A leading online purveyor of kosher wines, KosherWine.com has now launched an education component to its website offerings. Starting July 22 is the second-ever run of KosherWine.com Academy’s comprehensive “Introduction to Wine” course, taught by KosherWine.com lead wine consultant Brad du Plessis and others. The six-part course is live and interactive, and is delivered via Zoom. Each session lasts about 45 minutes and will be held on six consecutive Thursday evenings beginning the week following Tisha B’Av.
The KosherWine.com staff believe that a more educated kosher-keeping community will continue to improve and elevate kosher options and kosher wine making over time. “We feel that just a little bit of education brings the consumer to the next level. They are then able to enjoy wine more, and we are able to bring in more options,” said Eric Golman, KosherWine.com’s director of marketing. Golman shared that in addition to providing access to many worldwide wine brands, such as Herzog, Tabor, Yarden and others, the website is also a distributor of its own line of exclusive wines, including the well-regarded Sheldrake Point Riesling from the New York Finger Lakes, and Sleight of Hand Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, from Walla Walla, Washington.
Classes include an deep dive into a series of topics followed by an interactive wine tasting where students will learn the techniques to systematically taste and evaluate wine on their own. The class will familiarize students with the winemaking processes, viticulture, major regions, pairing, and most importantly, how to become a better wine taster to truly evaluate a wine’s quality and identify what wines you really love and why. When the class is completed, students will understand how to identify oak influence in wine and how to decipher various international wine labels.
By the end of the course students will understand more about the wines they enjoy and can successfully pair wines with food, and will be more confident making informed choices about the wines they buy. The wine course will provide basic knowledge about wine, sufficient for people who like wine, anyone aged 21 and above, who would like to know more about it.
The course was run for the first time this past spring, with rave reviews from participants. “The course was excellent in introducing inexpensive kosher wines from France, Israel and Chile. I especially enjoyed the comparison of two similar wines and the subtle differences between them,” said George, a course participant.
Joshua, another participant, wrote, “This academy program really helped me learn the language of describing wines and appreciating all types of wines, without becoming snobby (I hope!). The wines we tried were all delicious (and great value!) and it was fun to compare and taste test between them.”
Beth, part of a couple who signed up for the course, said the following: “My husband and I treated ourselves to this course as an anniversary present and we thoroughly enjoyed it! The wine selection was great and really helped illustrate and reinforce each of the concepts covered. We highly recommend this for a fun weekly date night and an opportunity to deepen your wine knowledge and appreciation.”
The class is free with the purchase of a curated case of 12 wines (link here: https://tinyurl.com/dre6z63n) for $249.99. The deadline is the week of July 11 to ensure delivery of the wine. Those who buy the case, which is planned to include a Yatir Forest Mount Amasa Red Blend, a Shiran Chardonnay, a Twin Suns Sauvignon Blanc, and a Louis Blanc Côtes du Rhône, will receive automatic access to the course. Everyone in the cohort will receive the same wines, so tasting them together from home will be a collaborative and interactive experience. The classes will also be recorded, in case a class is missed.
