape growing, while Dave Szkutak produces and sells Pinot Noir at Samsara Wines.
Michael Green’s love of wine and winemaking has been with him since he was born – it is in his blood. His great great grandfather immigrated to the Napa Valley in the 1860s from Germany. Michael’s maternal grandparents invested in property in Anderson Valley to grow grapes which they eventually sold to his his paternal grandparents, Donald and Maureen Green. They passed it down to Michael. The name Elswick comes from the street in Liverpool England on which Donald Green grew up.
Michael’s commitment to his craft is exceptional. He focuses on Anderson Valley Pinot Noir from 3 unique vineyard blocks. The fruit is sold onto winemakers for premium Pinot Noir that has rich dark fruit character with great vibrancy from acidity that Anderson Valley vineyard sites uniquely impart.
Dave Szkutak, along with his wife Joan, now run Samsara Wine, a producer of premium Sta. Rita Hills wines in Santa Barbara County. For those of you unaware of Sta. Rita Hills (take a WSET course and learn), it is perhaps the site of the most premium Pinot Noir vineyards in California and profiled in the film, Sideways.
Samsara makes individual Pinot Noir wines from specific historic Sta. Rita Hills vineyards. Each wine differs based on unique terroir, but all have the lush dark fruit that the region is known for along with fine, ripe tannins and crisp acidity. The wines are exceptional with layers of flavor and a long evolving finish. You can see and purchase current releases at https://www.samsarawine.com
Dave said of his WSET Diploma studies, “Having gone through this program, I now have a much greater appreciation for what goes into making the style of wine that we produce.”
WSET education empowers individuals and gives them the confidence to build a life around wine, spirits or sake that is meaningful and profound. Michael and Dave are just two of the thousands of individuals who have made WSET an integral part of their career path.
by Adam Chase | Dec 28, 2022
The holiday season is one of the biggest wines sales and drinking periods of the year. 2023 represents a great time to try new wines. Below is our thinking on what drink in the year ahead.
Georgian Wines
The growth of wines from the country of Georgia has been explosive. Grape Experience and Commonwealth Wine School educator Erika Frey has become an expert on the Wines of Georgia and Lisa Granik, MW has literally written the book on the subject. Try wines from the deep red and crisp Saperavi grape or the aromatic, tropical notes of the white wine Rkatsiteli. Both of these grapes are now getting attention by US growers, particularly in New York’s Finger Lakes.
Unique Wines from Australia’s Hunter Valley Semillon and Yarra Valley
Most people think Barossa Shiraz or easy drinking wines like Yellowtail when they think Australia. But there are some sensational styles that go well beyond these basics. In New South Wale’s Hunter Valley, northeast of Sydney, Semillon is king. This crisp dry white wine comes in several different price points and styles and my top producer is Tyrrell’s https://tyrrells.com.au. This winery is family run and dates to the 19th century. Their Semillon is dry, layered but still crisp and delicious. Tyrrell’s also creates some of the best New World Chardonnay I have ever had.
In the Yarra Valley in the State of Victoria, northeast of Melbourne a group of young first-generation winemakers are also doing great things. Look for Yarra Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir. One of my favorite producers is Mac Forbes Wines https://macforbes.com/. Mac makes all the standard varietals and is experimenting with varieties such as Nebbiolo and Aligote. The care he and his team take shows in every sip.
Rueda and Zweigelt
Spain and Austria offer two other wines that we recommend. Rueda, a white wine made from the grape Verdejo is an unexpected treat for first time triers. The bright fruit from the ripe Duero Valley growing conditions is balanced by perfect crisp acidity, which is maintained in the grapes during the dramatic nighttime temperature drops. Try the wines of Jorge Ordoñez https://www.jorgeordonezselections.com/wines.php?regionName=rueda. The company selects great smaller lot wines.
In Austria Zweigelt is prized as a red wine for its ability to pair with just about any food or to drink as a stand-alone beverage. It has vibrant red, black and blue berry, light tannins and grip acidity. The variety is both easy to drink but also layered with flavor so that it stops you cold in a good way! Erich Sattler wines makes a great Zweigelt http://www.erichsattler.at.
One of the best things about wine is how many varieties and producers are out there to try and the constant innovation in wines and winemaking. Make 2023 a year to taste something new!
by Adam Chase | Jul 14, 2022
Two and a half years ago COVID 19 changed our world. Wine Education was particularly rocked by the virus that, at first, prevented classes from meeting in person. Although that shock to our education system was difficult, it has actually resulted in significant improvements, particularly at Grape Experience. COVID encouraged us to find new technology to deliver wine education and new methods to provide tasting samples. Although we are now back to in person courses, Grape Experience has incorporated the learnings over the last 30 months to radically improve our overall WSET wine, spirit, and sake education.
