COVID-19 and the Wine School (2020)

This page is outdated. Please click here for the current COVID Protocols.

For details on our pandemic safety procedures, see the bottom of this page. This first section details the procedures for attending a class, as agreed to in the terms of purchase.

Masks are Required

You are required to wear a mask, including when arriving at the school. Bandanas, masks with valves, and neck gaiters are not allowed.

During class, you can remove your mask when tasting. Please note: masks must be worn when talking or standing.

Arrive Early

All students will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms prior to admittance to the school. Arrive 15-20 minutes before the scheduled start time. You will be outside during the screening, so please dress accordingly.

Testing is both resource-heavy and essential. Per the terms of purchase, your tickets will be forfeited if you arrive outside this window.

Fill Out This Form

You must print out and sign this form before class. It certifies that you have not been exposed to COVID-19 for 14 days prior to class.

The signed form will be collected at the front door during the screening process.

COVID-19 Verification Form

THIS REQUIREMENT MAY BE WAIVED IF YOU HAVE BEEN VACCINATED AND BRING YOUR VACCINATION CARD WITH YOU FOR VERIFICATION.

Respond ASAP

Before class, you will receive an email from the Wine School Administrator with the subject line RE: Response Required.

This email is our first COVID screening contact. If you do not respond, we are obliged to assume you are forfeiting your seats due to a COVID infection.

Please whitelist the following email domains to ensure you receive our notifications: vinology.com and winelust.com

More Details

• Bring a water bottle with you to class.
• Do not wear perfume or cologne.
• Additional COVID testing may be performed.
• Groups larger than two cannot be sat together

Safety Protocols at the Wine School

Enjoy a fun and educational night out without the anxiety of being in public. The wine school offers hospital-grade safeguards and protocols in an upscale and private environment. Our epidemiologist-approved systems allow us to keep everyone safe while enjoying an evening at the top-ranked wine school in the USA.

The Wine School offers tasting classes in a world-class safe environment. Our safety systems are trusted by doctors, clinical researchers, and surgeons (all of whom are students here during the COVID crisis).

If you want an evening out, but are scared of COVID, we understand: so are we. We built hospital-grade systems to keep both you and ourselves safe.

KeIth Wallace, Founder

Our systems go way beyond the safety regulations. Mask and social distancing are enforced, as expected. We add two more layers to keep everyone safe. The first layer is about people: All employees are tested weekly; students are vetted with contract tracing and two-factor exams before entry.

The second focuses on place: we employ HEPA filtration systems, ultraviolet processing, and MERV 13 scrubbing. Our system continually scrubs, filters, and disinfects the air. This is the level of air sanitization that the top hospitals perform. We also have added motion sensors to minimize surface contacts and physical barriers between students to ensure we have taken every possible precaution.

The proof is in the pudding: we are the canaries in our own coal mine: even after months of teaching classes we remain safe, healthy, and happy! Come join us!

COVID-19 SAFE

Eating and drinking together is an essential part of being alive. But n a pandemic, staying healthy must be a top priority. At the Wine School, we will keep you safe and offer a fun social outing.

We run 3  and another 3 HEPA Filters in the classroom while a hospital-grade MERV-13 HVAC system continually scrubs the air. We have run over 50 classes in the pandemic without a single COVID Exposure. 

Here’s how we keep our students safe:

• Sanitize and filter the air. 
• Sterilize all surfaces before & after classes.
• Zero-touch sanitizer stations.
• Zero-touch bathrooms.
• Cross-flow ventilation.
• Social Distancing
• Barriers between students

Here’s what is expected of students:

• Wear a face mask. It must be one without a valve.
• Sanitize your hands as you enter the school.
• Stay home if you’re sick or have been exposed
• Maintain 6ft social distance at all times

Here’s how we keep  you safe:

We built a multi-layer antiviral system into the school and spent June 2020 testing it. We hosted a series of classes attended by a small cadre of doctors and scientists. As a final measure, we asked an epidemiologist to give our protocols a final review. Details of our system are below.

The Basics: Safety is Key

Our mutual safety is the priority, and we are implementing many new procedures in accordance with those proscribed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Centers for Disease Control.

• Three-layer test for COVID-19 symptoms on everyone. (Fever, Anosmia, and Blood Oxygen)
• Hospital-grade disinfection regimen inside the School
• A hospital-grade air filtration system able to filter viruses and UV disinfection.
• Social distancing by restricting the number of people in shared spaces and using physical barriers and guides to control ingress and egress.

If someone does not feel well or has been exposed to someone with COVID-19, they will not be permitted into the wine school.  Once inside the school, you will be cocooned within a friendly and safe environment.  We believe the Wine School is the safest indoor facility in America at this time.  

Admission to the Wine School

A day before class, you will be emailed a verification form stating that you do not have symptoms of an illness and have not been around a COVID-19 patient in the past 14 days. To enter the school, you will be given a touchless temperature check and have your verification form collected. If you have a fever (over 100℉), or do not have a completed form, you will not be admitted to the class.

Personal Protective Equipment

• All staff will be wearing gloves, masks, and face shields.
• All students must be wearing masks to be admitted.

Classroom Protocols

• Students will be assigned a seat and must remain in that seat, with a face mask on, until the admission process is complete for everyone.
• Students will be given two additional tests once seated: a test for anosmia and a test for hypoxia, using pulse oximetry.
• At the instruction of the teacher, students may remove their masks but must not touch anything outside of their cubicle (including other people).
• Bathroom use will be restricted until all students are admitted, and can only be used one-at-a-time.
• Students must wear a mask when moving around the classroom and cannot congregate in common areas.
• There will be no shared water station in the classroom. Students are encouraged to bring their own bottles of water.
• During the class, students must refrain from loud talking, sneezing, or coughing.
• Students will exit the classroom one-at-a-time, as instructed by the teacher.

Antiviral Protocols

• Hand-sanitizer stations are available throughout the school.
• Students are seated in protective cubicles.
• Restrooms are equipped with touchless faucets, soap dispensers, and toilets.
• Extensive cleaning and sanitization of the school takes place before and after each class.
• Medical grade antiviral solutions are used to clean all surfaces.
• Classroom air is sterilized and filtered for viruses during class.
• Classrooms are sterilized using commercial grade ozone generators after class.
• Social distancing is strictly enforced.

Antiviral Airflow

According to current research, the COVID virus is largely transmitted indoors by face-level airflow. We use multiple technologies to prevent this from occurring and to filter out potential viruses from the air. We have built a four-point airflow into our classrooms. The filtered clean air pushes any potential sneeze or cough away from the danger zone (face height) and removes it from circulation. This mimics the airflow of an open field or a forest.

The school’s air is continually scrubbed, using three hospital-grade technologies. First, we use a HEPA system to filter the air, followed by Ultraviolet radiation to kill any pathogens. Finally, we use a MERV 14 HVAC Filtration as a second- layer of safety.  While MERV-14 filters are not specifically rated for COVID (0.1 microns in size),  the literature suggests that they are roughly 50% efficient.

Using these multiple layers offers us unparalleled indoor safety.