To help feed the growing beast that is my second vice, tonight, I started the French Wine Scholar program through the French Wine Society ( http://www.frenchwinesociety.org/site.php).  The course is being delivered in Seattle by Joel Butler, MW, and Karen Graf of WineKnow, LLC, ( http://www.mywineknow.com/). The classes being held at the just opened Urban Enoteca (http://urbanenoteca.com/)  in SODO.  The course is a nine week course covering all of the major wine regions in France.  It is designed to be a friendly course, that is informative and educational; both for the enthusiast as well as wine industry professionals.

Tonight’s class covered the Champagne region, and the class discussed the process of Champagne vilification, and its history.

~ The Honored Guests ~

As part of tonight’s lesson we sampled 7 Champagnes of different styles, along with a Sparkling Wine from Northern California. We compared and contrasted the different styles of the wine that my hero, Sir Winston Churchill commented, “Champagne ~ In Victory Deserve It; In Defeat Need It!”  During class I was certainly saluting Sir Winston observation.

At the end of the Course, if one chooses, an exam can be taken, and if you pass, you earn the professional designation FWS for French Wine Scholar.  Based on the discussions in class it is clear that this test is very rigorous.  It appears that it will require a level of academic effort and discipline I have not undertaken since college.  What the hell, I’m gonna go for it, call it the academic nerd and masochist in me.  It is time to dust of the study skills and see if I can still get it done in that department.  Pass or fail this should be a damn good time.  This is the first time i took a course where you get to get krunked during class, at least not aided and abetted by the instructor.  I learned a ton and the class is a worthy investment for anyone with more than a passing drinking interest in vino.