Wine School of Philadelphia Takes Wine Education Online

Allie Miller’s April 22, 2020 article, “The Wine School of Philadelphia is now offering online classes,” published by PhillyVoice.

In the first weeks of the COVID-19 shutdown, the Wine School of Philadelphia found a way to keep people learning — and tasting — together even when its Center City classrooms had to go quiet.

PhillyVoice staff writer Allie Miller reported that the school had begun moving its wine classes onto Zoom, offering hour-long virtual programs starting at just $10.

The subjects remained recognizably Wine School: “Sommelier Secrets,” food and wine pairing, Bordeaux and classes devoted to individual wine regions. Each included a wine discussion, tasting notes and a presentation, with students encouraged to bring their own bottles and taste along from home.

The school also introduced virtual tastings and happy hours — a particularly fitting response to a moment when people were suddenly isolated from friends, restaurants and the social rituals normally surrounding wine.

Miller noted that the Wine School had been teaching in Philadelphia since 2001 and had expanded over the years beyond wine into beer, spirits and cocktail education.

The online move was about more than temporary classes. The school was also preparing to offer online sommelier certification through the National Wine School, bringing professional wine education into a format students could complete remotely.

For a school built around tasting wine together, the pandemic presented an obvious problem. The Wine School’s response was characteristically practical: move the classroom online, keep the price accessible and give people a reason to open a bottle and continue learning together — even when “together” suddenly meant meeting on a screen.