Advanced Programme · 6 Weeks
The Science of Wine Tasting.
An advanced six-week programme connecting sensory science, viticulture, oenology, and blind tasting. It includes the use of Vinademy Mind Studio as our educational tool.
The programme in numbers
- 6
- weeks
- 12 h
- of classes
- 1 h
- Live session per week
- 12–16
- reference wines
- 20–25 h
- total dedication
- 12 months
- access to recordings and materials
Small cohort · Intermediate level
Programme
Six weeks, one causal chain.
From perception to the vineyard, from fermentation to texture and molecules, all the way to reconstructing a wine you know nothing about. Open each week to view its contents.
Week 1Your palate is an instrumentHow perception becomes evidence
The big question
What are you really measuring when you taste a wine?
Before interpreting wine, we need to understand the measuring instrument: the human sensory system. We explore how taste, smell, touch, and trigeminal sensations combine to create flavour, and why what we perceive is not a direct reading of chemical composition.
1Taste, aroma and flavour
The fundamental sensory pathways of tasting:
- Taste and basic modalities
- Orthonasal olfaction
- Retronasal olfaction
- Somatosensation
- Chemesthesis and trigeminal perception
- Astringency as tactile perception
- Temperature and mouthfeel
- How the brain integrates these signals
Flavour is not in the wine as such. It is a perceptual construct arising from the interaction between the wine and the taster.
2Detection and recognition
Why two competent tasters can legitimately perceive the same wine differently:
- Detection thresholds
- Recognition thresholds
- Individual sensitivity differences
- Specific anosmias
- Receptor variability
- Influence of training and experience
- Attention and learned associations
3Adaptation and sensory fatigue
The palate is not a static analytical instrument:
- Olfactory adaptation
- Sensory adaptation
- Palate fatigue
- Carry-over effects
- Tasting order
- Temperature effects
- Context effects
The tasting order itself is an experimental variable.
4Wine as a sensory matrix
The structural components of wine, not just as concentrations but for their sensory effects, and especially for their interactions:
- Acidity
- Sugar
- Ethanol
- Tannin
- Glycerol
- CO₂
Sugar can modify perceived acidity. Alcohol affects warmth, body, and aromatic expression. Acidity influences structural balance. Tannin perception partly depends on the surrounding matrix.
Chemical concentration ≠ sensory intensity.
5Evidence versus interpretation
The most important mental discipline of the programme. Compare «I perceive an aroma similar to blackcurrant» with «This is Cabernet Sauvignon». The first is sensory evidence; the second, a hypothesis that needs corroboration.
Sensation→Perception→Observation→Interpretation→Inference
Experimental tasting
Simple, controlled sensory exercises demonstrate taste thresholds, retronasal perception, sensory adaptation, acid/sugar interactions, and matrix effects. Then the first wines are tasted without attempting to identify them: practice recording evidence before constructing explanations.
Week 1 outcome
Clearly distinguish between what is perceived, how it is described, and what can be legitimately inferred from it.
Week 2From vineyard to glassReading the growing environment through the wine
The big question
What can the finished wine tell us about the grapes that produced it?
Once evidence is separated from interpretation, we trace back from sensory structure to vine physiology and grape composition. The vineyard is approached through its consequences in the glass.
1Climate and temperature
How growing conditions influence:
- Sugar accumulation
- Acid metabolism
- Berry development
- Ripening speed
- Phenolic development
- Aromatic expression
Instead of memorising «cool climate» and «warm climate» profiles, we learn what sensory observations truly support these hypotheses.
2Light, canopy and photosynthesis
Connecting with their possible consequences on grape composition and wine style:
- Sun exposure
- Canopy architecture
- Shading
- Berry temperature
- Photosynthesis
3Water status
The relationship between:
- Water availability
- Water deficit
- Stomatal behaviour
- Berry growth
- Yield
- Concentration
- Ripening
Avoiding simplistic equations like: water stress = better wine.
4Sugars, acids and pH
Grape physiology and some of the most important structural signals of wine:
- Sugar accumulation
- Glucose and fructose
- Tartaric acid
- Malic acid
- Potassium
- pH
- Total acidity
pH, total acidity, and perceived acidity describe related, but distinct, phenomena.
