Next Generation Wine Education © is our approach to wine tasting. We believe that wine education is nothing like trying free samples in the hope of selling you the promotional wine du jour. Our goal is to decipher and explain all the intricacies of the wine world so that you can make informed and smart decisions in a liquor store or at a restaurant and you can plan wonderful social events around wine to please your family, friends or colleagues.
We believe that we bring added-value to the experience of wine tasting in at least five dimensions:
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Innovative tools: We provide innovative tools derived from strategy consulting that help participants master their sensory skills and truly savor the experience. At the end of one of our wine tasting, even beginners are usually able to differentiate and evaluate the flavor, texture and aromas of the wine tasted. Our most well known tool is probably our flavors and aromas cheat sheet.
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Theme-based wine tasting: in addition to the tasting experience, we can also provide theme-based presentations that are tailored to your group's interest and tastes. We can provide the research and the presentation, and/or we can partner with other public speakers to deliver the presentation. You will find example of public and private theme-based wine events in the past two years.
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Unpretentious, yet professional attitude so that everyone can enjoy the wine tasting experience, from the beginner to the most enthusiasts.
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Independence of opinion: We do not work with promotional wines and only serve wines that we purchase, allowing us all the flexibility and independence needed to create quality events for a distinguishing clientele. Similarly, while we partners sometimes with liquor stores to provide our clientele with preferred pricing, we do not sell wine ourselves nor do we take commissions on sales. It also allows us to serve wines that are less known but of oenological interest (list of varietals tasted in 2006/2007).
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Wine tasting as social experiences: All our events have room for both educational time and social time, usually when we try the wines with food. Some of the comments we often get is that GiraMondo’s events always attract interesting individuals. Many regulars have become friends over the weeks and now go on vacations together (with or without GiraMondo). We even have our first engagement as of June 2007.
With regard to the public wine events, we currently focus on four themes:
- Wine classes (country specific): For all the wine producing countries in the world, we present wine classes to introduce their varietals, terroirs and wine making techniques. It can go from a single class (for example Wines of Austria or Wines of Portugal) to a series of classes ( Wines of Italy: 3 to 4 classes or Wines of France: 4 to 6 classes). If you are beginner, we advise you that the best way to learn is to start with our "wine classes for beginners" (Part 1 and 2) first and after follow our regular wine classes.
- Wines of Diplomacy: We believe that discovering the wines of a specific country is a great entry point to discovering its culture and its public diplomacy. Our Wines of Diplomacy events are taking place either the Meridian International Center or directly at Embassies. These special events are often co-presented by the Ambassador or senior staff from the Embassy.
- Prestige and Icon Wines: These events are designed for serious wine aficionados. These very small events (usually less than 20 people) allow the group to taste Icon wines that might be too expensive to buy on your own. In this forum you will try such prestigious wines as Chateau d’Yquem, Gaja, Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Pingus as well as first and second growth from Bordeaux in the best years, prestige Champagne such as Krug or Cristal or prominent California wineries such as Joseph Phelps, Stag’s Leap, Opus One or Kistler.
- Special Wine Events: All our other tastings such as seasonal wine tastings (wines of summer), food and wine paring events with cooking demonstration, singles wine events or mini-conferences
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