Incorporating Zoom
Zoom is now a part of every Grape Experience WSET Level. Regardless of whether you are taking a course via the WSET self-directed Online Classroom or through a Grape Experience run program, you have access to Zoom-based real-time and recorded lectures. This allows us to connect in virtual-person and make sure key concepts are understood. It also allows Grape Experience to highlight key success factors to passing WSET exams. The result is an extra layer of wine education that gives students confidence they are mastering concepts and building knowledge.
A New Grape Experience Proprietary Online Platform
The technology that enables Zoom led us, in collaboration with our partners at Cambridge’s Commonwealth Wine School, to establish a proprietary study support online platform. All WSET Level 1, 2 and 3 and Diploma students now have access to a unique site where they can watch recorded theory lectures and gain access to quizzes and short answer exam sample questions. They can access the site whenever and wherever they choose. A missed wine class session in no longer a major issue since the student can view it at any time – or if they attended the class, re-visit the lecture to confirm their understanding of the material. The new platform also provides the student a single source for special offers and access to a wealth of study materials.
Wine Samples Delivered to Your Door
We have partnered with both Master of the World and Wine.com to provide a means for getting tasting samples for Online courses and enhancing the tastings of in person WSET classes. Select Online Zoom classes now come with free 187ML size tasting samples sent directly to their home or office. All students, regardless of class format, now have access to a discounted curated set of wines through Wine.com for each WSET Level 1-3. Students can purchase the entire set of wines for the Level or just individual wines.
The result of COVID 19 on Grape Experience Wine & Spirit School education has been innovation that better prepares and empowers wine professionals and enthusiasts. Our WSET classes are now more dynamic than ever, and we will continue to find new ways of making the wine education experience even better!
by Adam Chase | Jun 15, 2022
Chances are you’re familiar with the standard wine grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah, Pinot Grigio, and the rest. These staples have been used to create fantastic wines for hundreds and hundreds of years, many with their own legendary origin stories. However, what you may not be familiar with is the surge of new grape varieties that have been developed within the last 100 years, with new ones coming along every year.
Across the US research facilities have been working to create grape varieties that can be used to create high-quality wines and be tolerant of disease, pests, and difficult weather. By experimenting with traditional grape species from Europe, ex: vitis vinifera, and native North American species, ex: vitis labrusca, researchers at institutions such as Cornell University, the University of Minnesota, University of California at Davis, and the University of Florida are pushing the boundaries associated with traditional grape varieties, and the wines that can be made from them. Cornell University has the longest tradition of creating new grape varieties, with their efforts extending back to 1888, producing over 60, and setting the groundwork for this pioneering field of research.
Each new variety created is called either a ‘hybrid’ or a ‘cross’, depending on how they are made. A hybrid is a new variety made by breeding two grapes of different species, whereas a Cross is a new variety made by breeding two varieties of grapes within the same species. This gets especially complex when additional species of grapes are introduced, such as the new hybrid created at UC Davis using the European species vitis vinifera with a species native to the American South-West vitis arizonica. This 20 year long venture culminated in 2020 with the creation of five new grape varieties, all designed to be more sustainable and resistant to temperature fluctuations and increases in disease due to climate change.
With all of that in mind, let’s dive into some of the more popular creations you might come across!
Reds
Chambourcin: Originally developed in France in 1963, Chambourcin grapes are a French-American hybrid designed to be resistant to humidity and disease, and be able to grow abundantly in both cooler and warmer climates. Wines made from this teinturier (‘red fleshed’) grape are strong in flavor, with moderate tannins and high acidity. It has rich flavors of black cherry and red plum, with green herbaceous notes and black pepper on the finish. It is usually oaked to soften the acidity and is often served chilled due to its vigorous flavor.
Frontenac (A.k.a. Frontenac Noir): Developed in 1978 by the University of Minnesota, this hybrid was designed to be extremely cold hardy, as well as resistant to diseases such as powdery mildew and botrytis. Wines made from Frontenac often have low tannins and high acid, with the grapes naturally high sugar level resulting in an elevated alcohol level in the finished wine. It has ripe red cherry and red currant flavors, with warm baking spice, sweet tobacco, and chocolate notes on oaked versions.
Whites
Traminette: This cross was first created in 1965 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and was further cultivated by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station grape breeding program at Cornell. Traminette is extremely cold resistant, even more so than its parent grape Gewürztraminer, and is also partially resistant to several fungal diseases. It is grown across the country and has found a special home in the Finger Lakes AVA of New York, resulting in wines that range from dry to sweet, with floral and spicy notes on the palate.
Cayuga White: This hybrid was created at Cornell University and was first planted in 1945 on the northern edge of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region. Its parent grapes are Schuyler, a table grape, and Seyval Blanc, itself a French-American hybrid often used in the creation of new grape varieties. Cayuga was designed to be disease and cold resistant, although its greatest strengths are its high yields and ease of wine production. Wines made from Cayuga White can be either still or sparkling, with crisp green apple notes in cooler climates, and ripe stone fruit notes in warmer climates.