5Phenolic ripeness
In red wines — the bridge to week 4:
- Anthocyanin accumulation
- Skin tannins
- Seed tannins
- Phenolic development
- Berry ripeness
- Extractability
6Aromatic precursors
Grapes contain not only volatile aromatic compounds, but also precursors whose sensory consequences can appear during fermentation and ageing. A basis for weeks 3 and 5, without turning this week into an aromatic chemistry class.
Experimental tasting
Comparative wines selected to isolate variables as much as possible: same variety in contrasting climates; similar origin with different expression of ripeness or harvest time. For example, Chardonnay from cooler versus warmer climates, or Syrah from earlier versus later harvests.
Week 2 outcome
Begin to reconstruct plausible growing conditions and grape ripeness from the structural and aromatic evidence of the finished wine.
Week 3Fermentation leaves its markReading winemaking through aroma and flavour
The big question
What evidence does fermentation leave in the glass?
We move from grape composition to microbial metabolism. This is not a fermentation class: each mechanism is introduced through a question — what could the taster detect?
1Yeast metabolism
The concise basics:
- Alcoholic fermentation
- Sugar metabolism
- Ethanol
- CO₂
- Secondary metabolites
2Fermentative aromas
Origin and sensory relevance, and how fermentation conditions influence their formation:
- Esters
- Higher alcohols
- Volatile acids
- Carbonyl compounds
- Sulphur compounds
3Fermentation temperature
Its relationship with:
- Yeast metabolism
- Volatile retention
- Ester expression
- Fermentation kinetics
- Resulting style
4Malolactic fermentation
- Malic to lactic conversion
- Acidity changes
- Microbial metabolism
- Diacetyl
- Sensory consequences
Butteriness does not automatically prove malolactic fermentation.
5Lees and post-fermentative evolution
- Yeast autolysis
- Mannoproteins
- Lees contact
- Bâtonnage
- Texture
- Aromatic evolution
6Oxygen and reductive management
How oxygen management affects wine, without delving deeply into faults yet (reserved for week 5):
- Aromatic expression
- Oxidation
- Reduction
- Sulphur chemistry
- Wine evolution
Experimental tasting
For example: with and without malolactic; prolonged lees contact versus limited influence; different fermentation approaches; more reductive versus more oxidative management.
Week 3 outcome
Identify sensory evidence potentially associated with fermentation and distinguish plausible winemaking hypotheses from unjustified conclusions.
Week 4Texture: the forgotten evidenceReading wine beyond aromaSignature session
The big question
What can texture and structure tell us that aroma cannot?
Many blind tasters obsess over aromatic descriptors, but aromatic associations can be very ambiguous. Structural evidence, at times, is considerably more diagnostic.
1Understanding astringency
A physical and sensory phenomenon, not simply «the amount of tannin»:
- Saliva
- Salivary proteins
- Polyphenols
- Lubrication
- Sensation of dryness
- Tactile perception
2Understanding tannins
And their sensory consequences:
- Flavan-3-ols
- Catechin
- Epicatechin
- Condensed tannins
- Skin tannins
- Seed tannins
3Extraction
How they affect phenolic composition and texture:
- Fermentation
- Temperature
- Time
- Cap management
- Alcohol
- Extraction decisions
Tannin quantity ≠ tannin quality ≠ perceived astringency.
4Anthocyanins and tannin evolution
As wine matures:
- Anthocyanins
- Tannin–anthocyanin interactions
- Polymerisation
- Precipitation
- Colour evolution
- Texture evolution
5Oak and oxygen
How these processes can change both texture and aroma:
- Ellagitannins
- Oak extraction
- Oxygen ingress
- Barrel ageing
- Micro-oxygenation
- Polymerisation
6Structural integration
Reading structural patterns instead of isolated descriptors:
- Acidity
- pH
- Alcohol
- Tannin
- Body
- Lees
- Oak
- Ageing
For example: fine-grained tannin + high acidity + moderate alcohol + contained concentration becomes a diagnostic pattern to investigate.
Experimental tasting
Possible contrasts: low versus high extraction; ageing with and without oak; young red versus bottle-aged; contrasting tannin architectures.
Week 4 outcome
A structural vocabulary capable of describing not only how much tannin a wine has, but how its texture behaves and what mechanisms might explain it.
Week 5The molecules that betray the wineChemical clues, signatures and faults
The big question
Which molecules can truly narrow down our hypotheses?
With perception, vineyard, fermentation, and texture already covered, we introduce some of the most useful chemical clues in wine.
