So many ideas!

There are times when my head won't stop spinning with ideas as to how to provide wine related programs in the Guelph area. I have recently started offerring classes in conjunction with the Upper Grand District School Board Continuing Education. The first set of classes was An Introduction to Wine Appreciation - 3 weeks, 4 wines per week to find out how to taste wine and develop your personal taste profile. This class will be offerred again starting April 28th (Tuesday) for 3 weeks, 6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. A new offerring is Wine 101 - Beyond the Basics, same nights but for 4 weeks, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. The last class will be a field trip to the LCBO to learn how to shop for wines. Registration can be done on my website http://www.vitisvitae.com/ , or through the School Board.



This is something I love to do - teach about wine! I have visions of further courses - Wine 201, an in depth concentration on one wine producing country per session, and Wine 301 - What makes a wine GREAT - tasting premium, prestige wines from around the world.



While I don't have a problem with the LCBO in general, I do have issues with courses and tasting sessions being run under the guise of education from a company whose mandate is to sell wine. Are products being presented objectively? Or is the goal to increase revenue and sales based on the latest releases? I have attended tasting sessions at the LCBO, and found them to be not very informative, and the setting was cold and sterile. The whole point of wine is that it is completely democratic, with everyone's opinion counting. Just because I like a particular wine, will you like it? Maybe, but not liking a wine is fine, since we all have different tastes. We don't all like the same foods, so why would it be the same with wine?



Time for a small rant about the LCBO. Don't think I haven't noticed the small price increases on some of my favourite budget bottles - I saw you sneak the prices up! In this economy, it takes nerve to do that! It's not like we have a choice as to where we purchase wine, so manipulating the prices by a small amount may not change my mind about a purchase, it does annoy me.

I spend a lot of money at the LCBO - it's part of my job and responsibity as a Sommelier and Wine Educator to taste as much as possible. I do get annoyed at empty shelves, product not shipped, discontinuations etc., but what really annoys me is the method of Vintages Releases. Not all stores receive all the listings in the Release Magazine, and pre-ordering sometimes doesn't work, as the central warehouse ships product as they wish. I had an experience with a particular Cotes du Rhone wine I wanted - I ordered a case before the deadline, but it wasn't shipped, so I checked inventory, and found multiple cases in stores in Toronto, but almost none outside the GTA. I had to e-mail the LCBO, and remind them they were the Liquor Control Board of ONTARIO, not just Toronto, and lo and behold, my wine arrived! If anyone else has had similar experiences, I would love to hear them.