We've taught over 7,500 courses in more than 50 countries. Here's just some of the feedback from our students. If you have any questions about our courses, please e-mail us at wss@mshanken.com or call us at 212.481.8610 x1-302 (during business hours EST). We hope to see you in class.




Your online courses are just the ticket for people with busy schedules.
— David from Parrish, Florida



My wife and I just completed the ABCs of Wine Tasting and enjoyed it completely. We'd like to frame our certificate for our home office. It was really so much fun. We plan to enroll in the Understanding Wine class next.
— Brian from Clinton, Mississippi



The California Cab class was great! Although I've been to Napa and Sonoma, the course really helped me understand the lay of the land (so to speak!). I would recommend the class to anyone traveling to Napa or to anyone who simply wants to be an informed buyer of California Cabs.
— Dan from Lees Summit, Missouri



I can't believe we are down to one more class in Understanding Wine. My friends and I have had a fantastic time, learning and experiencing wine through the course you've designed. We have been meeting, pretty consistently, once a week. This surprised me at first, as I didn't know if my friends would be that interested. But they are really enjoying the knowledge being gained. Its pretty evident that none of the group looks at a glass of wine in the same vein.

I hope you have many interesting seminars/courses available in the future. Its a great forum, and it forces us to get together one a week (or two), when many of us "wait til the weekend" to do anything fun.... We are planning to continue on, primarily based on the suggestions you have made at the end of each course (for additional tastings). I have to say, you've done a great job with this course.
— Tom from Bellevue, Washington



The course has been very helpful. To be able to pick apart the components of Cabernet has helped me to better sell them in my store. Thanks again!
— John from Sioux Falls, South Dakota



The more I learn, the more I have realized the importance of going to the same place each time to buy wine and to speak with the same sales associate. The biggest challenge is, the more I taste, the more I want to try.

My husband is getting us a wine chiller for Christmas. He is really excited about what we have learned. We have been keeping a wine journal and I am so thrilled that I am starting to recognize names and can know what a good price is for wine of a certain caliber and what not to buy.
— Christina (and her husband) from The Woodlands, Texas



I am loving this! So much great info. My first tasting was incredible. I took the Pinot Grigio over to a party later that day and it disappeared quickly. I enjoyed the Chardonnay, but most went for the Pinot Grigio.

My second tasting surprised me. I liked the Cabernet Sauvignon best. I believe I am understanding the layering of flavors more and it is so much fun to enjoy each sip and discover the connections between aroma, flavor and how the wine feels.

I cannot wait till my next dinner party, I know I can make good wine food combinations to be enjoyed by everyone.
— Susan from Woodridge, Illinois



I am enjoying California Cabernet very much and have just hosted my first formal wine tasting.
— Debbie from North Bend, Washington



I thought both courses [Bordeaux and Tuscany] were very informativeófun, but also addictive. I will soon have to enroll for the next class...
— Andreas from Skanoer, Sweden



I just finished Sensory Evaluation. Thank you for such a thorough, rewarding course. The wines chosen for the tastings were wonderful examples of the lessons being taught and they nicely highlighted the differences in the varietals. The material presented was thorough and enormously helpful. I'm so glad to finally have a framework to use as I continue to learn and enjoy more fine wines. I've told many people about this helpful course and I intend to tell even more! Great job Wine Spectator School.
— Carol from Chicago, Illinois



I have been drinking and collecting wine for many years. However, the last time I actually went to an instructional wine tasting was probably about 15 years ago, or maybe longer. I have found the ABCs of Wine Tasting very helpful in reminding me of the terms and their meaning and teaching me new nuances that I had not remembered learning in the past.

The course is designed very creatively. Of particular help are the comparisons to food tasting (I do the cooking in our home) and other non-wine comparisons. Also extremely helpful are the "video clips" and the "pop-up" screens giving additional and specific information.
— Stephen from Redondo Beach, California



It was a great course! I'm now enrolled in the International Guild of Master Sommelier's certificate program and this class was a great addition and complement to that course work. I'll be taking more!
—Elisa from Frederick, Maryland



Planning our trip to Tuscany has been my obsession for over a year now. Along with learning Italian, this class has helped me in my preparation for our trip next summer. Thanks for putting together such a great tutorial on Tuscan wines (I especially liked the extra links/information you included on each page!). It was very straightforward and easy to understand!
— Kim from Greensboro, North Carolina



By the way, Understanding Wine is terrific so far. I have read several books about wine, but the way you have laid out the information, plus the tasting in each lesson, is giving me a much greater amount of retainable knowledge and understanding than I have achieved through these books.