1Chemical markers
Key families and compounds:
- Methoxypyrazines
- Rotundone
- Monoterpenes
- Volatile thiols
- Norisoprenoids
- TDN
- Fermentative esters
- Volatile phenols
- Oak lactones
- Vanillin
Chemical origin→Sensory expression→Conditions affecting concentration→Associated varieties and styles→Diagnostic value→Limitations
The important thing is not to memorise molecules.
2Marker ≠ identity
Rotundone can support certain varietal hypotheses; methoxypyrazines, others; TDN can provide useful evidence.
No single marker should hijack the diagnosis.
We introduce probabilistic reasoning: each piece of evidence increases or decreases confidence in competing hypotheses. Bayesian thinking applied to practice, without turning it into a statistics course.
3Faults as chemical evidence
Not as a fault recognition competition, but by tracing cause → chemistry → sensory consequence → threshold → matrix → diagnostic relevance:
- TCA
- Brettanomyces volatile phenols
- Volatile acidity
- Oxidation
- Reduction
- H₂S
- Mercaptans
4Fault, complexity or style?
When does a compound become a fault? How do concentration, threshold, matrix, and individual tolerance influence that judgment? An advanced discussion reinforcing the concepts from week 1.
Experimental tasting
Where legally and practically possible, reference standards or carefully selected wines allow key markers to be isolated. Practice moving from «I recognise this smell» to «This observation increases the probability of X, but I still need Y and Z evidence».
Week 5 outcome
A library of chemically-based sensory clues, without falling into the trap of identifying a wine by a single marker.
Week 6Reverse engineering wineFrom sensory evidence to a defensible conclusion
The big question
Can you reconstruct a wine you know nothing about?
The final week integrates everything. Instead of conventional blind tasting — grape → country → region → vintage — participants build a causal chain.
1Detect · What is actually there?
Still no guessing:
- Colour
- Aroma
- Acidity
- Alcohol
- Tannin
- Body
- Texture
- Evolution
- Specific markers
2Infer · What mechanisms could produce it?
For each important observation:
High aciditygrape composition / climate / harvest time / acidification / other possibilities
Ripe but controlled tanninphenolic ripeness / extraction / variety / ageing
Vanilla + lactone + toastoak hypothesis
Black fruit + subtle pyrazine charactervarietal and/or environmental hypotheses
3Infer · Build candidate hypotheses
VarietyWhich grape families are consistent or inconsistent with the evidence?
EnvironmentWhich climatic conditions best explain the structural pattern?
VineyardWhich ripeness and harvest decisions seem plausible?
WinemakingWhich fermentation, extraction, and ageing are supported?
EvolutionWhat suggests youth, ageing, or bottle evolution?
OriginOnly now do possible origins make sense.
4Explain · Build the causal chain
- High aciditycooler growing conditions and/or earlier harvest become more plausible
- + ripe tannin + moderate concentrationsufficient phenolic ripeness without extreme extraction
- + oak lactone / vanilla / toastoak ageing
- + black fruit + trace of pyrazinethe Cabernet family hypothesis is strengthened
- + moderate alcohol + freshness + colour profilesome climate and origin hypotheses are strengthened; others are weakened
5Explain · The final step: confidence
It's not enough to answer «Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux». The goal is to be able to say:
«My main hypothesis is Cabernet Sauvignon or a Cabernet-dominated blend, from a moderate climate and oak-aged. Confidence: medium-high. These observations support it; these others remain unexplained; these are my main alternatives.»
Much more intellectually rigorous, and much closer to how scientific reasoning actually works.
Experimental tasting
Final blind reverse engineering session: unknown wines, no information or regional clues. Only evidence, applying the full method: Detect → Infer → Explain.
Week 6 outcome
Reconstruct an unknown wine as a causal chain and communicate a defensible conclusion, with its confidence level and alternatives.
Why this programme
Tasting is usually taught forwards.
We learn about a variety, a region, a climate or a winemaking technique… and then we are told what we should find in the glass.
This programme works in the opposite direction. We start with the wine.
Forwards
Variety → Region → Climate → Winemaking → What “should” be in the glass
Backwards
Glass → Evidence → Mechanism → Hypothesis → What we can infer
The method
Detect → Infer → Explain
The intellectual backbone of the entire programme. Every wine, every experiment, and every blind tasting follows the same three steps.
01
Detect
What can I actually perceive?
Separate observation from assumption.
