The Science of Wine Tasting Series is designed to help students of wine sharpen their tasting skills and master the latest scientific advancements in wine chemistry and sensory evaluation.
It is composed of four segments, each focusing on a specific aspect of wine evaluation:
- The Neuroscience of Wine Tasting with Gabriel Lepousez (Jan. 11 - Feb. 1)
- Molecular Harmonies with François Chartier (Feb 8 - Mar. 15)
- Beyond Flavour with Nick Jackson MW (Apr. 12 - 26)
- Understanding and Identifying Wine Faults with Jamie Goode (May. 10 - Jun. 21)
Each of the four segments is composed of three to four live, online presentations.
You may register for each segment individually or for the entire 4-part series, including a wrap-up “Meeting of the Minds” live panel discussion with all presenters and moderated by WSG Academic Advisor, Andrew Jefford.
REGISTER FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES ($385 $325)
All webinars start at 12:00 noon ET.
You can’t make a webinar live? No worries. They are all recorded for on-demand replay!
|
![]() |
REGISTER NOW ($95) | ||||||||||||
Jan. 11 - Feb. 1 | 3 live webinars |
The strength of an experienced wine taster is knowledge of self and his or her senses. In this three-part series, Gabriel Lepousez will explore cutting-edge research in sensory perception so that wine professionals may describe wine with precision and accuracy, improve their sense of smell, and combine both emotional and analytical approaches to wine tasting so that both “viewing angles” enrich and empower their wine analysis.
This series is designed for food and wine professionals, wine judges, wine educators, wine and food journalists and anyone who relies on their senses to assess, evaluate, critique and/or write about wine and food.
Gabriel Lepousez is a French neuroscientist and an international expert on sensory perception and brain plasticity. He received his doctorate in Neuroscience from the Paris Sorbonne University, and hold a research position at Institut Pasteur in the Perception and Memory Lab.
For more than fifteen years, Gabriel Lepousez has been exploring the function of brain circuits involved in sensory perception, memory and emotions, uncovering the key role of neuronal plasticity in olfactory learning and perception.
As a wine passionate, Gabriel also offers his scientific expertise to the world of wine education, sharing his extensive knowledge of the brain, this essential “tool” for wine tasting.
In addition to international lectures and contribution to wine education programs, he has co-founded in 2016 L’Ecole du Nez, a neuro-sensory training for wine professionals to understand how the brain works during wine tasting and how to improve our sensory performance.
Your brain —and all its sensory extensions in your eyes, nose and mouth— is your essential “tool” to perceive, remember and judge all the sensory components of wine.
But do you really know how your wine tasting “tool” works? Following the introductory webinar on the Neuroscience of Wine Tasting (delivered November 18th and recorded for on-demand replay as a bonus episode), this first chapter in a three-part-series will provide an extended update on the oral sensations generated during wine tasting.
Recent progress in molecular neuroscience has uncovered the nature, diversity and topography of gustatory receptors in our mouth, as well as the nature of the wine molecules which activate each of these taste receptors.
With the highest density of tactile/touch receptors in our body, our mouth is well equipped to precisely analyze the textures and mouthfeel of wine. Moreover, we will highlight the key —but underestimated— role of saliva for both gustatory and mouthfeel sensations.
All this emerging knowledge should provide the framework to describe wine sensory attributes with precision and accuracy, suggest some innovative descriptors, and unravel some rules behind wine & food pairings.
This second webinar will provide an extended update of the neural bases of our olfactory sensations.
Highlighting the difference between orthonasal and retronasal smell, we will first illustrate how the pathways of olfactory presentation may lead to distinct perceptions.
We will then describe the large repertoire of olfactory receptors and the coding logic used by the brain to encode, discriminate and memorize the large diversity of wine olfactory components.
Special attention will be drawn to the genetic and cultural variations in olfactory perception as well as to the challenge of component identification within an odor mixture.
Altogether, these elements will reveal both the strengths and the weaknesses of our nose and suggest olfactory exercises to improve our sense of smell.
