WSA Alumni Get Tasting

This month WSA alums are getting serious about tasting and are launching tasting groups in both Portland and Seattle. The objective: hone tasting skills, connect/reconnect with other WSA alumni and to taste some delicious wines!

How The Tastings Are Organized:

Well . . . that all depends on which alum is hosting this month. Some tastings might focus on a specific region, others on a specific grape variety, and still others might have no focus at all. But all tasting will offer the opportunity to get together with other knowledgeable wine tasters and and to get serious about wine (all while having fun, of course).

If you are an alum of a WSET wine course and did not receive details about these upcoming events, please be in touch so that we can send you more information!

Check out Mimi's Interview in FOODday

Want to know more about Greek wines? Check out Mimi Martin's (Wine & Spirit Archive owner) interview in the Oregonian's FOODday section.

WSA Alumni Party

On Saturday, April 4 we celebrated our second annual WSA Alumni Party - this time at Anne Amie Vineyards. It was a great chance to catch up with past students and to introduce students from different classes to one another. It didn't hurt that the weather was sunny, warm and near perfect, allowing us to open up the doors to Anne Amie for a gorgeous view of the valley and several different AVAs.

Each alum brought a "secret" bottle of wine, wrapped or decanted, and we spent the evening trying to guess what was in each bottle. The wines were a tasty, interesting and sometimes weird mix, hailing from Franken to the Finger Lakes and everywhere in between. Some delicious bottles were even made by students.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated. See you next year!

Wines of Austria Class - April 16

Join WSA co-owner, Adam Rhynard as he takes us on a tour of the Wines of Austria. We'll begin with a discussion of the terraced-hillsides above the Danube River, tasting the area's mineral-rich Rieslings and savory, complex Grüner Veltliners, but the delicate reds of Burgenland and botrytized sweet wines of the Neusiedlersee will not be neglected. After this course, it will be easy to see why Austria is considered one of the finest wine producing countries of the world.

This class is part of our 2009 Wine Passport Series; sign up for multiple classes and save!

Fill Your Wine Lovers Toolbox - Join us for the Introduction to Wine Series

Ready to get a strong foundation in wine tasting basics? Then our three-part Introduction to Wine Series is for you.

In this fun and interactive series, we'll guide you through the world's major wine styles and will fill your toolbox with the wine terminology you need to confidently understand any wine list. This is a tasting-focused class, so come prepared swirl, sniff and spit. By class end students will be able to identify major grape varieties by taste, to describe wines using classic descriptors (such as grassy, oaky, buttery, etc.), and to distinguish between "old world" and "new world" wine styles.

We hope you'll join us!

http://www.wineandspiritarchive.com/classes/introductiontowine.html