Unit 1 of 26 · Online wine course

Wine Basics Course: The Foundations of Wine

The ideas every other lesson builds on. 8 lessons · about 62 min · Free

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The 8 lessons

  1. Wine 101: the main styles of wine and how to read them

    Wine is grape juice fermented by yeast, and almost every bottle belongs to a few families you can read by colour, sweetness, bubbles and strength.

    You will be able to:

    • explain how yeast turns grape juice into wine
    • tell still, sparkling, sweet and fortified wines apart
    • read any wine by colour, sweetness, bubbles and strength
    about 8 min

  2. How to taste wine in 5 steps

    Tasting is just drinking, slowed down: See, Swirl, Smell, Sip and Savour, five steps that give each sense its turn and help you notice what you like.

    You will be able to:

    • name the five steps of tasting wine in order
    • explain why smell matters more than your tongue
    • notice and describe a wine's finish after swallowing
    about 8 min

  3. From grape to glass: the winery's year, step by step

    Follow grapes through the winery, from crushing and fermenting to the quiet finishing steps that make wine clear, stable and ready to bottle.

    You will be able to:

    • describe the winery's stages from harvest to bottle
    • explain what yeast and its enzymes do to sugar
    • explain how a wine is made clear and stable
    about 8 min

  4. How red, white and rosé differ

    A wine's colour and its drying tannin come from time on the grape skins: the whole range from white through pink to red, and orange wine beside it.

    You will be able to:

    • explain why skin time sets colour and tannin
    • place vin gris, rosé and clairet on the colour dial
    • describe the three ways winemakers make rosé
    about 7 min

  5. Cool climate vs warm climate: how warmth shapes wine

    Why the warmth of a region sets its wine's style: the vine belt, life at the cool edge, the fixes growers and winemakers use, and a wine map on the move.

    You will be able to:

    • explain how a region's climate shapes its wine
    • place cool-edge and hot regions on a climate scale
    • read a label's alcohol figure as a climate clue
    about 8 min

  6. What terroir really means, and how to taste it

    Terroir put to the test: how soil really works through water, why 'mineral' is not the taste of rock, and how to taste a place side by side.

    You will be able to:

    • explain how soil shapes wine through water
    • explain why minerality is not the taste of rock
    • set up a side-by-side tasting that shows terroir
    about 8 min

  7. How to read a wine label: the wine's ID card

    A label is the wine's ID card: who made it, where it is from, the harvest year and its strength tell you enough to make a smart guess.

    You will be able to:

    • find the producer, place and vintage on any label
    • explain what an appellation and a vintage are
    • make a smart guess from place and year
    about 8 min

  8. The one rule: match the weight

    If you remember nothing else about pairing, match the weight of the wine to the weight of the food, so that neither one flattens the other.

    You will be able to:

    • explain the one rule behind most wine pairings
    • match light dishes to light wines, rich to fuller
    • judge a wine's weight without naming its flavours
    about 7 min

Related reading on Winelingo: Wine for Beginners: 10 Easy Wines to Start With · Where wine comes from