We encourage you to search out some of these wines especially if you travel to New York’s wine regions!
Check out our partner in New England where this post originated Commonwealth Wine Schoo: https://www.commonwealthwineschool.com
by Adam Chase | Sep 12, 2021
In light of our exciting news regarding the merger between Grape Experience’s East Coast WSET operations and Commonwealth Wine School (CWS) in Cambridge, MA, we caught up with CWS founder and director Jessica Sculley. In this interview, we learn about Jessica’s extensive background in education and how she’s applied it, coupled with an innovative approach, in building one of the Greater Boston Area’s leading wine schools.
You founded Commonwealth Wine School after a long career as a math and science teacher. What made you transition to the wine world?
Although wine was always on the table when I was growing up—pretty typical for an Italian family—I wasn’t hooked until the age of 17, when I visited a friend in Montalcino in Tuscany (the legal drinking age then was 16 in Italy). I was completely entranced. Maybe it was the old farmhouse on the Tuscan hillside, and the delicious food, but the wine brought out flavors (and no doubt some intoxication) that I hadn’t expected. I wanted to learn more.
After college and grad school I began my career as a math and science teacher, tasting good wines when I could, reading a bit here and there, but otherwise unable to find the time or the funds to study wine more intensively. I found the first WSET Level 1 course ever to be offered in Pittsburgh at a local wine shop and completed the rest of the WSET wine certifications with Grape Experience. I then left the classroom and began teaching classes for Grape Experience.
In fall 2019, the time seemed right to join the spectacular educators and renowned schools for wine education in one place. With the support of fellow educators, I signed the lease on our Harvard Square location in February 2020.
How did you adapt your approach as an educator to WSET courses? How did you develop your wine skills?
Though teaching math and teaching about wine may seem unrelated, they’re not. In all areas of education, it’s necessary to engage students so that they have a stake in the subject they are learning about—it’s not just about exam results.
As teachers we have options: we can present information and tell students to memorize it or we can lay the groundwork of understanding by presenting information, encouraging active participation, problem solving, and interacting with each other as well as with the subject. The WSET curriculum is well suited to this kind of educational structure.
My own wine skills were developed slowly, and are still being developed! When I was focused on training my palate early on, I would go into the grocery store and stick my nose into every bit of produce, and into the bulk spice racks (of course we can’t do this now). I’d make flash cards for myself when I needed to remember facts or figures that wouldn’t register any other way. But the most important thing that I did, and that I still do, is teach. I think that teaching is one of the best ways to learn anything. There’s nothing like researching, organizing and gathering thoughts to create a presentable story to other people to help you learn a topic.
Commonwealth Wine School’s faculty and staff consist of an impressive list of highly respected wine professionals. In your view, what are the traits that make for great WSET educators?
I feel so grateful to be part of the incredible group of scholars and educators that we have at Commonwealth Wine School. As I mentioned before, it’s not enough to just know the material to be a great WSET educator, you have to be able to explain something from several different perspectives. You must ask students questions that allow them to make their own connections and build their own knowledge base. Above all it’s important to create a safe learning environment where everyone feels comfortable asking questions and sharing their thoughts.
The pandemic has required that schools all over the world change how they deliver curriculum to their students. What are some ways that CWS has done this? What has worked and what hasn’t?
The most obvious change was going virtual during the initial stages of the pandemic through Zoom courses. When we finally opened our doors in Harvard Square, we invested in a SWIVL robot in order to teach concurrently in person and virtually. This allows us to present a live class to a group in our classroom, while also allowing students to tune in from home and participate interactively with the class. This is a technology that we are still perfecting since it’s clear the hybrid learning format is here to stay.
Then there’s tasting together – a really important part of wine education. Last October we began creating sample tasting kits for students to pick up and taste along at home. Now we work with a certified wine shipper to deliver these sample kits to students around the country to taste along with classes. Creating these kits are time consuming and expensive, and ensuring they stay fresh and ship well has taken a lot of experimentation. Still, they offer a solution for when we’re not able to taste together in person.
In the classroom, we ask everyone to wear masks while not actively tasting. All of our faculty and students must now also be fully vaccinated. My main goal is to keep everyone healthy and we will continue operating in a way that is in the best interest of public health, whatever that may be.
I’m sure we will see more e-learning modules, which we will be rolling out this fall. These will be for students who want to learn about wine, but have to do it on their own schedule. Stay tuned!
If you had to pick wines from only wine region to take to a desert island, which one?
In the end, I really am a devotee of Burgundian wines … I think that the Chardonnays and the Pinot Noirs from this little slice of France will suit me fine (assuming I’ve got good producers and vintages with me!). If I’m lucky, I’ll have some Crémant de Bourgogne to celebrate when I’m rescued.
