Great Wine Made Simple
The Wine World. Finally, It All Makes Sense.
Thousands of wines. Hundreds of regions. One surprisingly simple way to make sense of it all.
The wine world can seem impossibly complicated. French labels name places instead of grapes. Italian wines have unfamiliar names. And two bottles made from the same grape can taste completely different. But underneath all that complexity is a remarkably understandable system. In this engaging, hands-on tasting, we’ll show you how to connect the essential wine grapes, classic regions, and flavor profiles into a practical framework that makes the whole world of wine finally click.
You’ll discover how to read wine labels, recognize the styles you enjoy, and choose new bottles with confidence. Whether you’re browsing a wine shop or deciphering a restaurant wine list, you’ll learn to find the wine you’re actually looking for, without needing to become a sommelier or spend a fortune.
Know the Essential Grapes
Learn the classic grapes and their signature flavors, and discover why the same variety can produce dramatically different wines.
Decode the Wine World
Discover how grapes, geography, and wine labels fit together, making unfamiliar bottles far easier to understand.
Buy Wine with Confidence
Turn your new knowledge into a practical system for finding delicious wines at every price point.
Your Roadmap to the Wine World
Great wine becomes easier to understand when you recognize the connections between grape varieties, regions, and styles. We’ll explore the classic reference points that help make sense of wines from nearly anywhere on Earth.
Discover why French wine labels emphasize geography rather than grape varieties. Learn how familiar grapes like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Sauvignon Blanc connect to France’s legendary wine regions.
Explore the relationship between Italian grapes and their famous regional wines. Discover how understanding Sangiovese can help unlock the world of Chianti, and why Italy’s indigenous varieties offer such remarkable diversity.
Discover how Tempranillo, oak aging, and traditional labeling terms help define Spain’s most recognizable wines. Learn why understanding a few key concepts can make Spanish wine labels far less mysterious.
From bone-dry to lusciously sweet, Riesling demonstrates how one grape can produce an extraordinary range of styles. Discover how acidity, sweetness, and climate shape the flavors in your glass.
Learn how familiar grape varieties connect the wines of Europe with those of California, Chile, New Zealand, and other celebrated wine regions. Once you understand the classics, the rest of the wine world becomes much easier to explore.
These regional examples illustrate the concepts explored in class. Specific wines, grapes, regions, producers, and vintages may vary between tastings.
Inspired by a Legend in Wine Education
In 2000, Master Sommelier and bestselling author Andrea Immer Robinson published Great Wine Made Simple, a book that helped transform how a generation of Americans learned about wine.
The book appeared just months before the Wine School of Philadelphia opened its doors in 2001. It quickly became required reading for our earliest students, thanks to its wonderfully clear approach to understanding grapes, regions, and wine styles.
The connection became personal in 2004, when Andrea headlined a Wine School of Philadelphia lecture at the Food Network’s Great Big Food Show. She opened her presentation with a generous tribute to the school and its founder, Keith Wallace.
This class honors that educational philosophy: wine should be understandable, approachable, and genuinely enjoyable. Inspired by the spirit of Great Wine Made Simple, we’ve built a tasting that gives today’s students the same essential foundation, brought to life through guided comparisons and the experience of the Wine School’s instructors.
A Better Way to Understand Wine
Imagine picking up an unfamiliar bottle and recognizing its likely flavors before you open it. Imagine understanding the difference between a French appellation and an Italian DOCG, or knowing why the same grape tastes different when grown halfway around the world.
That’s the advantage of learning wine as a connected system rather than a collection of facts to memorize. With expert instruction, thoughtful tasting comparisons, and an intimate classroom setting, you’ll develop knowledge you can use every time you shop, order, or open a bottle.
You don’t need to memorize thousands of wine names to become a confident wine drinker. You need a practical understanding of the grapes, regions, and styles that connect them. Great Wine Made Simple gives you that foundation, opening the door to better purchases, more adventurous discoveries, and a lifetime of enjoying great wine.
Essential Grape Varieties •
World Wine Regions •
Wine Labels Decoded •
Small Classes •
Award-Winning Wine School