Great Wine Made Simple

This session features the major grape varieties. We highlight important flavor profiles and decode wine labeling while tasting delicious wines. We guarantee you’ll buy or order confidently after one class. And always get the wine you want, regardless of price!

This class is a tribute to Master Sommelier and bestselling author Andrea Immer Robinson. Her book, Great Wine Made Simple (Clarkson Potter), was first published in 2000, just a few months before the wine school was founded. The book was required reading for our students back then, and we still think it’s one of the top books for novice wine lovers.

Andrea was kind enough to return the favor. In 2004, she was the keynote speaker at a Wine School of Philadelphia lecture series. The event was held at the Food Network’s Great Big Food Show in Philadelphia. She started her lecture by telling the sold-out audience, “You are lucky to have the Wine School of Philadelphia,” and said a few other kind words about the school’s director, Keith Wallace.

This class honors “Great Wine Made Simple” and our friend-in-wine Andrea. Like the book, this class is designed to give the wine student an easy way to decipher the wine labels of great wines from great wine regions. You can expect this class to cover the classic wine regions within France, Italy, Spain, and more!

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Tasting Sheets

Great Wine Made Simple

Flight 1

1. Hammond 2014 Trocken Riesling, Rheingau, Germany

Flight 2

1. La Forcine 2015 Sancerre AOC, Loire Valley, France

2. Babich 2016 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand

Flight 3

1. Zotovich 2013 Estate Grown Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, California

Flight 4

1. San Felice 2014 Chianti Classico D.O.C.G., Tuscany, Italy

2. Illuminati 2013 “Ilico” Riserva Montepulciano, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo D.O.C., Abruzzo, Italy

Flight 5

1. Château Lestruelle 2009 Cru Bourgeois, Médoc, Bordeaux, France

2. Domaine Lafage 2014 Cuvée Nicolas, Vieilles Vignes, Côtes Catalanes, France

Great Wine Made Simple

Flight 1

1. Dr. Heidemanns-Bergweiler 2011 Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett, Mosel, Germany

Flight 2

1. Sbraga Family Vineyards 2013 Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma

2. Karine Lauverjat 2014 Sancerre AOC, France

Flight 3

1. San Fabiano Calcinaia 2012 Chianti Classico Denominazione di Origine Controllata E Garantita (DOCG), Tuscany, Italy

2. Villa Mora 2008 Rosso Riserva, Montefalco DOC, Italy

Flight 4

1. Bastide Miraflors 2013 “Vieilles Vignes”, Côtes Catalanes, France

2. Chapoutier 2013 Bila-Haut, Côtes du Roussillon Villages, France

Flight 5
1. Château La Cardonne 2009 Médoc AOC, Cru Bourgeois, Bordeaux, France

Great Wine Made Simple

Flight 1
1. St. Urbans-Hof 2010 Bockstein Ockfen Kabinett Riesling

Flight 2
1. Nicolas Potel 2011 Mâcon-Villages Bourgogne

2. Jean-Claude Lapalu 2009 Beaujolais-Villages

Flight 3
1. Fratelli Revello 2009 Langhe

2. Rocca di Castagnoli 2009 Chianti Classico

Flight 4
1. Marqués de Riscal Reserva 2006 Rioja

2. Dom. de la Grand Ribe 2009 Côtes du Rhône Villages Centenaire