CAPE WINE ACADEMY
http://www.capewineacademy.co.za/index.php

Experience: 5/5

Today, my partner and I signed up for our second course with the Cape Wine Academy: the three-day Certificate Wine Course in mid-March. Little did I know what I had started when I picked up a flyer for the Cape Wine Academy in Ultra Liquors in Wynberg. We both share a passion for learning as well as an interest in wine. The courses looked interesting. Indeed, each one has an exam so this is not just a question of turning up for some fun tutoring while tasting some wine. The progressive approach, being only able to join the more advanced courses having completed the beginner ones, appealed to me also.

The introductory course, the South African Wine Course, comprised two lectures, wine-tastings and an exam. We learned the basics of how to compare wine through taste, sight and smell, together with wine origins and viticulture. I can’t remember when last I did an exam and it proved to be quite testing. This was no attendance course and last-minute revision was certainly in order. We both passed with flying colours as ‘A’ Grade students.

I look forward, with much excitement and not a little trepidation (there is a tasting exam too) to the next course, that will broaden my knowledge of the industry, wine-making, sparkling and dessert wines, fortified wines and brandies. This is the programme:

Lecture 1 – Tutored Wine-tasting

Lecture 2 – Viticulture. Seasons of the vine: how to establish a vineyard. Pests and diseases. Wine-tasting and discussion

Lecture 3 – Viticulture. Wine growing areas of South Africa. Wine-tasting and discussion

Lecture 4 – Winemaking: from arrival at cellar till final product. Art of blending, wood treatments, innovations in wine-making. Wine-tasting and discussion

Lecture 5 – Brandy distilling. Process of production. Different styles. Wine-tasting and discussion

Lecture 6 – Fortified Wines. Sherry, Port, Fortified Wines. Special & Noble Late Harvest wines. Definition & different styles. Wine-tasting and discussion

Lecture 7 – Sparkling Wines. Methods of production, different styles. Wine-tasting and discussion

Exams
Two-and-a-half hour Theory exam
One hour Tasting exam

I shall update here on the blog in due course. Meanwhile, I am already looking at the follow-on course – the Diploma Wine Course that is completed between 2 to 4 years. A new passion indeed ….