This Ain’t Yo’ Momma’s Wine 101!! The Philosophy of Combatting Swirl Envy.

We get a lot of questions asking about our special (that means “different”) type of wine classes.

Well, this ain’t yo’ Momma’s Wine 101.

In fact, except for educating the palate, there’s very little about actual wine that’s talked about. It’s all about progressing from rank neophyte to wine snob.

Let me tell you a little about my history.

For nearly twenty years, I have been doing some sort of adult training, education, and instruction. Nearly all of this experience has been in the Information Technology (computer) field. Hey, I know DOS!

When I first came to Las Vegas 14 years ago this month, I was the new kid on the block. That meant that I got the, um, “less than desirable” teaching assignments. And I enthusiastically made them my own.

One of my favorite courses was called “PC Basics.” I loved this class because I was able to take folks who were completely clueless about computers and turn them into PC whiz kids. So what was it about this class that made it so special? After all, there were lots of classes on Word Processing, Spreadsheets, How to Create Graphics, How to Use an Email System, blah blah blah. My place in this schema was simple: how can you create a spreadsheet if you don’t even know how to turn on a computer? If you don’t know what the buttons on a mouse mean or how to hold it, then the concept of “point and click” is meaningless. So I took my students by the hand (figuratively speaking), and led them into the fascinating world of bits and bytes. And made fanatics of nearly all of them.

I took that same philosophy into the world of wine. How can the concepts of regions, varietals, and terroir make sense if you can’t correctly hold a wine glass? What good is a restaurant wine list going to do for you if the language makes no sense? And, most importantly, how can you look cool among a bunch of wine snobs?

That’s where Vegas Wineaux and Combatting Swirl Envy come in! We take you through the very basics of wine … it is even *pre* Wine 101! It’s all about understanding less than the basics so that the most elementary of wine classes makes sense. I assist students in sharpening their observation skills, honing their wine drinking skills, and learning how to understand and conduct themselves during a wine tasting – whether it’s at a store, an event (think UNLVino), or a winery. In other words, they are so comfortable with the very basics that they are more than ready to really learn about wines and to kick their skills up notches unknown by mankind. (thanks, Emeril). They are also more at ease in their own familiarity of setting up their home wine collections and sharing their wines with (sometimes better wine-educated) friends.

So how has this helped them? I’ve made many of them into wine fanatics just as I made my PC folks into computer geeks! They can’t wait to get into the next level of wine classes! What’s even more fun is that they scoff at those people on TV and in the movies who don’t even “get” basic wine tasting etiquette. (“He gets paid millions of dollars and can’t even hold a damn glass right!”) Love it!

Are the Combatting Swirl Envy classes working? You bet!

So what’s in the future for Vegas Wineaux? Look for Combatting Swirl Envy classes on both sides of the Valley, especially as the weather warms up and we look forward to summer sipping. Wine-free wine classes are also in development for those who want to learn about wine etiquette but don't want to drink wines. My students are learning enough to be able to pour and speak knowledgeably about wines, which several of them will be doing at an upcoming volunteer event. Yes, they have their TAM cards! The first Vegas Wineaux Paso Robles Experience is being planned for this summer. Very special and different Vegas Wineaux Gear™ is being readied for sale on the website. Whew! And there’s more, which we’ll share with you as the planning and negotiations progress. It’s all very exciting and fun!

I hope that you are enjoying our newest venture to serve the readers of the Blog and other wine folks: our new newsletter! While the Blog keeps you up to date on what’s going on in Vegas and with Vegas Wineaux, the newsletter shares bits and pieces of “real time” news and detailed tasting notes.

Enjoy it all! I’m so happy to see that the subscriber list is growing and that many of you are dropping wonderful notes and emails of encouragement and enthusiasm. Stay with us and watch us as we grow!

Nagging, Classes, and Vegas Wineaux does Tasting Notes!

Consider this a weekly nag! I’m encouraging everyone to subscribe to this Blog’s updates for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that it saves me from LOTS of emailing. I have a lot of loyal readers (I get letters …!) but subscribing would give me the ability to better track everyone. On the right-hand side somewhere (there really should be an arrow pointing) there are now two ways that you can subscribe: one by the “regular” email way and the other via RSS feed. I have a Widget on my Google homepage and it serves as a very annoying reminder that it’s time for me to update! Yes, I created a Google Widget, so if Google is your home page, you can find the Widget and save it! And then let me know so that I can remove your name from my ever-growing update list.

