Altavita, which translates as “high life.” is a small, family-owned winery in the Emilia Romagna region. In 2013 I visited Altavita Vineyards with a group of six writers and bloggers. After we had all had a chance to help with the harvest Alessandro, the owner, gave us a tour of the winery and explained what happens to grapes after they are harvested. Our group then sat down to a feast that included house wine, salami, and piadina, a typical bread of Emilia Romagna made by Alessandro’s mother. Most of the details of winemaking went over my head, but the conviviality is a memory I cherish. I certainly felt I was living the high life that day…And so it began. I was hooked on wine travel.
Alessandro Giunchi with his mother
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What Is Wine And Spirits Education Trust?
So what is the WSET all about? In a nutshell, it provides internationally recognized educational standards in the world of wine and spirits. The course I enrolled in, Level 2, focuses on major varieties and wine regions of the world while expanding on wine tasting techniques. At the end of the course, the WSET Level 2 Certificate is presented to candidates who successfully complete the exam. I plan on being one of those candidates.
What’s The WSET Like?
Participating in a class that includes wine tasting may sound like fun and games but let me tell you…it’s hard work.
It’s not only about tasting wines, it’s also about how to properly taste wines. All the stuff that seems intimidating in the beginning: tipping the glass at a 45-degree angle and checking the color, smelling it, swirling the wine in the glass and smelling it again, swishing and spitting out a mouthful; all of that has meaning and purpose. You do not need to enroll In the WSET to learn these techniques or to enjoy wine but It certainly added Immeasurably to my enjoyment.
Though I live in Dallas, not exactly known as a wine mecca, one of the most qualified instructors in the world happens to have a wine school here. Dilek Caner is one of only 35 people in the USA and 312 people in the world who holds the title of Master of Wine. Not only that, she has a Ph.D. in economics from New York University. Her mantra is, “Life is too short to drink bad wine.” Who am I to disagree?
How wine travel led to my WSET Certification
Why am I taking the WSET? I’m a travel writer and I’m traveling to wine regions. It just makes sense. Plus, I like learning new things. If I’m going to write about something I want to know it inside out. If I’m honest, I probably enjoy visiting and photographing vineyards as much as I like the end product. Don’t tell anyone.
Altavita Vineyards, Emilia Romagna
Why Travel To Wine Regions
Consider this — vineyards are located (mostly) in temperate climates. Some of the best wines in the world come from some of the most exclusive and desirable destinations in the world: Napa Valley, almost all of France and Italy, Germany, Spain, and New Zealand. Why wouldn’t I want to go there? You don’t have to love wine to enjoy the scenery and history. I think learning about wine is a great way to understand a region.
Milbrook Vineyards, Hudson Valley
Wine Travel Was Already A Part Of My Life
If I think about it, the journey to getting my WSET certification began in 2000. I had started traveling to Santa Barbara pretty regularly to visit friends. Those trips usually included day trips to the wine country in Santa Ynez: Fetzer, Sunstone, and Foxen, are just a few big producers in Santa Barbara County. As much as I enjoyed visiting the tasting rooms it was just a fun experience that included pretty scenery, nothing more.
Building Memories On The Wine Road
In 2014 I took my first trip to Napa Valley where I toured Chateau Montelena and sat down for a tasting with the director of PR. She told me the story of the 1976 Paris tasting and how Napa Valley wines put California on the world wine map. That story became the movie, Bottle Shock. Who doesn’t love a great story? It was here that what started in Italy began to come into focus. I made a conscious decision that day. I would visit more vineyards and learn about wine.
Read more about Chateau Montelena and the Paris tasting in my article.
Tasting Room at Chateau Montelena
I followed my Napa trip with another trip to Santa Barbara, spending a day in the Santa Ynez Valley. I followed that trip with New York’s Hudson Valley, Monterey County, and in May 2015, Paso Robles. Once I decide to do something I don’t fool around.
Read more about my road trip along the Dutchess County wine trail. in Hudson Valley.
Tips For A Successful Wine Tasting.
When you’re having a good time at a tasting it’s easy to lose track of how many ounces of wine you’ve consumed. Here are a few tips especially for social and novice winos but even experienced winos need to be reminded.
Appoint a designated driver — seems obvious, right? If I’m on my own, as I was in the Hudson Valley, I only go to one tasting.
