An Introduction to Wine

Foodservice Edition

Wine is the fastest growing sector in the alcoholic drinks industry and as your patrons gain greater knowledge of wine and increase their overall consumption, their expectations of wine and the service of wine grows. Be prepared with an educated and trained staff!

T he Vino 101 wine training course teaches new foodservice professionals the basics about wine and aids in recommending, selling and serving wine. It also can be used as a refresher course for seasoned professionals.




The lessons cover the following topics:

• Lesson 1: What is wine?
  Students explore how wine is made, how to read a wine label, and characteristics of wine such as color and appearance, nose, fruit, taste, tannin, balance, length and finish.
  
  
• Lesson 2: Grape Varieties
  Students learn general information about each of the major grape varietals of retail and commercial wine sales. This lesson also covers the specifics of predominant flavors, aromas, styles and how to pair wine with food. Sparkling and dessert wines are also explored.
  
  
• Lesson 3: Wine-Producing Regions
  This lesson details the major wine-producing areas using animated maps and colorful illustrations. Geographic characteristics and styles are also noted here.
  
  
• Lesson 4: Serving Wine
  This lesson uses video and high resolution photographs to demonstrate the correct way to open a bottle of wine and/or Champagne. Students learn how to serve wine and are taught about the correct glassware to use, how and why to decant and proper temperatures. Valuable tips to recommend and sell wine more comfortably are also shared.
  
  
• End-of-course Assessment
  At the end of the course, students are required to complete a 20-question quiz. Once the quiz is passed, a personalized Certificate of Achievement can be printed.

View/Print the Introduction to Wine eBrochure.

Approximately 120 minutes in length, An Introduction to Wine can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection- at the restaurant, at home, or from an Internet cafe or public library. Students may log in and access the tutorial and resources at any time throughout the subscription period.

An Introduction to Wine is part of a blended learning strategy for wine training that pairs learning with hands-on tasting. Supplemental resources are also included to support the newly acquired knowledge gained from the program:

• Free membership to the Vino 101 Online Community
  
• Tasting evaluation worksheets
  
• Glossary of pertinent wine-related vocabulary
  
• Varietal quick reference guide
  
• Post-training follow-up activities
  

Learning about wine is a process- see An Introduction to Wine as the first step.