By Russ Kane, VintageTexas.com
Starting this October, the Specialist of Texas Wine classes will be taught by Denise Clarke, a certified wine educator located in Austin. Register online now for her October classes – click here.
It is just about ten years ago that I proposed The Specialist of Texas Wine certification program to the Texas Wine School. It was the first of its kind course, offering a comprehensive series of classes and professional certifications dedicated to the unique wines and wine regions of Texas. This program stands out as the only one with classes exclusively focused on the Texas wine experience – its culture and evolution, the origin story (two or them), and guided tastings with the wine varieties that make Texas wines stand out on the world stage.
Dennis and I have known each other and worked together on Texas wine for over 15 years. After she became certified as an Advanced Specialist of Texas Wine, and learning that Denise was also teaching WSET classes for the Texas Wine School, I decided that she was the perfect person to take over my Specialist of Texas Wine courses. Over the years, we’ve worked together on many events that featured Texas wines such as the Texas Department of Agriculture Texas Wine Marketing Program events and media tours, Texas Two-Sip Tastings, Texas Wine Twitter Tuesdays, and Drink Local Wine.
Denise has been studying, writing about and sharing wine knowledge – with a focus on the Texas wine industry – for more than 15 years. She has earned several wine certifications including Certified Wine Educator, Certified Sommelier, WSET 3 and Specialist of Texas Wine Advanced. One of Texas’ top wine ambassadors, she is eager to educate and cultivate the next generation of Texas wine enthusiasts.
Denise’s classes start on Tuesday evening, October 15 via Zoom and run on three consecutive Tuesdays with classes, tastings and a certification test the final evening. Students will receive a copy of Dr. Russ Kane’s book, “The Wineslinger Chronicles: Texas on the Vine”, that was made part of The Grover E. Murray Culture in the American Southwest book series. The class will also feature guest presenters actively involved in Texas wineries.
This course will cover:
- 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 & new world counterparts through lectures and guided tastings with benchmark wines.
The program concludes with an opportunity to test your knowledge of the wines, regions, and laws on an exam. The credential and a lapel pin will be awarded to those students that pass the rigorous exam at the end of the classes with a score of 80% or higher.
Sign up now on the Texas Wine School’s website – click here.
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