School Time!

Hello there fellow Wineaux!

Thursday, January 25 marks the first evening of the Wine Sense class that will be taught by Fritz Reese at Community College. The only reason I’m telling you now is because I’m enrolled, and don’t have to worry about a deluge of new students!

This will be the third wine class I’ve taken that Fritz has taught. One was the Wine Sense class that he’s teaching this time, and the other was Wine Sense Visits France, which he taught last Summer/Fall. All of Fritz’s classes are fabulous and his passion for all things wine is evident.

I’ve known Fritz for several years and asked him to submit a bio for the blog. First of all, he’s highly educated and the recipient of multiple awards. However, I was far more interested in his wine history, and am taking this from his note to me. Enjoy!

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As a side note, Mr. Reese is a certified wine Sommelier, graduate of the Advanced School of Wine, in Napa Valley, 1995. He currently teaches wine classes at the Community College in Las Vegas. He does consulting and makes numerous food and wine presentations throughout Southern California and around the country.

And from Fritz:

I have been interested in wine since college…that was a long time ago! For the first 20 some years I was self-taught. I read everything I could, but access to a wide variety of wines to taste was somewhat limited.

In 1994 I decided to attend the Sommelier Certificate course and exam. It was held in San Francisco at the Hilton. It was a demanding two days, for me then.

The following year I attended the Advanced School of Wine and Hospitality. Ms. E. Goldstein hosted this. It is a week long course and a very demanding test of blind tasting and a written exam. When it was still being offered, many said it was the equivalent to the Advanced Sommelier test.

In 1998 I joined the Society of Wine Educators. Their focus is more in line of what I like to do which is to talk and teach about wine. They provide several designations in terms of wine competency. Certified Wine Specialist and their highest designation, which is the highest in this country, is a Certified Wine Educator. It has two blind tasting components. The first blind tasting is for wine faults and the second for identification. The written test is two parts. A hundred twenty questions, true/false or multiple choice. The second part is a written essay. You are provided three topics and then have twenty minutes to write on the chosen topic.

I have passed both tasting parts to the test but I have not passed the written portion. Many have said it is one of the hardest written wine tests in the world. I intend to take and pass the test this year, 2007.

I have consulted on numerous wine projects. I have been employed by a number of large charitable and non-charitable events throughout California, from choosing the wines to making presentations.

I have taught Wine Sense at the Community College of Southern Nevada for 11 years and have also taught at UNLV and numerous local wine classes.

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So there you have it. I don’t know if there is any space left in the class, but I highly encourage those who really want to learn about wines to enroll and enjoy. Click here to go to the description page and link to registration. Hope to see you there!