Become A Wine Snob on the cheap with Groupon

Wine, glorious wine. Is there a nagging feeling inside your head that you should learn a little something about wine? For moments like being confronted with a voluminous wine list at a posh restaurant, and not being able to distinguish between Burgundy and Bordeaux? And what the heck is terroir, or tannins for that matter? Wouldn't you want to dazzle your business associates, friends, family and hot dates with your mastery of the lingo of vino?

I asked myself these questions over the summer, and concluded that some basic wine education wouldn't hurt. But where to find wine classes that are not intimidating and inexpensive? Salvation came in the form of Groupon, the daily deals site that keeps bombarding my inbox with all sorts of cut-rate offers. Among the offers presented were deeply discounted wine classes, usually 2 to 2 1/2 hours long, which promised to help newbies distinguish between Barolo and Barbaresco. Below is a brief roundup of the ones I took part in. 

Who: Drinking Outside the Box (site)
Where: W52nd St. (Midtown West) 
Price: $29 Groupon deal (up to $68 value)
Class Name: Introductory Wine and Cheese Pairing

Did you know there was a Systematic Approach to tasting wine? Neither did I, but apparently there is since a sizable portion of the class dwelt on that stuff. We learned how to tilt wine glasses to judge clarity, color and condition. When it came to actually tasting wine, judging characteristics like sweetness, acidity, tannins, body and length proved to be a challenging exercise as the wine rolled off my tongue and straight down my throat. 

To make matters worse, while others could detect such exotic aromas as blackcurrant, tar and wet leaves (!), my unsophisticated nose smelled only apricot. Oh well. The class was informative and the instructor eager to turn us newbies into Robert Parker. The cheese pairing part was only emphasized towards the end of the two hours though, but the thick handouts did provide pairing suggestions for common wine varietals. 


Who: Vino Versity (site)
Where: 1st Ave & 86th St. (Upper East Side) 
Price: $25 Groupon deal (up to $65 value)
Class Name: Vino! Rosso! Pronto! (Red Wines of Italy)

Fond memories of last year's 5-week Italian vacation made me want to master vini italiani, thus this class sounded perfect. The lecture focused on the intricacies of Italian grapes (Sangiovese, Barbera, Nebbiolo, etc.) to different growing regions, their respective statuses (DOCG vs. DOC vs. IGT), and even to deciphering a typical label on a Italian wine bottle. Interesting, if a tad nerdy, stuff that will prove handy, I'm sure.

If that whirlwind North to South tour of Italian viticulture made you dizzy, hopefully sampling eight (eight!) representative wines will ease your pain. For me, given my limited prior exposure (mostly to Chianti and Moscato d' Asti) it was nice to compare and contrast various grapes grown in different areas to discover what their characteristics were, and which ones pleased my palate. At the night's end, the most important lesson I learned was to consider wines from Sardinia, Sicily, Friuli and other regions instead of just sticking to familiar offerings from Tuscany.


Who: New York Vintners (site)
Where: Warren St. (Tribeca) 
Price: $29 Groupon deal (up to $75 value)
Class Name: Grapes of Spain

New York Vintners had the biggest class size, with fifteen participants in the "Grapes of Spain" course I attended. Perhaps Spanish wines are hot at the moment, but for me it was another vacation-driven decision - two months traveling all over Spain, drinking wine pretty much every meal, THAT was the catalyst that ignited my love of wine. And I was here to learn more about what I had been drinking.

The Systematic Approach to Wines made another appearance, and being a bit familiar with it this time around, I pretty much nailed the acidity and tannin levels of the outstanding Spanish wines we tasted. Still had a tough time smelling fruits, vegetables, or whatever else is in the wine though. Nevertheless, the instructor's knowledge and enthusiasm were exhilarating as he expounded on topics ranging from oak barrels to the perennial Old World vs. New World wine rivalry. I couldn't resist buying a couple of bottles from the wine shop out front, that's how much I loved them.


As you have seen, a lot of wine was tasted (no spitting here!), thus fun was definitely had. I gained a little knowledge along the way too, but there's a long ways to go on the road to wine snobbery.  Never have I so eagerly awaited Groupon spam, all in the name of education.

Volere Wine meets Prada

"No European carry-all today?", asked S., unable to suppress a smirk. 

"Forgot my man purse today", I replied, appreciating the Seinfeld reference, and laughing at the same time. The "purse" in question was the eye-catching, stylish and eco-friendly packaging that Volére Wine's boxed rosé came in, which I had brought to the New York Philharmonic's free concert in Central Park a few weeks ago. 

Volére's innovative packaging swiftly drew praise from the female members of our contingent, most of them loving the purplish color and designer Italian handbag-like appearance. It almost pained me to tell them that no, this wasn't just some fancy useless appendage, but in fact contained two bottles (1.5L) worth of the night's most important social lubricant. 

I had stumbled upon Volére's boxed wines by accident. Summer being the season for outdoor concerts, events, and picnics, I wanted to bring some wine to these events and yet thought that a bottle was too cumbersome and heavy. Quite a common dilemna, I'm sure. 

"End of aisle 1", said the liquor superstore associate when I inquired about "non-traditional" packaging.The products that initially came into view were not inspiring - plain, bulky 3L (4 bottles equivalent) boxes that made me wonder, "Who'd want to carry these?". They were all right for a picnic in the burbs - you know, where people have cars to transport things - but NYC was another story.

And then, I turned and saw the Volére Wines man purses sitting on a shelf, just below eye level. The weight was just right - not too heavy (I could scarcely believe they held 1.5L). Now which one to buy? Eventually chose the rosé over the pinot grigio (in the more conservative light golden box) partly because it was more eye-catching and would make me feel more self-satisfied about my stylish man purse while walking amidst other concertgoers to the Great Lawn. Unlike Jerry - I would not be unashamed to be seen in public with my "European carry-all", even if only for this occasion. 

After picking a strategic spot, we eagerly followed the easy instructions in opening the box, and were soon quaffing some light, fruity rosé. The pours continued as members of our party gradually arrived, and soon, all of the wine was gone. The packaging garnered all of the attention, but the contents made for easy drinking and paired quite well with Tchaikovsky.