This webinar will provide an extended update of the cognitive processes involved in the integration of the wine sensory dimensions.
Rather than merely deconstructing the wine into its different sensory components, wine tasting is also an active process of reconstruction, involving selective attention and prediction based on prior knowledge.
To illustrate this point, we will show to what extent our different senses can influence each other in the representation and description of wine attributes, emphasizing, for instance, how visual information can influence —and even mislead— other senses.
Leveraging on the recent progress of brain imaging technics, we will also investigate the flow of information within the different brain regions during wine tasting and highlight the duality between emotional versus analytical processing. Based on these elements, we will discuss the different approaches to wine tasting and how combining those complementary “viewing angles” may enrich the language of wine.
YOU MAY ALSO OPT TO REGISTER FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES ($385 $325)
|
![]() |
REGISTER NOW ($95) | ||||||||||||
Feb 8 - Mar. 15 | 3 live webinars |
In this three-part series, François Chartier will explore the aromatic science of molecular harmonies between specific “aromas families” in wine and food and the aromatic links or bridges that tie them together. Using sauvignon blanc and sparkling wine like Cava as case studies, he will also demonstrate how to create recipes inspired by and for wine.
This program is ideal for sommeliers and chefs, as for waitstaff, distributor sales personnel, wine professionals, and anyone who needs (or wants) to expertly pair wine and food to make both show to their best advantage.
François Chartier has been on an aromatic quest since the late 1980s to understand the impact of aromas in our daily lives, more specifically in the world of gastronomy, wine and beverages. The Quebec native has been living in Barcelona since 2016, with his wife and partner, sommelière Isabelle Moren.
A sommelier, cook, columnist, author, researcher, consultant, trainer and lecturer, he has had a unique and brilliant career.
His exceptional track record places him in a class of his own, as no international gastronomy professional has ever achieved what this creator of harmonies has achieved to date: winner of the prestigious title of Best Sommelier in the World (Sopexa Grand Prix 1994), he also won the prize for Best Cookbook in the World, twice, in 2010 in Paris and 2016 in China, and Best Wine and Food Pairing Book
in the World, in 2013 in Paris.
His passion led him to follow his own path by bypassing some of the rules of his profession. In 2004, he literally created a new science: that of "Molecular Harmonies", based on the potential for aromatic synergy between foods – whichhas redefined haute cuisine –, as well as between foods, wines and different beverages. In doing so, he successfully explained and deepened the impact of aromas on the world's gastronomic heritage, as well as the harmony between food and wine and other drinks such as sake and beer.
Today, François Chartier is an advisor on the research committee for the new SONY AI: Artificial Intelligence & Gastronomy project in Tokyo, and "Master Blender" at one of the country's oldest sake breweries, Tanaka 1789; his first sake Tanaka 1789 X Chartier will be launched worldwide in the spring of 2020.
Since then, he has never stopped developing his aromatic science and is considered a world expert in aromas. Famous American wine critic Robert M.
Parker Jr. describes François Chartier as "a pure genius". At the same time, renowned chef Ferran Adrià of elBulli (named the world's best restaurant five times) calls him "the number one flavor expert".
In this webinar, François Chartier will drill down to the molecular level to discuss his groundbreaking theory of wine and food pairing: molecular harmonies, published in his groundbreaking book Taste buds and Molecules.
By focusing on the aromatic elements of both wine and food, as well as the links or bridges that create aromatic harmonies, François will demonstrate how to achieve aromatic food & wine matches, and how to create recipes inspired by and for wine.
Knowing which aromatic families work best together is key to achieve aromatic food and wine pairing. In this webinar, François Chartier will discuss sauvignon blanc and its sibling varieties within the “anise-like” taste family and explore which food ingredients match best and why! Dominant aromatic molecules in food and wine create an aromatic synergy resulting in augmented, multiplied and magnified taste: 1 + 1 = 3 !
Learn what foods will bring out the best in sauvignon blanc, verdejo, cortese, furmint, vermentino and romorantin!
