Become a wine expert at home

While Singapore is hours away from the nearest wine region, wine lovers wishing to level up their wine knowledge and tasting abilities now have a new resource at their fingertips. In a timely move, the newly developed The Art of Wine online course is now available in Singapore, thanks to Iconic Wines Singapore.

Says Steven Chan, Iconic Wine’s director of sales and marketing, “About a year ago, I chanced upon Cyrus Tchahardehi’s vlog on Youtube, and found that his approach and style of wine presentation made the topic easy to understand for everyday wine drinkers. In October 2019, he announced a new project, The Art of Wine, a 100% experience-based self-learning platform, and a lightbulb went off in my head! It was exactly what I wished I had when I first began my wine journey.”

Chan also notes that this product is unlike any other in the market, as it’s both comprehensive and flexible, with an affordable one-time payment for unlimited access of the content. “I particularly enjoy the VR videos, which take me immediately into the vineyards or winery cellars. Many ‘certified’ wine folks have not actually been to a vineyard, but this programme affords you the freedom to see it first-hand and have a lot of fun with it!” he enthuses. Chan himself is a Certified Specialist of Wine (CWS) and French Wine Scholar (FWS) but notes that The Art of Wine would have ‘sweetened’ the start of his learning instead of embarking directly into a classroom style, pressure filled way of learning.

With that in mind, we emailed Cyrus Tchahardehi to get a few more tips and insights into the world of wine.

The Art of Wine was created for the wine consumer rather than for wine trade professionals. What prompted you to create a specific e-learning course like The Art of Wine?

Cyrus: The Art of Wine is aimed at helping you enjoy wine even more, not at certifying that you know a few things. Consider a classical music concert. Imagine you go with a great conductor. You both hear the same music, but then the conductor gets you to appreciate the smaller details you hadn’t noticed, that you didn’t pay attention to. You will hear the music differently than you did before, you’ll appreciate it at another level.

In what ways do you think consumers learn differently from those in the trade?

You (the consumer) don’t want a test at the end. You don’t need to care if you know more or less than your friends, but you learn because you adore the subject. When you’re in the trade you need to prove a certain level of knowledge. A diploma, level one and so on.

This is why we wanted to create The Art of Wine as a learning experience for the wine lover. The pleasure of learning, the pleasure of being able to appreciate things at another level. Two very different approaches and motivations.

What are the advantages of an online course vs a physical course?

For starters, you can learn at your own pace and avoid needing to transport yourself to and fro. Now, add to that wines available in sample size, with improved filming and viewing capacity with VR, which provides a much better experience at home, with a loved one.

How do wine drinkers improve their tasting acumen using the tool box of 3 tastes and 6 key aromas?

The sense of smell is so important when it comes to wine appreciation. Being able to work on improving your sense of smell and your olfactive memory will do wonders for your wine appreciation. As for taste, understanding what taste is and being able to separate that sense from the sense of smell is an eye opener. That’s what the 3 tastes and 6 aromas are there for: to boost your senses.

How is the course structured, chapter by chapter or topic wise?

I don’t like talking about structure, it feels too academic. We jump from theoretical knowledge to some hands-on experience, from learning how vines grow to a wine tasting to see how this reflects in the wine. Learning about wine isn’t linear.

If students have a question during the course, how can they get it answered?

They email or message us on FB and we answer their questions in whatever format they prefer. We’re soon going to start a private Facebook group as many questions coming to us are so similar, it would be great for people to help others. Helping others improves your own learning, plus it helps someone else. That is what the world of wine is all about!

The Art of Wine is now available on iconicwines.online at $339 before GST. Early birds may email sales@iconicwines.online to obtain the launch code.