What is the Pulcinella! Wine Course, Level 1?

This 8-week wine course, with a total of 12 hours of education and tasting, is designed to help you learn more about wine and better appreciate what goes into growing the grapes that make wine (viticulture), producing wine (viniculture), evaluating wine, and enjoying wine.  

Regardless of whether you are starting from a limited knowledge of wine, have some experience, or have taken other wine education prior to this, I believe you can take away from this course something to help you enjoy wine in your everyday life as well as to help you enhance your career in hospitality.

Each 1-½ hour class will include a limited amount of structured lecture designed to help you understand that week's topic.  The first week will establish a baseline of knowledge to help you better navigate the world of wine.  After that, the weeks will be split up by regions (in most cases, countries) so that we can learn about how the history of winemaking has been shaped by a set of cultures, customs, rules, laws, and innovations that have evolved over hundreds of years.  

The most important thing we will do in this class is TASTE and ENJOY wine. When I was first learning wine, I was told by my mentor that the most important thing you can do is taste a lot of different wines.  Wine is art, and it was only after I had tried hundreds of wines that I felt I could truly apply my knowledge to objectively evaluate wines and appreciate the role of the grower, and wine maker in bringing that wine to my table. 

In this class you will taste between 40 and 50 wines, which will give you a huge head start on your journey to understanding this beautiful art form.  I am passionate about wine, and I hope that comes through in our discussions. 

What does the class cover?

Class 1: Tasting and understanding characteristics of wine

Class 2: French wine

Class 3: Italian wine

Class 4: Spain and Portugal

Class 5: Other European wine

Class 6: Wine in the USA

Class 7: South America

Class 8: The rest of the wine world

Class is comprised of about 45 minutes of teaching followed by a guided and structured tasting of up to six wines per class and classes will be 90 minutes at Pulcinella! on Wednesday evenings.

The final class will end with at least one very special bottle to be tasted. In the previous cohort, we tasted a 1976 Gran Reserva Rioja that was older than almost everyone in the room!

The full syllabus is here.

How much does it cost?

The class is half what comparable classes with certifications will cost, and, I believe, a lot more fun.

$320 for 8 courses. You will taste a minimum of 6 wines and receive all the written materials.

Because of the generosity of some of our distributors, I have a limited number of slots with a $200 stipend ($120 out of pocket) and full stipends for employees of Pulcinella!, Palm&Pine, or Original Nite Cap.

This class is priced around what it costs me per student, as the goal is not to make money but to help people enjoy wine. I also think it could be incredibly valuable for those in industry who want to advance in their career. See some of the testimonials of others who took it below.

Who is my instructor?

Andrew Principe, Wine Director at Pulcinella! spent much of his 20s working for one of the largest wine distributors in the country. He has completed the Windows on the World Wine program at Cornell University and is WSET Level 2 certified with distinction. He estimates he have tasted nearly 5,000 wines, from a healthy dose from the 2 for $10 bin all the way through the entire lineup of 1982 "First Growth" Bordeaux.

During his time at the Martignetti Companies, he developed and taught an adult-education wine survey course that attempted to give beginners a better appreciation of wine and how to enjoy it. He takse a "no snobbery" approach to wine, which is what he was taught.

Annotated testimonials

"My restaurant offered a mandatory wine training where we basically were told what was good, and why our guest should drink it. You took the opposite approach and I am much more comfortable talking to guests about wine now." - Long-time New Orleans restaurant server

"I really appreciate how little you focused on 'the right wines' and instead encouraged us to explore what we like and are comfortable splurging on." - Another long-time hospitality industry professional

"My wife loved wine and I knew nothing about it. She's really impressed now when I can pick a perfect wine for her palette!" - New Orleans local

“I only took the class because my girlfriend wanted to, but after experiencing the diversity of different types of wine, I realize now that there are wines for everyone. We go on a wine date once a week now!” - Attendee

"I thought the bar was open tonight. Is Jeri here?" - Chris Hannah

READY TO SIGN UP?

Complete this survey, and then we will reach out to you within two weeks so that you can enroll and pay.