Acidity, sweetness, alcohol, tannin, texture, aromatic character, intensity, evolution, colour, and other sensory evidence are recorded before attempting to identify the wine.
02
Infer
What could have caused it and what can I deduce?
Connect each observation with its plausible causes — vine physiology, climate, grape composition, fermentative metabolism, extraction, oxygen, oak, ageing — and build competing hypotheses about:
- grape variety
- climate and growing conditions
- harvest decisions
- winemaking
- ageing
- age and evolution
- possible origin
03
Explain
Can I defend my conclusion?
Reconstruct the causal chain linking evidence, mechanisms, and hypotheses; discard alternatives contradicted by evidence, and communicate the conclusion with its confidence level: what supports it, what remains unexplained, and what would make you change your mind.
ONLINE Experimental Tasting
From theory to glass: wine as a sensory laboratory.
Throughout the six weeks, approximately 12–16 reference wines are used to investigate controlled contrasts.
What changes? What remains stable?
Can we separate fruit ripeness from acidity, alcohol, and phenolic ripeness?
What differences can plausibly be attributed to fermentation?
What sensory consequences does each have?
Follow the evolution of aroma, colour, tannin, and structure.
No information. No regional clues. Only evidence: Detect → Infer → Explain.
Format
An exclusive cohort.
6 weeks · Group-based · Recorded classes + weekly guided live learning.
12 hrecorded classes
1 h weekly Live session
20–25 htotal dedication
Each week includes
Dynamic recorded classes
Short for agile consumption. Concepts, sensory science, comparative tasting, and discussion.
60-minute Live Session
Weekly support, reviewing topics and answering student questions.
Experimental tasting exercises
Comparisons designed for educational and comparative purposes.
Wine buying guide
Each participant purchases their wines (optional) following prior instructions, so that each comparison functions as an experiment.
Weekly exercises
Brief tasks to apply the reasoning method, not to memorise theory, using Vinademy Mind Studio
Who it's for
Designed for those who already taste and want to understand why.
01
Sommeliers and wine professionals
Who want to go beyond descriptor-based tasting.
02
Wine educators
Who seek more robust scientific explanations for the sensory phenomena they teach.
03
WSET Level 3 / Diploma students and graduates
Who want to deepen their understanding of the connection between theory and tasting.
04
Oenologists and viticulture professionals
Interested in interpreting production decisions through sensory evidence.
05
Advanced enthusiasts
Who are already proficient in systematic tasting and want to understand wine at a deeper technical level.
Important
This is not an introduction to wine.
Participants should already be familiar with fundamental concepts such as acidity, tannin, alcohol, body, variety, fermentation, and oak ageing. The programme teaches how to connect these concepts causally.
Outcomes
By the end of the six weeks, you will be able to…
- Separate sensory observation from interpretation.
- Understand the physiological limitations of your own palate.
- Recognise how matrix effects alter wine perception.
- Connect wine structure with grape composition and growing conditions.
- Identify sensory traces that may have been created during fermentation.
- Interpret tannin and texture as diagnostic evidence.
- Understand the origin and relevance of important aromatic compounds.
- Recognise the main faults and explain their chemical origin.
- Evaluate markers probabilistically, not as proof.
- Build competing hypotheses during blind tasting.
- Discard hypotheses based on contradictory evidence.
- Communicate not just what you think a wine is, but why.
- Assign an appropriate confidence level to your conclusions.
The programme's philosophy
Four principles.
Your palate is powerful, but biological, adaptive, and context-dependent.
Cassis does not equal Cabernet. Pepper does not equal Syrah. Petrol does not equal Riesling.
Acidity, alcohol, tannin, texture, and concentration can sometimes tell us more than an attractive aromatic descriptor.
Good tasting is not about certainty. It's about knowing what the evidence supports, what it doesn't, and what would make you change your mind.
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Programme details
- LocationOnline
- WhenTo be confirmed
- Duration6 weeks
- LevelIntermediate / Advanced
- InstructorLuciano Wehrli · DipWSET
- PriceTo be confirmed
Includes a certificate of completion signed by the sommelier, course materials, and national and international wines for tasting.
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Workshop details
- LocationTo be confirmed
- WhenTo be confirmed
- DurationAlmost 3 hours
- LevelFor all audiences
- InstructorLuciano Wehrli · DipWSET
- PriceTo be confirmed
Includes a certificate of completion signed by the sommelier, course materials, and national and international wines for tasting.
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