These classes generally cover topics for people who  feel intimidated about shopping for wine, who are confused by all the different labels with the names of places and grapes they never heard of.   These beginner wine classes are developed to take the mystery out of your wine experience. In its most basic format, the classes guide you beginning with the grape at the vineyard to the final bottle of wine at your table. You are shown how to taste a wine, how to understand the different wine labels, and how to properly serve your wine. These classes are normally offered in a relaxed atmosphere so that a beginning wine lover doesn't feel intimidated and they usually offer a chance to give feedback, so no matter what experience level you are, everyone can find a benefit in one of the classes offered for people new to wine – even the more experienced wine lovers!

For us, there was a local wine store that offered these classes and we walked to the class.  We recommend you take a cab, because you are tasting the wine, not just looking at it.  Also check to see about any fees involved if you register and take one of the classes.

Additional classes taught at a more beginning level may include information on how to identify a wines key components, how experts score a wine, proper wine serving temperatures and how to identify wine styles.  you may also be interested in learning about comparing and contrasting Old World and New World wines as well as learning about the regions they were made from.  Please take a cab or other transit if you cannot walk to the class.

If you are interested in learning an appreciation of wines that are made from the most well known grapes and some of the lesser known grapes from around the world, or learning about the origin of grapes, then you may want to look into a varietal class.  If exotic wine names frightened you before then you won't be afraid after you take one of these classes that explains in a class, tasting, seminar type format the grapes and wines and growing regions and their significance of the world.  These classes teach you about diversity of flavors and their cultivation.  We found them to be an excellent resource and made some great friends too!

Once you master those things you may be interested in a class on Appellation.  In appellation classes you'll learn about wines from the world's growing regions and the classic wines produced from them. These wine regions are appellations and are recognized by the wine industry and countries from all over the world as producing wines with a distinct uniqueness and character.

If you were ever confused by labels of wines from around the world that often don't list the grape varietal name, Or, does list the varietal name, but not where the wine came from, then you will enjoy getting information from your local winery or wine shop on where to begin.  We started our trek with information online, but found the classes to expedite our learning, friendly and easy to participate in and made valuable connections to both people and new wine experiences.

If you suspect that you have any allergies, I strongly advise you to seek the advice of a doctor – A simple allergy test in the office that consists of a light prick of a pin head that has a dot of that substance (you may be allergic to) on it to your forearm which will show whether you have an allergy.  The complete allergy test takes about 45 minutes.  Better to know than to guess.  That's what we did to find out.

According to the Wikipedia definition  – "Sulfites occur naturally in all wines to some extent. Sulfites are commonly introduced to arrest fermentation at a desired time, and may also be added to wine as preservatives to prevent spoilage and oxidation at several stages of the winemaking.  Organic wines are not necessarily sulfite-free. In general, sweet (dessert) wines contain more sulfites than dry wines, and white wines contain more sulfites than red wines.   In the United States, wines bottled after mid-1987 must have a label stating that they contain sulfites if they contain more than 10 parts per million.  The government entity that monitors  wineries in the United States is called the ATF.  The ATF  has determined that the wine classified as sulfite free is when the levels of sulfites are under 10 parts per million, or ppm.

In the European Union an equivalent regulation came into force in November 2005."  Sulfites can be found on garlic, onions (Yummy), growing plants and grapes.  There really is no such thing as sulfite free.

Sulfites have been added to wine for a thousand years or so.  Sulfur candles were used by the Romans and by the Greeks  so that their two handled, narrow necked ancient jars, that were used to hold wine or oil, and their wine barrels were sterilized.

Oxygen can damage wine, so sulfur protects and assists in the prevention of organisms growing in wine.  In this way, wine lasts longer-is preserved and allowed to age so that the flavors can develop.  Wine without sulfates equals vinegar in just a few short months.  Eighteen months – and unfortunately, that includes the time from being bottled.

