The essential wine course

Welcome!

If you're looking to develop your knowledge and confidence with wine, you're in the right place. The essential wine course covers varietals, styles, regions, food matching tips and more, all taught by one of Australia's premier wine critics. The videos are supported by beautiful tasting notes and interactive questions to test your knowledge. See the course content below for more detail, and the FAQ section at the bottom for any questions.

1

Introduction
- Welcome to 'The essential wine course'
- Please enjoy wine responsibly
2

Everything you always wanted to know
- Making red wine
- Making White Wine
- Taste wine like a pro
- Spitting gracefully
- Bottle shape - does it matter?
- Serving temperature - is my wine too hot/cold?
- Why wine tastes different in different glasses
- When wine goes wrong (faults)
- Growing old gracefully? Ageing wines
- Good crop, bad crop - what difference does vintage make?
- Oak - what wood does to your wine
3

Sparkling, Whites and Rosé
- Sparkling wine - overview
- Champagne - the king of celebration
- Prosecco - light, refreshing and delicious
- Australian Sparkling - exceptional value, exceptional quality
- Sparkling Rosé - pink bubbles
- Sparkling Red - uniquely Australian
- Alsace blend - simply brilliant & made for food
- Chardonnay - far beyond the styles of the 90s
- Fiano - an Italian made for Australia?
- Grüner Veltliner - Austria's great white grape
- Pinot Gris / Grigio - white paint on a white wall?
- Riesling - acidic, floral & refreshing
- Sauvignon Blanc - more than just Marlborough
- Semillon - the Hunter's gift
- Verdelho - the next big thing? Probably not...
- Vermentino - from Sardinia to the world
- Viognier - back from the brink
- Rosé - pale, dry, savoury, perfect
- Orange wine - 2,000 years back to the future
4

Reds, Sweet and Fortified wines
- Bordeaux blend - one of the true classics of the wine world
- Cabernet Sauvignon - classy, tannic and full bodied
- Gamay - light, fruity and fun
- Grenache - a hidden gem & a tapas favourite
- GSM blend - underrated & pizza friendly
- Merlot - "I'm not drinking ****ing Merlot"
- Nebbiolo - an enigma, light coloured & full bodied
- Pinot Noir - the queen of red grapes
- Sangiovese - medium bodied & food friendly
- Shiraz - Australia's great red grape
- Tempranillo - a classy crowd pleaser
- Dessert wine - sweets for my sweet
- Moscato - light, frizzante and sweet
- Muscat - Australian through and through
5

Major regions of Australia
- Adelaide Hills (SA)
- Barossa Valley (SA)
- Beechworth (VIC)
- Canberra District (ACT &NSW)
- Clare Valley (SA)
- Coonawarra (SA)
- Eden Valley (SA)
- Geelong (VIC)
- Grampians (VIC)
- Granite Belt (QLD)
- Great Southern - incl Denmark & Frankland River (WA)
- Heathcote (VIC)
- Hunter Valley (NSW)
- King Valley (VIC)
- Langhorne Creek (SA)
- Macedon Ranges (VIC)
- Margaret River (WA)
- McLaren Vale (SA)
- Mornington Peninsula (VIC)
- Mudgee (NSW)
- Orange (NSW)
- Rutherglen (VIC)
- Tasmania
- Yarra Valley (VIC)
6

Food & wine matching
- Christmas wines
- BBQ wines
- Picnic wines
- Seafood platter wines
- Pizza wines (and other Italian cuisine)
- Sweet tooth - wines for dessert
- Off piste - it shouldn't work but it does
7

Test your knowledge (quizzes)
- Sparkling, Whites & Rosé
- Reds, Sweet and Fortified wines
8

Tasting note book (downloadable)
- The Tasting Glass - tasting note book
9

Free preview content

Over 75 need to know videos

Informative and entertaining 1-2 minute videos giving you the essentials about individual grapes, styles, regions, food matching and more.

Beautiful tasting notes

One page summaries of the essentials, covering aromas & flavours, characteristics (including body, acid and tannins), and prominent regions.

Test your knowledge

Interactive quiz questions on regions, styles and food matching to test your expertise and help you build confidence.

Who teaches this course?
Andrew Graham is the co-founder of The Tasting Glass, and an award winning wine journalist. Andrew holds a Masters in both viticulture and winemaking. Andrew has taught thousands of people about wine during his 20 years in the industry.
How is the course taught?
The course consists of over 75 videos, as well as tasting notes for over 30 wine styles, plus quizzes to test your knowledge.
What level is this course pitched at?
The course is designed to give you a working knowledge of wine, with a particular focus on Australia. Anyone completing the course could expect to have a solid grounding in different styles, regions and general wine knowledge.
What wines or countries does this course focus on?
The course deals with over 30 different wine varietals and styles (see the course contents) - primarily approaching these from an Australian perspective, whilst also covering a wine's spiritual home as appropriate. The world of wine has thousands of grapes varieties and regions - so we can't cover them all! The course is designed to be relevant rather than exhaustive.
How long are the videos?
Each video is 1-2 minutes long and gives you an overview of the wine, characteristics, regions and food matching.
What is the style of the videos?
We believe in an informal but informative approach - so each video contains plenty of information in a relaxed and conversational style.
I have another question!
Sure! We'd love to hear from you - just drop us an email at [email protected] or give us a call on 1300 510 147

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