I’ve been very happy with the CSE-Lite! classes. New people, enthusiasm, and new wine fans who are ready to go forth and learn more are the result of attending a Combatting Swirl Envy – Lite! class.

I had to reschedule the first class on the west side due to a conflict, but West Valley folks should not despair! There is another one already scheduled for early March. I will have more information next entry!

The board meeting for Vegas Wineaux took place this last weekend, and I’d like to share my tasting notes of some of the nice wines that we had.

The first wine was 2004 Hendry Block 7 Zinfandel. A deep, inky purple, the wine resonated with notes of rich summer berries, vanilla, flowers, spice, pepper, and dark fruit. Silky and luscious, it had a rich mouthfeel and was quite the toothstainer. Tannins were well-integrated, and the structure would stand up well to barbeque, although all we had were noshes.

The second wine was one of those from my treasure trove: 2000 Vergenoegd Estate Grown Shiraz from South Africa. This was truly unusual upon opening. I opened it well in advance because I knew from experience that this bruiser needs at least three hours decanting time. The cork was incredibly difficult to remove from the bottle, but oh man! The wine end of the cork was nearly black and earned a couple of double takes. A small sample was poured immediately into a glass before the rest was upended into a decanter.

This wine has the potential for aging. With barely an age ring, the rich purple/red/garnet color belies its eight years. The first sip was exactly as I had expected – funky, astringent, muddled, with the unmistakable terroir of South Africa on the nose and palate. There was an odd, solvent-like character to the nose. I contended with raised eyebrows from the dubious.

Fast forward three hours.

The harsh qualities I mentioned were gone. Instead, we had a rich, young wine with character and body. A big wine, the Vergenoed had surprising fruit, with plum and cassis on the front, and spices, including Asian spice, cedar, vanilla, pepper and black cherry, all integrated together in a complex and satisfying whole. All of this, coupled with that distinctive South African bacony, banana-y terroir and essence weaving through the experience, gave this wine a certain, indefinable *something.* A definite food wine, it went well with perfectly seasoned veal sausage and chunky avocado salad. Easily the wine of the night.

I only have one bottle of the Vergenoed left and hope to open that one in 2010. What a nice wine! It shows much better now than it did several years ago when it went through the usual tasting assessment in one of the mega-wine magazines. Just like the 2000 Robert Young Scion, it received an 88 at release, but could easily be scored well into the 90s at this time. A truly good wine benefits from a few extra years of bottle age. I’ve never seen anything so true before.

Prager Portworks is a small winery in Napa that specializes in, well, *Port*! Along with some Lindt 85% chocolate, this port shone! This was a NV (that means non-vintage to y’all Neophytes!) Petit Sirah Port. Cherries, strawberries, sweet spice, and dark fruit showcased this wine, and drunk alongside such a dark, bitter chocolate, the Port absolutely shone.

None of these wines was cheap; each one retails (if you can find them) at prices ranging from $32.00 to about $40.00. Worth it? If I could find and afford it, I’d get another case of the Vergenoed. Who knew it’d age so well!

Life’s too short to drink bad wine. So when you get the good stuff, it’s time to celebrate!

The Experience! Combatting Swirl Envy. It's Here.

We’re happy to announce that the first classes of the Combatting Swirl Envy Experience have been scheduled. This is the “Lite” version of our full-fledged, two-and-a-half hour Combatting Swirl Envy Experience which will be available early in 2008.

The classes will be held at Valley Cheese & Wine, one of our favorite hangouts! Located at 1770 West Horizon Ridge Parkway in Henderson, VC&W has a terrific classroom just for wine classes and there we will confront our ongoing issues of Swirl Envy. We can then go forth and tackle the wine world with confidence and newly-honed skills. Remember, this is not a class about wines –there are many well-qualified sommeliers and educators who offer outstanding classes – but about wine *drinking.* If you feel you lack the confidence to confidently belly-up to the wine bar and understand the winespeak you hear, or if you feel awkward while handling your Riedel, then you need this class!

In the Combatting Swirl Envy Experience class you will learn how to hold a glass, what swirling is and why Wine People seem to "play" with their wines, how to avoid wine racism, receive a grounding in Basic Winespeak, and how to be a Wine Snob without being a Snob. A fun class that will have you swirling, sniffing, sipping, and spitting like a pro, this is for the truly intimidated and uninitiated Wine Neophyte.

To the right of this column is the link to PayPal so that you can pay for your class in advance. The cost is $35.00 per class that lasts for an hour and half, followed by a tour of VC&W. Seating is limited to 12 per class.

Scheduled classes and other events will now appear on the new Calendar Page of our website!

See you then!