In this webinar, François Chartier will share keys to understanding the aromatic matching of sparkling wine with food. After a deep dive on the impact of autolysis and the large family of Maillard reaction aromas, he will share his deep molecular study on Cava, and also discuss about Franciacorta and Champagne (among others) to showcase how different sparkling aromatic profiles marry with specific “aroma families” in food.
YOU MAY ALSO OPT TO REGISTER FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES ($385 $325)
|
![]() |
REGISTER NOW ($95) | ||||||||||||
Apr. 12 - 26 | 3 live webinars |
Nick Jackson, MW, passed all of his Master of Wine exams on first attempt. He attributes the success of his blind identification exercises to a novel methodology of assessing a wines acidity and tannin to gauge a wine’s identity.
Learn how and why the level, type and shape of acidity in white wine and the level, type and location of tannin in red wine goes well beyond flavour to navigate the tumultuous seas of blind identification.
This seminar series is ideal for all students of wine, especially CWE, MS and MW candidates, wine judges, wine writers, wine educators and serious wine hobbyists who would like to hone their analytical assessment skills.
Nick Jackson is a British Master of Wine and the author of Beyond Flavour, an influential study of wine tasting. He owns and operates The School of Taste, an online platform for wine tasting webinars. He became a Master of Wine in 2019, having passed all the exams at the first attempt.
Nick spent seven years at Sotheby’s in the UK and the US as a wine specialist, culminating in five years as the buyer for the New York retail business. In 2018, Nick left Sotheby’s to establish his own advisory business, Vintage Variation LLC, which advises private clients, retailers and other wine businesses on all aspects of fine wine. Nick lives in Florida.
In this webinar, Nick Jackson, MW will introduce his approach to wine tasting by explaining the concepts of acid structure in white wines and tannin structure in red wines and how both are better indicators of variety than flavors when trying to assess a wine’s identity.
Nick will then introduce his tasting methodology by providing a guided tasting of one white (Chenin Blanc) and one red (Cabernet Sauvignon).
Participants are encouraged to purchase a bottle of each variety to taste along.
Chenin Blanc: Choose from the Loire (Vouvray, Montlouis, Savennières, Saumur) or South Africa
Cabernet Sauvignon: Choose from Cab Sauv-dominant Bordeaux, Australia, Chile, USA
Nick Jackson, MW will discuss the concept of acid structure in detail through a guided tasting of three major white varieties, (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Riesling).
By assessing level, type and shape of acidity, participants will learn the key identifying characteristics of these three varieties through the lens of acid structure.
Participants are encouraged to purchase a bottle of each variety to taste along.
Sauvignon Blanc: Choose from the Loire, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile, USA
Chardonnay: Choose from Bourgogne, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile, USA
Riesling: Choose from Alsace, Germany, Austria, Australia
Nick Jackson, MW, will explore tannin structure in three major red varieties (Tempranillo, Sangiovese and Syrah).
Participants will learn to taste for level, type and location of tannin, and how tannin structure is a key factor in the taste profile of red wines.
Participants are encouraged to purchase a bottle of each variety to taste along.
Tempranillo: Choose from Rioja, Ribera del Duero or Toro
Sangiovese: Choose from Chianti, Montepulciano or Montalcino
Syrah: Choose from N. Rhône, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile, USA
YOU MAY ALSO OPT TO REGISTER FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES ($385 $325)
|
![]() |
REGISTER NOW ($95) | ||||||||||||
May. 10 - Jun. 21 | 4 live webinars |
Jamie Goode will define the origin and describe the identifiers of some of the most prevalent wine faults/taints in this four-part series: TCA, brettanomyces, reduction/volatile sulphur compounds, oxidation, volatile acidity, smoke taint, eucalyptus, geosmin, mouse taint, and ropiness.
This is an excellent tutorial for wine professionals and wine judges who need to hone a discriminating palate.
Jamie Goode is a London-based wine writer, lecturer, wine judge and book author. With a PhD in plant biology, he worked as a science editor, before starting wineanorak.com, one of the world’s most popular wine websites.