Learn to spit. I know what you’re thinking– no way are you going to spit out that luscious Bordeaux or Gewurztraminer. Think about it this way, if you taste twelve wines and each glass has two ounces of wine in it, by the end of the day you will have drunk one entire bottle of wine. Alone.
Drink a lot of water between tastings.
I recommend not visiting more than three wineries in one day. Hard to do when you’re in a premium wine area, but smart. I’ve even been told by drivers that they wish their customers would learn not to cram so much into such a short time. Listen To Them.
Setting up for a day in class. WSET Level 2 training with Dilek Caner.
Drinking wine is a social experience, at least for me. What fun is it to drink something so delicious, so perfect, and not have anyone to share it? I love traveling solo but drinking wine solo… No. A bottle of good wine is meant to be shared, and that’s what’s so great about wine travel. There’s no shortage of people happy to drink with you.
Learning about the wine regions of the world and the grapes grown there can only make my future experiences richer and more rewarding. That’s reason enough for me.
Follow me on Instagram where I post my wine and travel adventures and on Facebook for stories and photos not posted here.
Sterling Vineyards, Napa Valley
53 comments
[…] Sonoma County is vast, covering approximately 1500 square miles. Not to mention there are over 400 tasting rooms. If you’re planning a wine tasting trip to Sonoma, it is important to formulate a plan, or you could easily spend all your time driving, as I did. To help you avoid my mistake, I’ve organized some tips for planning a stress-free and fun wine tasting experience! […]
[…] aromatic white wine varietals like Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Riesling while studying for my WSET 2 certification. Prior to my studies I had no idea that a white wine could be so full of flavor and dry. Or […]
I am about to start my WSET journey with level 2 in December…very much looking forward to it! I definitely need to learn how to spit (gracefully). I am doing the 3 day course – not sure if that’s the one you did? But I can imagine it’s necessary tasting all those wines in one day…
Hi Angela, you will love the class and be so glad you did it. My course was over two weekends. About 4 half days. 12 wines per day. You will learn to spit quickly! 🙂 I’m not always graceful, but no one is.
I m very happy about wset course I’m also planning to do it I’m a wine enthusiast still learning about different countries wine all I need is a course which will give me vineyard exposure & what’s the price for the course as I’m working class in hotel in mumbai india need a sponsorship any help from any wine company God bless you
Good luck Joseph. There are other courses as well, and less expensive. Have a look online. You might find something more affordable. Also, there are some WSET sponsorships I think but you have to qualify first.
Penny, congratulations on pursuing formal wine education. I took the leap a while back and it’s both fun and gratifying. I now have a wine school in Phoenix teaching WSET courses and other classes. Our students who then travel have more enriching memorable experiences in the wine regions of the world.
Thank you so much for the comment and reading the article. I’m looking forward to applying my new knowledge on the wine road in Italy next week.
sounds interesting … I am also planning to do a wine tasting soon 🙂
Excellent! Let me know how it goes!
Haha, I’ve been in that same spot! Okay, I wasn’t learning about wine, just drinking it. This sounds like an awesome course to take and a unique skill to have. I love wine but I want to know more about it. unfortunately, I would probably get kicked out of this course because I wouldn’t follow the spit rule!
Well it would make it pretty hard to do the course to be honest.
I could imagine doing this myself. I love tasting local wines when I travel. I recently went to Hungary and previously had no idea that it so many wonderful wines. Good luck with progressing through your classes – sounds like a good combination of education and pure fun tasting wonderful wines.
I also have recently been reading about Hungarian wines. I hope I will have a chance to try them soon!
Was looking for something like this – now I know what it’s called and where to find it!! Your tips are great – especially appointing a designated driver, although that task usually falls to me unfortunately!!
Great! Glad you found some useful information.
This is the first I’ve heard of WSET education, but I find it very glamorous. 🙂
LOL Lillie, not glamorous but very fun!
Those tips for wine tasting are great! Must remember them!
A lot of folks don’t like the idea of spitting but let me tell you, it comes in handy.
Love the mantra that life is too short to drink bad wine – so true. Enjoy.
Agreed!
More than 3 wineries a day… did that in australia but good thing we had a designated driver. I also agree, you don’t need to take a class to appreciate wine. I always enjoy wine tasting tours
I just can’t make sense of more than 3. I’m a light weight.
