Wine Taints and Faults Course
for regular wine Drinkers
Learn how to recognise, describe, and detect common wine faults. We provide a controlled tasting environment to assess each fault in isolation with wines purposely contaminated with different components. Our main goal is for you to acquire the knowledge, facts, and tasting skills required to act and decide what to do when wines do not provide an enjoyable drinking experience.
Our unique TCA experience is designed to gain knowledge of cork taint at minuscule levels, which will challenge your sensory perception threshold and give you the tasting experience of how this component also affects different styles of wines.
Who can Attend this course?
Wine enthusiasts and regular wine drinkers of any level who have experienced doubts and confusion when smelling and tasting wines that didn’t feel right. WSET students who want to complement their wine studies or passionate wine connoisseurs.
Basic knowledge of wine is advantageous but not essential. Motivation for learning, curiosity and active participation in the class are key prerequisites for a successful course.
Learning effort
A convenient 6-hour course with lunch break included. Each student receives both digital (PDF) and printed copies of the "Wine Taints & Faults" Workbook, plus a test examination and digital certificate upon completion.
Classes are limited to 10 students, featuring an interactive, hands-on workshop format that encourages active participation.
Price
CHF 496.- per person
Course of maximum 10 students.
What’s included in the course
Digital (pdf) and printed version of the “Wine Taints and Faults” course Workbook.
6-hour guided course and tasting of different fault components.
“TCA Experience” to understand individual perception thresholds at low levels of TCA.
Test: Discover the mysterious fault (blind tasting). - plus a short 20-question MCQ exam.
Digital Diploma of Achievement
Long-term learning: Access the WhatsApp Community “Happy Deviations” to share comments, questions and future experiences with deviated flawed or faulty wines.
Practical tasting of the following wine faults: Lightstrike, Oxidation, Maderisation, Reduction, Volatile Acidity, TCA experience (Cork Taint)
Venue and course times
Wine Faults Atelier: 7A Malzgasse 4052, Basel - 10 minutes walk from Basel SBB train station or 5 minutes walk from Kunstmuseum tram Nro 2 stop. (Venues in Zürich and other cities coming soon)
Days: Saturdays from 9:00 - 16:00 (including lunch break)
Public Transport: From train station “Basel SBB” take Tram no. 2 in the direction of “Riehen” to “Kunstmuseum” stop (approx. 4 minutes). By Car: There is parking (3 hours free blue lines) by the Rhine, 3-minutes walk to the Atelier. Use this link as a guide St. Alban-Rheinweg, 4052 Basel, Switzerland. The city app allows you to pay for half a day (6CHF) or a full-day parking (10CHF).
Learning outcomes
After the course, you will identify and describe common wine faults by smell and taste.
Trust your instincts and never feel ashamed, stupid, or inferior in a restaurant (or bar) when your nose and palate tell you something is wrong—even if the wine server challenges your judgment or serves you an un-fresh fruit, vinegary, carelessly oxidised wine by the glass.
You will be able to improve your wine experience by knowing how to select wines on the supermarket shelves, how to store them and how to prevent “you” from being responsible for wine spoilage.
Next Course Dates
JAN 18/25
January 2025
Saturday Jan 18th - 9:00 -16:00
Saturday Jan 25th - 9:00 - 16:00
FEB 22
February 2025
Saturday 22nd Feb - 9:00 -16:00
MAR 8/22
March 2025
Saturday 8th Mar - 9:00 -16:00 Saturday 22nd Mar - 9:00 - 16:00
“I just completed a personalised wine education journey. I was hoping to learn a lot from these sessions, and my expectations were completely exceeded! Juan’s passion and knowledge of wine are incredible, and this—combined with his great teaching ability and communication skills—made learning easy and enjoyable.”