Almost all of the wines I have used for the tasting so far have been reviewed on your online website, and it's fun to compare my findings with the experts'.
— Arne from Huntington, New York



I have really enjoyed the course and learned a lot of detail about Tuscan wine. Next summer, my family and two other couples will be staying at Fattoria Vitticio in Greve. I signed up for the course to better know the region and its wine. A few of our friends have joined us for the wine tastings and we have all enjoyed the experience.
— Tom from Silver Springs, Maryland



I loved your class. It was fun, informative and practical.
— Tom from Montclair, New Jersey



You should be very proud of the Wine Spectator School. My wife enrolled me in Understanding Wine as a birthday gift, and I can't tell you how great a gift this is! I just completed the first class and did the tasting with my wife and had an absolute ball! Thank you, and we can't wait to continue our discovery of the wonderful world of wine.
— Gene from Arlington, Massachusetts



The tasting went very well. Because it was our first tasting in Understanding Wine, we were a little slow completing the whole process but it will go quicker next time I'm sure. We had a really nice dinner afterwards. So probably every other week we will get the same couple to participate and they can learn more about wines (they are more novices than we). I'm reluctant to have a larger group until I get the hang of how to conduct one without having to review the instructions. Eventually we might consider forming a wine tasting club, which could be fun.
— Jim from Dallas, Texas



I just finished Sensory Evaluation. Thank you for such a thorough, rewarding course. The wines chosen for the tastings were wonderful examples of the lessons being learned and they nicely highlighted the differences in the varietals. The material presented was thorough and enormously helpful. (I even challenged my chemistry major husband with a couple of those terms!) After a thrilling trip to Santa Barbara (pre-Sideways) during crush in 2003, my passion for wine became a sentimental one. I'm so glad to finally have a framework to use as I continue to learn and enjoy more fine wines. I've told many people about this helpful course and I intend to tell even more! Great job Wine Spectator School.
— Carol from Chicago, Illinois



We recently finished the Understanding Wine class. We enjoyed the class immensely and have already moved on to the California Cabernet class.
— Brian and Mary from Raymond, Mississippi



We finished the class 6 tasting in Understanding Wine last night, and things seem to be clicking with the group. We are spending lots of time talking about the characteristics of the wine, rather than just drinking it.

We have a total of five folks (including myself) and we've been meeting once a week and going through the material. I wasn't sure how the others would take to it, as I'm the one that's more interested in wine, but they are all having fun learning more about wines. I've noticed at other social get-togethers that these friends are starting to talk more about wine and its characteristics. Kinda cool...
— from Bellevue, Washington



i really love wine & have been involved in many courses and believe me, this is key material in wine understanding, especially taste-wise. congratulations on a great job.
— from Mexico City, Mexico



I am a college professor in my real life, and I can honestly say that your courses are structured very well.
— Carolyn from Wichita, Kansas



About two years ago I decided to get serious about my scraggly wine cellar. I had always been curious about your classes, as over the last 35 years of getting into and out of wine I had never attended a class.
After taking the initial class of "ABC's of Wine" I was hooked and went through the remaining courses. I quickly confirmed this would be a great format and tasting agenda for our local crowd and it would definitely be good for me; who learns more than the "teacher" at such an event? I printed out the tasting guidelines, tasting journals, etc. for the "ABC's of Wine" and invited the group to a tasting. Everyone loved the format and the Tasting Journals with the helpful hints.
— Jerry from Santa Rosa, California



I thought Class One was great--especially the tasting session (which I did off-line with my wife after printing out the material). On to Class Two...
— Tom from Hong Kong



I have made it through the first two lessons and have enjoyed them very much. I am planning to do the tasting with a group of friends so that we can try and do a tasting with four bottles of wine at one time - both an 'expensive' and 'inexpensive' bottle of each of the two wines being considered for the lesson. It would seem a waste not to share this adventure with friends.
— Owen from Alberta, Canada



I just recently finished Understanding Wine and absolutely loved it. Really feel I've increased my wine knowledge by at least 75%! The course was extremely thorough, easy to follow, clear, and interesting.