Oh wow! I had never heard of WSET certification before but it sounds like a great course to do. I love wine, but only have a very basic knowledge about the wines I drink. I would love to do something like this to have a greater understanding of the delish wines I consume around the world.
Meg, You can even do online courses.
I’m seriously considering WSET – they have offices and a school within walking distance of where I live in London. Did you start at level 2? That’s been suggested to me – but I’m not sure it’s wise.
As for the spitting – I do a mix still (amateur!). When I first went on a wine trip, I was suprised by it.
Do it!
Travel is always so much more meaningful when you have some background info. Since you enjoy everything surrounding wine, this sounds like a great way to enhance your travel experience! Good luck 🙂
Thanks Larissa.
That’s so cool that you’re going to “wine school”! Good for you for just doing it because you want to, I love that. We’ve been to quite a few wineries around the world and it would have been nice to know how to properly sniff, swirl and sip 🙂
Cheers!
It does make for a nicer experience. for me.
Very sage & practical advice about the best way to enjoy doing a wine tasting tour in Napa! I would also add that if you’re coming from the East Coast, then take advantage of the time change and start when the tasting rooms open. Not many people drink wine at 10AM, but if you’re body is on EST, it feels like 1 PM.
Ha! Good trick!
COngrats on your WSET Penny! It’s a really fab idea – I’m in the same boat re wanting to know what I’m doing when I go on a blogging trip to a winery – we passed through Napa earlier in the year and took in a few wine tastings though we’re absolute ametuers when it comes to wine, so a course probably would have been a good idea beforehand.
Thinking I’ll check into whether or not there’s some kind of equivalent I can take here in Australia. Thanks for the tips about wine tastings too – I’m lucky that my husband doesn’t drink lol so I always have a designated driver on hand :D!
I’m sure there’s something in Australia. And there are online courses too. Check out the WSET website.
Good luck with the course. I don’t know anything about wine really, but went to a few wine tastings before. Rather than spitting the wine out again, like I was supposed to, I swallowed it all though. Was more fun that way. 😉
Tammy I totally agree.
Love your article! Its a good life isn’t it!
Thanks Michelle, It is!
The Spanish University in my city is offering a master’s in eno technology – I’m fascinated at how drinks are made and how they’re consumed socially. I love living where good wine is cheap and plentiful!
You are so lucky!
Life is definitely too short to drink bad wine! Thanks for the tips. Nice to know spitting is good.
Great story! What I appreciate the most is your attitude towards wine. You liked it enough to push yourself to a professional way of tasting it. How wonderful! I’m pretty sure that from now on your experience of traveling gained additional dimension.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment Agata. I’m looking forward to testing my new knowledge on my upcoming trip to Piemonte in Italy!
What an intriging experience and so good for the soul….wine.
Happy for you Penny. Sounds like a great way for you to enjoy wine as well as educate yourself to it’s difference.
Next time your in the Hudson visit the Tuthilltown Distillery. Distilling alcohol is such a different procedure than wine. And they don’t spit out any product!
Haha! Spitting is ok. Otherwise I’m hammered in no time at all!
Good luck making your way through the different levels. It’s such a feeling of accomplishment when you can take these courses and pass the exams. I’m the same as you where there is so much to learn in this world and further educate yourself and it makes you a better person a more experienced and educated blogger. Cheers!
Thanks Jennifer. I take the exam this weekend. Really looking forward to having it behind me. I don’t know what I’m going to do now as my taste level just shot up about 10 notches! LOL
Oh Penny, you’ll dredge up any excuse to drink wine, won’t you? But good luck on those scholarly pursuits, you scholarly wino. Maybe next time we meet, you can educate me.
You know me to well.
Really enjoyed this post Penny. As someone who LOVES wine and LOVES to travel and also LOVES to learn new things, it really resonated with me. Also our first wine tasting tour was B.C. (before children) through the wine area of British Columbia, Canada, …..on a motorcyle. We had not learned the spit principle so very quickly were stranded at the winery until Bill was sober enough to drive us back to our campground. On this trip I fell in love with Gewurtztraminer, and to this day when I taste it I remember that trip. Great memories 🙂
Haha love the anecdote about spitting. I finally learned! It’s great! LOL Thanks for the comments.