It’s 2024 and the 2023 holiday season is now in our rear view mirror. Maybe you found wine-appropriate gifts for all of your wine-living friends, family and associates, and yourself, or maybe you haven’t. Well, look no further. At VintageTexas.com in association with the Texas Wine School, we have a saying… “Better Wine Enjoyment Through Education and Knowledge.” In this regard, Texas is no different than France, Italy or California.
In Spring 2024, there will be three Texas wine certification classes offered by the Texas Wine School – two introductory and one advanced. They offer you the opportunity to learn Texas wine from Dr. Russ Kane, the man that wrote the book on Texas wine, actually two of them.
- The Level 1 introductory classes are each schedule for two consecutive Wednesday evenings. The first class starts on January 31st 6:30-9:30p CT (Exam on Thursday Feb 8th 7p CT. The second class starts on April 3rd 6:30-9:30p CT (Exam on Thursday April 11th 7p CT). Level 1 students will receive a complimentary copy of Dr. Kane’s highly acclaimed book, “The Wineslinger Chronicles: Texas on the Vine”. Certification students that successfully complete the Level 1 course will receive a silver Specialist of Texas Wine lapel pin.
- The Specialist of Texas Wine Level 2 advanced class is scheduled for three consecutive Wednesday evenings starting on May 1st 6:30-9:30p CT (Exam on Thursday May 16th). Level 2 students will receive a complimentary copy of Texas A&M Agrilife specialist Kim Kamas’s book “Growing Grapes in Texas”. Certification students that successfully complete the Level 2 course will receive a gold Specialist of Texas Wine lapel pin.
Browse the Texas Wine School Spring 2024 online calendar (January to May 2024) and enroll now through The Texas Wine school to secure your place in these classes and get your wines for the class tastings (click here). Further details on these courses can be found Texas Wine School website.
These are the original Texas wine courses and they surpass any others. They were prepared and are taught by Dr. Russell Kane, award-winning author and longest tenured Texas wine writer. He is a student of wine history going back to the Spanish missionary period. He also reported on and personally experienced the rise in the Texas wine regions from only 30 post-prohibition wineries to over 500 wineries, many of which are now internationally recognized. His stories, commentaries and tasting notes have been featured in many local, regional and national publications including the Houston Chronicle and the Wall Street Journal.
The Level 1 course is designed to cover the Texas wine phenomenon starting with square one, the Spanish missionary period in the 160os, followed by the European immigrant period of the 1800s, the impact of prohibition, and the rise of the modern Texas wine industry. Students will taste six wines provided by the wine school and focus on the mostly warm-weather grape varieties that are now making wines that win “best of show”, “best in class”, and gold and double gold medals in international competitions.
The Level 2 course is the “deep dive” into Texas as a modern wine region on the global stage. We will examine the terroir of each of Texas’s eight American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), non-AVA areas, and two to four more Texas AVAs that are likely to appear in the 2024 and beyond. The course also involves the tasting and blending of six to eight wines provided by the wine school. The course focuses on Texas in the context of other notable warm-weather wine regions around the world (e.g. Southern France, Spain, Southern Italy, Australia) that emphasize blending. The Level 1 course completion is a prerequisite for registration for the Level 2 advanced course; however, persons that show special education or work experience in the Texas wine industry will be considered for enrollment in the Level 2 course.
Both courses are aimed to provide students with critical information that will allow them to identify the best grape varieties for Texas and find the best Texas wines and winery in Texas.
Extra Value: Those students that successfully complete their Level 1 Specialist of Texas Wine Certification this Spring can enroll in Dr. Kane’s Specialist of Texas Wine Advanced Level 2 class also being held during the Spring semesters .
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