Wine Appreciation Classes Offered Next Week

THE Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), the largest global provider of wines and spirits qualifications, is set to hold several events in observance of Wine Education Week which runs from Sept. 9 to 15. This is the first global initiative of WSET and it coincides with the program’s 50th anniversary.

Wine Education Week is a international events that promote WSET’s mission to arm wine consumers as well as trade professionals with greater knowledge that can be very useful and stimulating at the same time.

In Manila, the Wine Story Academy, which is Manila’s first Approved Program Provider of WSET qualifications, will be holding a series of events — including food and wine pairing, tastings of regionally themed wine flights, and wine classes — to educate wine enthusiasts. Serving as venues for the events are Wine Story and Planet Grapes.

On Sept. 11 and 12, the walk-around tasting will be held in Planet Grapes, Shangri-La Plaza Mall from 7-9 p.m., with tickets priced at P1,000 per person. Old World wines from Italy, Spain, Germany, and Portugal will be featured on Sept. 11 in the event entitled “Old World Wines: A Taste of Tradition.” On Sept. 12 it is “New World Classics” with selections from Argentina, Australia, the US (California), Chile, New Zealand, and South Africa.

On Sept. 13 and 14, the events will be held at Wine Story, Shangri-La Plaza Mall. There will be “Tour de France” walk-around tasting on Sept. 13, 7-9 p.m., featuring a wine flight from the wine regions of Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy, Alsace, and the Rhone Valley. Tickets are P1,200.

On Sept. 14, there will be a day-long event called “WinEd: Wine Appreciation through Education.” Back-to-back wine classes will be held hourly from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. There will also be interactive wine games and activities for budding as well as seasoned wine enthusiasts. These activities will be followed by a “wine career chat” at 7 p.m. about wine-related careers, with a panel of professionals representing various fields such as culinary, sommelierie, media, education, and retail. There are limited seats available at “WinEd: Wine Appreciation through Education.” A ticket costs P1,500.

The Wine Story Academy event series is being held in partnership with Schott Zwiesel stemware exclusively distributed by Garden Barn, Inc. in the Philippines.