Some factors that you may be allergic to the sulfites are if you get headaches after you drink wine – especially red wine.  Not just a slight headache, but a more severe one.  Red wine routinely has a higher sulfite level than white wine.  You can also tell if you have a poor wine by the smell.  The wine may possess an odor that resembles rotten eggs.  This is an indicator that the sulfites were not used correctly in the wine.   There is little agreement as to this theory, but it still remains valid in our opinion.  If you have an allergy this would make you very suspect of the wine.

If you are careful you will notice whether your wine choice has, natural sulfites, or has added in sulfites.  Added in sulfites have a higher level of sulfites and can cause an allergic reaction, but you may not experience a reaction with wine that has natural sulfites.  You'll want to also remember that a natural sulfites will not last as long as a wine with added in sulfites, so don't wait to drink it.

If you buy a wine that has natural sulfites in it you should have been warned to drink it quickly and not store it by the label warning or by the winery itself.  Pay attention to labels or special instructions or information.  In order to produce the natural sulfites, a winery must maintain a meticulous level of cleanliness and sterility, so that the organisms that normally grow and will turn a wine to vinegar are kept to a minimum and to help prevent contamination from harming their wine.

Unless you actually go into the winery, it would be difficult at best to know what procedures any one winery used.  So you may ask, if you are at the winery, what process is used.  If you are given the information that they use a layer of carbon dioxide on the wine to kill off the bad microbes that depend on oxygen.  Or that, Nitrogen gas is used for Bottling.  Also if they talk about the sterile filtration methods they have in place, then you can feel fairly confident that they are taking every step available to them to create the best atmosphere for their natural sulfites wine.  Take note, too that the bottle of wine is stored on its side – especially important when you get it home – and chilled.

Evidence such as seeds, empty skins, stains and residue, possibly from wine, were found in earthenware jars at sites dating from the Neolithic Age (8500-4000 B.C.). Though this doesn't necessarily indicate (as fact) that the contents in these jars was wine.  The more popular theory is that wine was fermented from pictorial and literary sources of times coming later.  What is certain to have been the earliest wine (dated ca. 5400-5000 B.C.) was found at Hajji Firuz Tepe, in the Zagros Mountains of Iran. What was discovered there did contain residues of grape juice AND resin from the terebinth tree (known as a preservative used in ancient wine-and still used in Greek retsina to this day) and was found in earthenware vessel-like containers.

More than likely, wine production was an accident, therefore it was more of an "discovery” than an  “invention.”

Wine enthusiasts base classification on a variety of factors, including but not limited to; color, smell, taste, place of origin,  alcoholic strength, vinification (Process/es used for turning grapes into wine) method/s and also style.  Classifications based on style consist of:  Sparkling, Fortified, Cooking, Fruit, Table, and Dessert.

The main four factors leading to the growth of wine production include:

1 - Knowledge and practices that were part of the information and technology shared between cultures coming into contact with one another. Indians were said to be the best producers because they learned the process from their forefathers.

2 - Wine became a part of cultures in both secular and religious practices.  I know of one altar boy who just loved to prepare the communion cup at his church.

3 - Wine was developed as a profitable agricultural product and trade commodity.

4 – Markets emerged to represent wine cultures.  A modern example of an emerging market is related to Mark Twain, after successfully publishing  his book, "Celebrating Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," he left California for New York in 1866 to promote those wines in the East. Both white and red wines experienced a sharp increase in sales just one year after he arrived-1867.

Entire industries were spawned with the 'discovery' and development of wine.  To honestly appreciate the aroma and flavors of different types of wine, use different types of wine glasses.  For Example -

Sparkling Glass - designed with a tall and more narrow bowl so that it holds carbon-dioxide for a longer time and lets you appreciate and enjoy the sparkling or bubbling that goes with wine.

Red Wine Glass – designed with a more defined round bowl.  The larger opening lets you dip your nose into the glass, letting you truly appreciate the distinct aromas of red wine. There are many brands of glasses available in the market.

Wine become a very important commodity, and more cultures began to learn and develop methods for its production, making it more common throughout the ancient world.  Wine remains an important commodity today. Cheers!