The entire process was highly rewarding and I would/will recommend the course to anyone/everyone. I look forward to taking another. Thank you!
— Eva from San Francisco, California



Excellent class so far. It's great that you have these courses online. I would encourage Wine Spectator to expand its course offerings to cover world regions and their wines, etc... though it looks like you're already doing that. Keep up the good educating!
— Mike from San Jose, California



I was in Washington, DC this past weekend. I love the class and the ease with which I can access the information whenever/wherever I am. I hope everyone else is finding the class as enjoyable as I am.
— Chris from Charlotte, North Carolina



The course is great. The response that I receive from you is outstanding. I've had on-line courses in the past that were disastrous due to the lack of feedback/response. I look forward to finishing the course and experiencing the others.
— Bill from Santa Fe, New Mexico



I just picked up the new Wine Spectator and saw the advertisement for winespecatorschool.com on the inside cover. I immediately went to the site and signed up for the ABC course. Even though I'm only to module 3, I'm very impressed with your course content. I'm really looking forward to completing this and other courses.
— Dewayne from Houston, Texas



Everything is going well with Understanding Wine. I'm doing a chapter a week, that's about all time permits. I'm thoroughly enjoying the course, it has really helped me to expand on the varieties of wine that I'm familiar with. I really enjoy the various tasting exercises and have learned a great deal about the regional characteristics of wine.
— Dave from Vail, Arizona



I really am enjoying Understanding Wine so far. It is challenging and I am learning a lot. My husband does the tastings with me so he is getting a little wine education as well. When will the other courses be offered? I am looking forward to continuing. Thanks!
— Chris from Tempe, Arizona



I've taken the Australia and the New Zealand & Tuscany courses and now I'm enrolled in the Bordeaux course. All three courses have been very informative.
As a travel agent for over 35 years, I have lived in France and Italy and of course, traveled to Australia and New Zealand. So as you can see, the courses have helped immensely.
— Kathy from Langhorne, Pennsylvania



Thank you very much. I enjoyed the course and I learned a lot of new things about wine. I found the last class about wine sales and service to be particularly interesting and helpful. Being able to take the class at home was great. I have a three year old and my free time is limited. It was nice not having to take away time with her and work around my busy schedule.
— Nicole from Forestville, Connecticut



My only "wish" is that [the wine distributor I work for] would have had this class 4 years ago when I started in the Wine Business.
— from the Midwest



I recently completed the wine course and found it to be extremely interesting and educational. The information definitely answered many questions I had and helped to sharpen my wine selling skills.
— Leah from West Springfield, Massachusetts



The farther into Understanding Professional Wine Sales and Service I have gone, the more impressed I am. The video clips are very well done and extremely helpful. The videos with individuals from France, Italy, Spain and Germany not only give good insight, but help with pronunciation of terms. The maps are also very helpful. While I know where things are they help to put areas into perspective. I think you should feel very good about the course that you have put together.

(Ron, who owns two stores, has now signed up five of his employees for Understanding Professional Wine Sales and Service.)
— Ron from Traverse City, Michigan



I do enjoy the courses and it is a great way for me to refresh on certain regions. Our company picks up costs for 'educational' courses and I have recommended your courses to my managers and colleagues as a great way to 'spend' our educational money without trying to juggle classroom schedules.
— Josh from Tallahassee, Florida



I took the Wine Spectator course "Understanding Professional Wine Sales and Service". The modules were very informative... My waitstaff have increased wine sales a little over 20%.
— Larry from Richmond, Virginia



The course was fantastic. I found the information very useful, I feel like I will be more able to help our wine club members now.
— Shane from Napa Valley, California



This course was great! I have enrolled 4 of my employees and soon I will have most of the 20 trained. If they pass the first course, I will let them take the next one. This is the best I have seen for introduction and basics and feeling good about dealing with customer needs. This sets the right direction, thank you.

I run a family business that's been here 27 years. We have a store on Cape Cod with over 6000sq ft of wine, beer, liquor and also some grocery. We're going through a huge remodel this winter, adding more wine and doubling our beer cooler to 20 doors, of which 3 will be chilled wine.

I really got a lot out of this course. Thanks again.
— from Falmouth, Massachusetts



The work you've done on Understanding Wine shows! I've only just begun the first lesson, but I've found the content very concise and informative. I love the video-clips and transcripts. They really add a nice texture and feel to the online format.

I'm planning on tasting through the wines with my colleagues at the winery. Congratulations on getting this valuable program off the ground.
— from Napa Valley, California

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