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Frontpage Hero for Wine School of Philadelphia

Domaine Pradelle 2010 “Courbis” Crozes-Hermitage

Very little of this wine is imported into the United States, and most of it ends up in the Philly-NYC corridor, which is fine by me. It’s one of the great …

Goose Ridge 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley

The big four –Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, International Wine Cellar, and the Wine Advocate– all liked this wine. None of them loved it, but they all gave the wine a solid …

Altadonna 2010 Nero d’Avola

Altadonna is a project by the well-known father & son winemaking team of Stefano and Niccoló Chioccioli. Their portfolio is a line of pan-Italian wines sourced from northern to southern Italy. While such …

Chateau Ollieux Romanis 2011 “Cuvee Capucine” Corbieres-Boutenac

I don’t know why this wine is named Capucine. Was it named after the French actress who lives about an hour away? Or Refuge Capucine, a dog shelter near the winery? …

Philadelphia Daily News: Get a taste, and degree, for wine

If you don’t know a pinot gris from a pinot noir, resolve this year to become a wine pro.

With the popularity of movies like “Sideways,” a film about love and marriage set in southern California’s Santa Barbara County wine district, as well as increased interest among young professionals who are starting wine clubs and going to tastings, there’s no better time to sip and learn.

Left Hand Brewing Co. Milk Stout Nitro

In another article, we implored you to forgo Guinness and other mass-produced imports for local brews that pack more freshness and flavor. My opinion hasn’t changed, and our local beer scene …

A Service Dog and Her Winemaker

This article is one of the few articles written about Keith’s life before founding the Wine School. It prominently features Rosie, his dog of many years. Sadly, Rosie passed away in …

Associated Press: Brew-haha frothing over after Philly bar raids

The Associated Press originally published the story on March 12, 2010. The article is reprinted solely for educational purposes. It is intended to offer insight into the history of wine education …

Associated Press: Wine vending machines make their debut

Numerous attempts at reform have been turned back by special interests intent on keeping their slice of the pie. So simply stocking Chianti and cabernet on supermarket shelves is not an option under the state’s post-Prohibition liquor laws. The liquor board has tried to be more consumer-friendly in recent years, including opening 19 full-service state stores in supermarkets. The board touts the kiosks as another step toward modernization – “an added level of convenience in today’s busy society,” liquor board Chairman Patrick Stapleton said in a statement.

Not everyone is swallowing that line. Craig Wolf, president and CEO of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, questioned the machines’ efficacy in preventing sales to minors.

Keith Wallace, president and founder of The Wine School of Philadelphia, described the kiosks as well-intentioned failures with limited selections and overtones of Big Brother. “The process is cumbersome and assumes the worst in Pennsylvania’s wine consumers – that we are a bunch of conniving underage drunks,” Wallace wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “(Liquor board) members are clearly detached from reality if they think these machines offer any value to the consumer.”

Cougar Crest 2006 Reserve Syrah, Walla Walla

The origin of this winery was 50 acres and a booth at the local airport. No, it wasn’t a grand or impressive start. What it did have, and continues to possess, …

Direct sales invigorate wine-lovers

Local wine aficionados love to grouse, often with good reason, about how state regulations can sometimes stand between them and that coveted vintage.
But they are divided over whether a favorable decision in a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court would do much to make more varieties available, or cheaper, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The court is being asked to decide whether states can limit direct, winery-to-wine-lover sales.
Keith Wallace, president of the Wine School in Philadelphia, had 53 phone messages the day after the Supreme Court heard arguments, and knows that oenophiles are watching the case.

Wallace spends $30,000 a year on wine. He said that recent innovations by the Liquor Control Board mean that “you have an enormous selection available.
“The problem is that the price point is often 10 to 30 percent higher than anywhere else,” he said.

The best-case scenario, he said, would be a Supreme Court decision that dealt a mortal blow to the state-store system.

But the odds are that Pennsylvania’s unique system, criticized for decades but politically resilient, will survive relatively unchanged.

Sommeliers: A rare vintage

At the five-year-old Wine School of Philadelphia, located in Fairmount, 60 students are taking sommelier courses, even though director Keith Wallace decries the profession as “the worst position on the face of the earth. At most places, they’re glorified restaurant managers, talked down to and condescended to.”

Beverage managers, responsible for all libations served, make “marginal income,” between $30,000 and $40,000 after long hours, Wallace says, “at the very top, you can make $60,000 to $80,000,” but the hours are punishing. “The wine industry itself is an amazing place to work,” Wallace says. He directs students to industry positions, advertising for a large wine company, importing, running portfolios for distributors all offering the possibility of better pay, travel, nights and weekends off. (Contrary to assumptions, there are import and distribution jobs in Pennsylvania, but only one buyer.)

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