He is columnist for UK national newspaper The Sunday Express, and writes regularly for a range of publications, including The World of Fine Wine, Meininger’s Wine Business International, Noble Rot, Wine & Spirits, Vine Pair and Drinks International.
He is in demand as a speaker/lecturer and also a wine judge, and is one of the co-chairs for the International Wine Challenge. He has been a regular overseas judge for the Top 10 Chenin Blanc competition in South Africa and WineAlign’s National Wine Awards of Canada.
He has recently been a keynote speaker for the Simple Wine (Moscow), Cool Climate Wine Symposium, the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Celebration, the Australian Wine Technical Conference, The Atlantic Wine Forum, the Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir Celebration, the Elgin Chardonnay Colloquium and Texsom.
He’s also prolific on Twitter (@jamiegoode) and Instagram (@drjamiegoode).
He has written four major books: Wine Science, Authentic Wine, I Taste Red and Flawless.
The topic of faults is one of the most current and interesting in wine. Fascinatingly, opinions differ about whether a wine is faulty or not.
In some countries, for example, the presence of even small amounts of Brettanomyces (the phenolic, farmyard smell that is caused by a rogue yeast) means that the wine is instantly rejected. But some of the most famous red wines have had some of this character as part of their flavour signature. Reduction is another great example of a ‘fault’ that, in some contexts, can be considered a positive. Other faults, however, are always bad if they are detectable.
Jamie Goode will begin this series by discussing the different sorts of faults, and also the nature of beauty in wine itself: are we looking for perfection, or does beauty sometimes encompass some low-level flaws as a part of that beauty? Jamie will also differentiate between taint and fault and lead off the series with the most obvious and prevalent wine detractor: cork taint.
In this webinar, Jamie Goode will tackle two of the most interesting wine faults: brettanomyces and reduction.
Brettanomyces is caused by a yeast of the same name that grows in wine after fermentation and creates animal/farmyard/phenolic aromas that add a savoury dimension to the wine. Primarily found in red wines, for a range of reasons, it is highly prevalent, to the point that many people fail to spot it. Some find it pleasant at certain concentrations and in some contexts, but it is notoriously difficult to control. We will discuss the good, the bad and the ugly sides of this controversial “fault.”
Reduction is the term given to the presence of volatile sulphur compounds in wine. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the opposite of oxidation. These compounds have a strong flavour impact and vary widely in their effects. At its worst – with the eggy smell of hydrogen sulfide – reduction is clearly a fault, however, reduction can also impart very attractive matchstick/mineral aromas in white wines. It is all about the yeasts and their role in fermentation…as you will find out.
Oxygen is important in winemaking. Its presence, at the right time, can help in fermentation. In small amounts, it also plays a role in the development of wine before bottling. But at the wrong levels, and at the wrong time, oxygen can lead to oxidation. Low level oxidation strips the wine of its fruity characters. At higher levels, it ruins the wine. Yet some wine styles benefit from more oxygen than others. You will learn which.
Volatile acidity is caused by the action of acetic acid bacteria. It is related to oxidation because these bacteria flourish when the wine is exposed to air. The tell-tale sign is vinegary acetic acid, and the presence of ethyl acetate. At low levels, volatile acidity can be positive for certain wine styles, but at higher levels it is a clear fault. We will differentiate between the two.
When grapes are ripening on the vine they are susceptible to extrinsic taints. One of these, which has been particularly newsworthy of late, is smoke taint. Forest fires produce smoke that is metabolised by the grape. The resulting wines are often tainted to the point of being unsaleable. You will learn why.
Eucalyptus trees near vineyards can also contribute minty aromas from a compound called cineole, partly because of oil from the leaves in the air, but also because of leaves getting into picking bins. It can be pleasant in some contexts and a detractor in others.
There are also some exotic faults, less often encountered, that need discussion. Geosmin creates a “rot” characteristic that is prevalent in damp vintages in some regions. Mouse taint is an interesting fault that is occurring more frequently now that natural wines are becoming more common, and ropiness is a rare but dramatic fault that makes wines much more viscous, with strings (‘ropes’) running through them. You will learn the causes and identifiers for these exotic faults.