WSET One: Part Two

“It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.”

Our first WSET class was scheduled for Tuesday at 6:00pm and set to run for three hours. My wife Bri and I, (whom I had forgotten to introduce in part one) had gotten off from work and did our best to anxiously eat a brief meal beforehand. At this point we had already read the textbook and had a moderate grasp on some of the information.

We pulled up to the black building and parked around back. When we got into the building the classroom is the first room you walk into. There were wine racks, poster diagrams, glasses, tables, an overhead and anything else you would need. The first sound we heard was a booming, “Hello and welcome! You must be Bri and Ian.” We shook hands with Tim and took our seats in the back.

We waited for a few lingering students and once everyone had arrived, we started the introduction. Tim ran us through the structure of the class and everything we would be covering. The class was a great introduction to wine and really served to ignite even more curiosity. We covered a lot of material and even got to taste a few different wines. The class had 8 people in it. About half of the class worked at Old Westminster Winery in Carroll County MD. They were there for a bit of upskilling. The winery even offered to pay for a portion of their certifications if they were to pass. At the front table sat a couple who worked in the medical industry and were clearly very excited to be there after watching the SOMM documentary. Other than Tim at the front of the class, it was me and Bri at the back table.

The class covered the first half of the textbook. In order the topics were an overview of the grape, grape growing process, making wine, types of wine and principal grape varieties. Tim was a wealth of knowledge and often asked the class if they had any questions. It should be noted that we did not just stick to the textbook. Tim provided context, relevant supplemental facts, stories etc. to round out the course and keep it engaging.

The first class came to a close and the class began to clear out. A few stayed to chat and finish up some open wine. Afterall it wouldn’t be fair to leave the instructor to finish all that wine by himself. We were officially halfway done with our class time. Next week started class two and the test.