Eve, here are the extra credit papers. I think the students were very kind… almost all have never really experienced a wine course like the one I teach… so they were viewing the video and comparing it to what they have experienced in the course… with that said, I hope you enjoy reading.
Scott Richardson, MA
Associate Professor of Hospitality & Culinary Arts
Valencia College
I was kind of shaking in my booties thinking about wine students watching The Wine Down – Wine Immersion for Beginners video for several reasons. At the time it was filmed, December of 2011, I knew less than I do now (still no expert), I was interviewed for a full hour by Sonja Magdevski (winemaker for Casa Dumetz Winery, co-owned by her fiancé Emilio Estevez) and co-host Brandon Bartlett (Sr. Sales Manager at Jim Beam). Luckily for me I had Contributing Editor Michael Perlis along to try to keep me in check.
The video has over 14k views, and I credit that to the minute-by-minute synopsis that was uploaded with the video, and a few websites that have chosen to share it. And, maybe to wine students viewing it over and over again…trying to make sense of it!
So, without further adieu…thanks goes out to my Twitter friend Scott Richardson for sharing my video and asking his students to do the work. This is what I learned that Scott’s students found worthwhile to learn, and that I think my wine 101ers might also like to learn:
Eladia: I really enjoyed the video, it was quite enlightening. The tasting of wine can be a spiritual pursuit and building your food around your wine is key. Taking time to think about what you are putting into your mouth is important…(and at a wine fest) wait your turn, and be cognizant of other people and the pourer and more importantly don’t go with intentions of getting drunk.
Vanessa: The video has three aspects that I believe are really relevant. The first one is the importance of taking time to enjoy and comprehend the wine while drinking it. (Secondly, at a wine event) go to the table that has less people, listen to the stories, and once again take time to enjoy the wine. (Thirdly) do one grape tasting night to help and educate the palate in the grape.
Larry: The person being interviewed is Eve Bushman, she writes articles about wine makers and wine events in a local Los Angeles magazine and she has her own website www.evewine101.com. Eve does her writing exclusively on wine education for beginners. She got started writing about wine and really got interested with learning more. The more she wrote the more she got invited to wine tastings. She has found tasting and smelling wine to be a spiritual thing. As a result, she has learned there is something good in every wine she tastes.
Eve expresses how important it is to spit when you are at a wine tasting because there could be 100`s of wines to taste.
In the chat they touched on how it is important to be polite when you are at a wine tasting. The suggestion was to, think up some good questions to ask the wine maker. It should help to get the most out of the experience. For example, ask what are you pouring today? It can be as simple as that. The wine makers appreciate it when people are not there to just get drunk. The trio also talked about how much fun it is to do blind wine tastings.
Dwayne: Eve talked about several varietals, tastings and wine events held in California…(she is) a writer who first started covering wine events around 2005 briefly, but was hooked and started to write for a local newspaper in her home area of Santa Clarita Valley…Eve believes wine is a spiritual experience. She also talked about starting her web site with only two writers (Michael Perlis and Rusty Sly). Eve also discussed the testing sheets she uses at all of the tastings she attends. They are from the WSET (Wine Spirit Education Trust)…from England.
Sharlene: The video on wine immersion was very informative…Eve spoke about wine tastings being a very good way to develop and educate your palate. Eve elaborated on how hard it can be to describe the different fruits and smells in a wine and taste them. She emphasized the importance of learning how to taste a wine and not just drink it to get drunk. I agree with her on that because I look at tasting wine in a different light now.
Juan: One of the tips that caught my attention is that when attending a wine testing is a good idea to spit the wine that you a trying even if it is a good one, you are there to learn about wine no to get drunk, there is always the place and time to do that; also was interesting to know the huge amount of testing events that California have every single week…
Larry: To enjoy wine you must be willing to take the time to use your sight, smell, sip and summarize your experience and learn to train your palate on the fruit descriptors you are experiencing. When you go to a wine tasting event some great tips given are not to get drunk, wine makers like when you take the time to get to know them and their wines everyone should show appreciation for the representatives that are donating their time and product. Wine is very subjective everyone smells and tastes are very different, the best way to learn about wines is to continue going to different events or free wine tastings in many stores.
Anonymous: Winemakers will tell you more if you show more interest (Remember winemakers (may be) paying for a table and giving out wine for free so don’t go just to get drunk but to educate yourself.) Also show respect; don’t go up to them with your cup out, chewing gum.
