Upcoming Classes
Introduction to Wine: January 2025
About The Vinguard Wine School
Our philosophy
People learn most about wine when it's exciting and is taught as being part of culture and community. Everyone's palate is different, and we respect your individuality. We encourage our students to draw on their experiences; sensory memories are invaluable. The end goal of our classes is that there's no end goal; wine is a lifelong adventure, even for those who work in the industry. We aim to instill in our students more confidence in their palate and an insatiable thirst to continue learning.
What sets The Vinguard Wine School apart?
It's all about you. We won't dictate how wine should taste or what you should like. Instead, we provide the tools for you to discover your unique palate and passion for wine.
Natural wine focus. Natural wine is the new old frontier in winemaking and we are proponents.
Our criteria:
At a minimum, organic farming, although we highlight regenerative methods.
Hand harvesting.
Fermenting with indigenous (native, naturally occurring) yeast.
No additions except for minimal SO2 when necessary. We do not use wines made with nutrients, enzymes, animal products, or any additives besides, in some cases, sulfur.
No subtraction methods except for bentonite (clay) fining and mesh filtering. We do use wines made with sterile filtration or reverse osmosis.
In addition to the environmental benefits, wines made from organic and regenerative vineyards are safer for vineyard stewards and the animals who live on the land.
However, natural wine goes beyond farming; wine is more vibrant and expressive when it has no or minimal interventions. Natural wines can have aromas and flavors that might seem unusual, even offputting, and sometimes, we'll use wines that might seem "flawed" for demonstration. However, we meticulously choose wines that are, above all, delicious.
The larger context. If you want to thoroughly understand natural wine, you need to learn about it not as an isolated sector but as part of a long and sorted history and context. Many natural wine trends today are reactions against and even outgrowths of conventional winemaking and its institutions.
Historical context. Wine history, whether in formal settings or in casual conversation, has been taught in a white supremacist vacuum, omitting the history of ethnic cleansing and oppression that it birthed and continues to allow the wine industry to thrive. Wine history has been whitewashed to death. We’re about peeling off the layers and providing accurate and inclusive information.
Global context. Eurocentricity runs rife in other education forums, especially those that use the word "master" in their titles. Our classes consider cuisines from all over in our discussions about food pairing and wine flavors. We try to use wines made by women, Black, Brown, and Indigenous winemakers as much as possible.
Our values and transparency. We're deeply appreciative of the distributors and wineries that provide wines for our classes. While some companies may be unable to donate, we're dedicated to supporting small businesses whenever possible. We only collaborate with companies that share our values, including fair labor practices and responsible environmental stewardship, ensuring our students and sponsors that we operate with integrity and transparency.
How our classes benefit wine professionals
We provide wine professionals with a viewpoint they will not find elsewhere. Instead of teaching critical thinking and tasting, the WSET, MW, and MS have a set idea of what is considered a wine flaws and what makes a wine delicious, grapes noble, and regions superior. Their teaching breeds conformity and homogeny in wine, indoctrinating students that there is such a thing as "correct" or "good" wine instead of being encouraged to go on their own wine journey. These organizations are more about teaching to pass a test than deep learning. The Vinguard teaches wine professionals how to critically evaluate wine and come to their own conclusions.
Wine certification bodies are often inaccessible to many because of their high costs: $7K for the Court of Master Sommelier examinations alone. In addition to the course, people spend thousands of dollars on travel and wine to prepare for the exams. The result is that those with access to money, corporate sponsorship, or other resources have an advantage. The Vinguard wine classes are financially accessible. Thanks to the generosity of our wine school sponsors, we can pass on discounted rates to wine industry professionals. We are offer scholarships to those who want to take our classes but are short on funds.
Our instructors
Vinguard founder Pamela Busch is the wine school director and the principal teacher in most classes. They've taught hundreds of wine professionals and consumers about wine tasting, regions, history, and how to trust their palates over the last 30+ years.
We also have guest speakers who are incredibly knowledgeable about specific regions.
Past speakers included:
Lee Campbell, Commonwealth Crush
Alvaro de la Viña, Selections de la Viña
Nadia Dmytriw, Floraison Selections
Eric Danch, Danch and Granger Selections
Alice Feiring, The Feiring Line
Shelley Lindgren, A16
Jane Lopes, Legend Australian Wine Imports
Antonela Manuli, Fattoria la Maliosa
Kevin McKenna, Louis Dressner Selections
Sean Norton, ¿Por qué no? Selections
Christopher Renfro, The 280 Project, Friend of a Friend
Justin Trabue, Ward Four Wines
We want to thank our past wine school sponsors:
Alluvial Wines
Amy Atwood Selections
Brazos Wines
Camins 2 Dreams
Danch & Granger Selection
Farm Wine Imports
Fox and Lion
Gemini Bottle Company
Ghostnote Wines
Jenny & François Selections
Champagne Lelarge-Peugot
Margins Wine
Minimo
Redfield
Roni Selects
Fig & Thistle Wine Bar
Wine Dogs Imports
Zev Rovine Selections