My Latin teacher at school told me that if I took O’ Level, then I would know enough Latin to last the rest of my life. Up to now, it has mostly been used when ordering food in Italian restaurants, but every now and then, I do have cause to be grateful for her insistence. Like when it comes to understanding the word ‘education’ as ‘leading out’ – a ‘leading out’ of the darkness of ignorance into the light of knowledge or a ‘leading out’ of the talents and qualities within people to encourage them to be the best they can be. I would say this attitude is particularly true when it comes to learning about wine. After all, it is perfectly possible and acceptable to go through life knowing nothing whatsoever about wine, and many people never feel the need to improve their knowledge or dispel their ignorance. But from the wine trade’s point of view, the general opinion is that the more people know about it, the more they will drink and buy our products. We can’t make people learn about wine (and I have already discussed this topic here) but making it interesting, accessible and enjoyable - now that’s another matter. I have been teaching people about wine for almost a decade now and try to look at wine education slightly differently from other, perhaps more traditional, courses. These are some of the ideas I have formed over the years: Give people confidence. This is the cornerstone of all the courses I have ever run and, if you ask me, the cornerstone to all successful wine education. The wine trade is often accused of being snobby and elitist, using words and terms that people don’t understand and looking down our noses at ignorance, mispronunciations and what we term ‘social gaffes’ rather than genuine misunderstandings. Unless you’ve had your tongue removed or similar, then you can taste wine – fact. Whatever you taste is right for you – fact. Everyone has to start somewhere – fact. If people can learn to trust their own taste and believe that can enjoy wine, then they will have the confidence to ask the questions they want answering. Which leads me to…. Let your students tell you where they want to go. It is very easy to give too much information all at once and then find that people are unable to digest it all. Winemaking and winetasting are huge subjects and there are a wide variety of different processes and techniques. I try and be guided by the questions people ask, in order to give the necessary information at a time when it is best going to be understood – it seems to me that this works much better than having a rigid syllabus which can mean your words of wisdom fall on deaf or uncomprehending ears. Close the gap between consumers and winemakers. This is at the heart of all successful wine marketing and sales, and is something which a wine course can facilitate to perfection. We are privileged to welcome a top winemaker every week on my course, bringing his or her wines and explaining their winemaking philosophies and choices. I know of many people who’ve completed my wine course and who are still religiously buying a winemaker’s wines years later, simply because they met them, chatted with them and made that connection. It gives people confidence (back to my first point), it lets them ask the questions they want answering directly at source (back to my second point!) and most importantly, it gives them a sense of ownership of those winemakers and their brands. To sum up, I give you what I term ‘The Five E’s of Education’ which can apply to any aspect of the topic, but which are particularly appropriate for wine - Explain, Encourage, Enthuse, Elucidate, Enjoy.’ Wine is first and foremost a pleasure, and anyone who thinks it isn’t, has missed the point. Make the path to learning about it gentle, interesting, easy to take and fun and before we know it, more and more people will be inspired to join us on that journey. And that can only be a good thing for us all. Cathy runs regular introductory wine courses throughout the year. The next one starts on Tuesday 24th May in Cape Town, all details can be found here – www.cathymarston.co.za.