March 2020 will always be remembered as the month this country went on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but for me March 2020 is also when I unlocked my mind to wine education. Just days before the nation shut down, I attended a seminar called Back to School: Insider Tips on Wine Business, Education, Certification and Training put on by Wine Women. Inspired by the panelists, who encouraged me to take the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) route, as opposed to other options, I walked out the seminar knowing that it was well past time for me to become wine wise after four years as Alpha Omega’s Director of Communications.
I didn’t come to the wine industry armed with a barrel full of wine knowledge. Over the years, as a lifestyle writer/editor, I had the pleasure of visiting various wine and spirits regions and attending swank events domestically and internationally, including the gala dinner celebrating the 1,200th year of Tenuta di Capezzana winery in Carmignano near Florence. But when it came to wine production, information went in one ear and out the other as I held out my glass for another pour.
How I wish I had paid attention to my hosts when I sipped wine nearly as old as me at Château Palmer in the Margaux appellation of Bordeaux. Would it have hurt me to at least try to retain the barrel making knowledge I gained during a visit to Martell’s cooperage during a press trip to Cognac? Why didn’t I take advantage of learning about South African wines during my visits to wineries in the Cape Winelands instead of focusing on the lavish lunches at wineries? If I could turn back the clock to the two years I lived in Italy, I would try to learn about winemaking while having access to all the vintners I met while staying at their villas and visiting their wineries. Despite having had a VIP cellar tour of Veuve Clicquot during a side trip to Reims, in France’s Champagne region, after a birthday-in-Paris celebration with friends from the States, I didn’t leave knowing how to explain the traditional method of making sparkling wine. I already knew from attending Veuve Clicquot’s fabulous Yelloween parties in the States that I loved, loved, loved Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame. What more did I need to know? A lot!
My first year working in the wine industry, I set out to learn by doing. I was thrilled when my boss, Alpha Omega Vintner Michelle Baggett, whom I’m grateful for bringing me into the wine industry and always supporting me, and the production team welcomed my on-the-job-education in this manner. Volunteering to work in production during harvest, I picked grapes at night and back at the winery sorted grapes after they went through the optical sorter, did punchdowns and other cellar work. I was nearly overcome with emotion when, at Alpha Omega’s team celebration to mark the end of harvest, I was presented with a “Dream Team 2016 Harvest” t-shirt, something that only went to those in production. I treasure this t-shirt so much that I’ve never worn it because I want to keep it in pristine condition.
Since then, I have picked grapes every harvest, only missing 2017 due to the fires. I often joke with Alpha Omega’s Vineyard Manager Joel Antonio that if I wasn’t so tall then I would pick more often. Being in the vineyards at night to pick when it’s cold and not getting so wrapped up in the physical work and bending down that you forget to stand and watch sunrise is a treat when you know that in a couple of years you’ll literally be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. I missed a few years of working in the cellar but in 2020 returned for a couple of days and understood a lot more for by now I was in the midst of my WSET Level 2 course. This week, I learned how to prune, a subject that is covered in part of my WSET Level 3 Vineyard Management section.
Colleagues had told me to skip WSET Level 1 because, they said, it was so basic that anyone who knows red wine from white wine will pass. Go right to Level 2, they said. I ignored their advice and started at the bottom so I could create a solid foundation. “I wouldn’t build a house starting at the second floor,” I told myself. I enrolled at Napa Valley Wine Academy and began Level 1 in late August 2020. Looking back, it was wise to start at the most basic level since I haven’t studied anything, except Italian language, in more than three decades. After passing my WSET Level 1 exam, it was on to Level 2, which gave me a big confidence boost at work where some of my co-workers are certified sommeliers.
