2010 Master of Wine Australian and New Zealand Education Seminar

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Jane Skilton MW was the mastermind behind getting 56 MW students and 14 lecturers from 18 countries at the right place at the right time at the 2010 Master of Wine Australian and New Zealand Education Seminar.  

Yes, 2010. That’s not a typo. The seminar took place in Melbourne in the past years, and like the Bordeaux and Napa Valley seminars, has been in February. Unfortunately February is the summer holiday for much of the southern hemisphere and due to the heat and initiation of the wine harvest, February is not a good time for of the year for key members of the wine trade south of the equator to be away from work at a seminar.
That means that the 2010 Australia and New Zealand MW seminar actually takes place in 2009 and neither Yalumba nor I have had much time to prepare!  But no worries!  Life is an adventure and so have been my MW studies thus far!  So off I go!
The seminar takes place at the esteemed University of Adelaide Waite Campus.  Studies in oenology, viticulture, and business of wine take place here, so the venue is perfectly equipped for our studies including wine tasting laboratories.  The campus consists of a series of low-lying brick buildings shaded by eucalyptus and jacaranda trees set in the hills of Adelaide.
A coach has been chartered to take students from their accommodations at Hotel Mantra on Hindmarsh Square each morning promptly at 7.30 AM to the Waite Campus. Each morning’s tastings of 8 wines starts at 8.30 AM.  Twelve tasting glasses and a water glass are provided.  Anyone who has toted a set of 12 wine tasting glasses on board their flights for the London education days or MW residential seminar in Bordeaux knows what a luxury this is!
After the morning tasting, cookies or muffins are offered with a thin transparent brown soup that is called coffee.  It’s a far cry from the Viennese “grosser brauner” to which I’m accustomed. Even the tea bags provided are preferable.  After our break we then discuss the tastings with two MWs per tasting group.  And the identities of the wines are revealed. Lunches consist of a meagre offering of sandwiches and beverages including that hot brown water again (jet lag has me begging for a potent dose of caffeine).
Afternoons are spent with lectures on theory and practical issues often carried out in small groups of students. This is designed to give more specific focus to each individual’s strengths and weaknesses in both essay technique and tasting, and we hope you will make full use of this opportunity.

Different evening programmes are planned including a Bollinger Champagne Reception (always a treat that easily makes up for a lack of coffee), a visit to the Petaluma winery, dinner at the Stanley Bridge, a walk around tasting at the Star of Greece at Port Willunga, and the famous BYO dinner party at the Adelaide Intercontinental.
Lecturers will be:  Jane Skilton MW, Andrew Corrigan MW, Stephen Skelton MW, Pepi Schuller MW, Phil Reedman MW, David le Mire MW, John Caillard, Martin Williams MW, Nick Bulleid MW, Kym Milne MW, Kate Clarke MW, Konstantinos Lazarakis MW, Rob Geddes MW, and Meg Brodtmann MW.  So, with the support of the sponsors Bollinger Champagne and San Pellegrino mineral water, it looks like quite an intense and promising educational experience.
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