For the first time in many years, Dr. Russ Kane – who is often referred to as the “Man that wrote the book on Texas wine” – will be presenting his Specialist of Texas Wine (STW) certification classes (L1 – Introduction and L2 – Advanced) in-person and live at Bending Branch Winery’s “Branch on High” location in downtown Comfort, TX. The L1 and L2 courses organized through Houston’s Texas Wine School will be presented on back-to-back weeks this coming June. For more details, see below:
June 17, 2024 – Specialist of Texas Wine Level 1 Certification Course $295 – at 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Branch on High in Comfort, Texas.
Course highlights:
• Details of each wine region, including location, geologic history, soils, climate and leading grape varieties grown in the region
• The evolution of Texas winemaking from its early Spanish and immigrant European period (1600-1800) and early post-Prohibition (1940-1990) and modern period (1990-present), with a focus on winemaking techniques and grape varieties
• The links and contrasts between Texas wines and their old and new world counterparts through lectures and guided tastings with benchmark wines.
Paid STW L1 students will receive a copy of Dr. Kane’s milestone book, “The Wineslinger Chronicles – Texas on the Vine” and access to the L1 course Dropbox folders that provide all materials and copies of slides used in the course. Students that successfully pass the L1 certification exam with at least an 80% score will receive a STW silver lapel pin.
Click here for STW L1 details and online registration
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June 24-25, 2024 – Specialist of Texas Wine Level 2 Advance Certification Course $295 – at 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Branch on High in Comfort, Texas.
Course highlights:
• Texas’s timeline and more details on its transition from an early wine culture to a modern wine industry
• The details of T.V. Munson’s role in saving the European vineyards from the scourge of Phylloxera and his Texas native grape legacy that permeates rootstock selections worldwide and new developments in disease resistant wine grapes to this day.
• A “deeper dive” into Texas’s wine regions looking at the origins of its soils, climatic conditions, and remaining wine industry challenges including herbicides and Pierce’s disease
• A penetrating look at the issues that differentiate warm growing regions like Texas from cooler growing regions and the critical differences important in varietal and blend selections, and winemaker decisions, and wine styles
• A focus on starting a vineyard in Texas and considerations for opening and operating a Texas winery, including varietal selection, natural hazards, and economic analyses and considerations
• An archive of one-on-one videos with Texas growers, winemakers and winery owners discussing many of the topics that area presented in this course
Paid STW L2 advance students will receive a copy of Jim Kamas’s book, “Growing Grapes in Texas” and access to the L2 course Dropbox folders that provides all materials and copies of slides used in the course.
Students that successfully pass the L2 certification exam with at least an 80% score will receive a STW gold lapel pin.
Click here for STW L2 class details and online registration
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Dr. Russ Kane – Instructor
The course developer and your instructor is Dr. Russ Kane, award-winning Texas writer, author and wine aficionado. He has covered the Texas wine industry since the mid-1990s, and experienced and documented many of its major challenges and developments over this 30 year period. He has made presentations on Texas wine at the George Bush Presidential Library, Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association and has been asked to give an historical presentation on Texas wine by the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission this July.
He is a two-time awardee of the TWGGA Press/Media Award for media coverage of the Texas wine industry. He has contributed articles for Edible Austin, Edible Houston and Edible Dallas/Ft. Worth, and was a member of the Houston Chronicle tasting panel. His Texas wine selections have been featured many times in the Houston Chronicle during October – Texas Wine Month. He regularly blog at VintageTexas.com.
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The Texas Wine School
The Texas Wine School is a non-profit educational organization headquartered the Art of Cellaring in downtown Houston. It is a proud provider of the following WSET Classes (with both in person and online options):
WSET Level 1 in Wines
WSET Level 2 in Wines
WSET Level 3 in Wines
WSET Level 4 (Diploma) in Wines
WSET Level 1 in Spirits
WSET Level 2 in Spirits
The school also offers the following regional wine certifications that focus on French, Italian, Spanish and Texas Wines. Click here for more information.
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