I was particularly pleased one day when, during an Instagram Live/Facebook Live session, Alpha Omega Winemaker Henrik Poulsen spoke about how Alpha Omega Late Harvest wine is made. Not only did I understand everything about the production for this wine but when he brought up Rieslings and mentioned Beerenauslese, I was able to comprehend everything. Before Level 2, I had no idea there were so many different types of Rieslings. I didn’t even like Rieslings but I’ve become a big fan after learning how well some pair with Indian food, which I eat a lot of. If there was one section of my WSET Level 2 study book I mastered, it was Riesling. But there was a hell of a lot more I needed to know for my December 2020 exam. Last month, I was elated when I received an email from Napa Valley Wine Academy notifying me that I had passed with distinction, the highest honor.
Now I’m in the midst of my Level 3 studies, which will be my last as far as WSET goes. It’s not that I don’t like learning; I do. But I also like having a home that is organized. Although I have a dedicated home office, I prefer to do my book studies and wine tasting at my dining table because of the lightning and space to spread out. Also, being next to my wine fridge, wet bar, dry bar and wine-themed art puts me in the mood to study wine during my twice-a-week virtual study sessions with my study buddies. Even when I’m not studying, my dining table is always a mess with my WSET books and papers, pens, highlighters, a magnifying glass (note to the WSET folks: make your print larger!!!!), sticky notes, index cards and more because I often study while eating, and I should be studying every day.
One of the fears I had about studying wine was whether education would press the fun (pun intended) out of wine for me. I envied a friend who, during casual get-togethers at his house, would stick his huge nose (hey, it comes in handy!) inside a wine glass, lift his head and quickly rattle off several descriptors plus give a brief description of the wine. Despite me wishing I had his olfactory skills, in the back of my mind I wondered if I had that talent could I just sit and enjoy a glass of wine without always thinking about the aromas and flavors. Either I like the wine or I don’t. What else do I need to know?
After several months, I can unequivocally say that drinking wine is even more fun now that I know why I like what I like and why I don’t like what I don’t like. Learning about varietals I had never heard of, such as Mencía, Garganega and Carménère, the world’s top wine regions, why winemakers do what they do, vineyard management and wine laws has been rewarding. But what really tickles me is my ability to read wine lists better and wine labels. There was a time when I drank a lot of Rioja wines but I didn’t know what Crianza meant as opposed to Reserva. I would just buy either one depending on who knows what.
I recently signed up for Napa Valley Wine Academy’s “Rioja: Everything You Need to Know Now” webinar. Last year, I purchased the Academy’s “Discovering Italian Wines” online course and planned to take it in between my Level 2 and Level 3 courses. But I enjoyed giving my brain a break from studying during the holidays and will wait until after I take my Level 3 exam this summer to begin the course — although I have a feeling that what I learn will help me on my Level 3 exam so can I possibly take it simultaneously since the Italian course allows studying at my own pace?
Education is such a turn-on for me! That’s one reason I was truly honored when Karen Wetzel, one of the Academy’s instructors, asked me to do an Instagram Live chat with her about my journey as a Level 2 student with the Academy on March 30. You can watch the video here. As soon as the IG Live session ended, it was time to study with my study buddies, whom I adore though most I have never met in person. I must say that having a gaggle of girls to sip wine with on a weekly basis while being locked down during COVID-19 has been a blessing for it makes me feel like I’m being sociable even though we’re studying.
Since starting my wine wise journey, I’ve encouraged wine-loving friends who are not in the industry to take WSET Level 1 and 2. It’s a no-brainer for anyone who wants to get into the industry, which is another reason I wanted to begin my studies. I’d love to see more people of color working in wine and hope to provide some inspiration. One way for me to do that is through obtaining my own credentials, which give me street cred. I can’t very well suggest to people that they take formal wine education classes if I haven’t done so.
When I began writing about spirits for USA Today, I joked that I could finally put all my years of drinking to good use. For five years, I’ve felt the same way about being in the wine industry. Practical knowledge is fantastic but the addition of theoretical learning makes for a winning blend.
❤️ ❤️❤️🍷🍷🍷, Soror!!