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Save your progress. Keep learning.Serious wine knowledge. Questionable levels of seriousness.
A free, evidence-led course for curious drinkers. Watch the lesson, prepare a simple tasting, go deeper than the video, then test what actually stuck.
The course
Level 1 · Lesson 1
Complete two written observations: smell strength after swirling and mouth sensation after a sip.
Level 1 · Lesson 2
Distinguish smell, basic taste and physical sensation before combining them.
Level 1 · Lesson 3
Recognize sourness and mouthwatering while distinguishing drying.
Level 1 · Lesson 4
Distinguish astringent drying, bitterness and lack of sweetness.
How this works
Level 1 builds sensory language. From Level 2 onward, every class introduces the wine and grape, teaches the governing idea and its limits, then guides the tasting. The quiz rewards calibrated thinking rather than swagger.
Choose the observe, one-glass, or comparison track.
Meet the wine, grape, vocabulary, idea, and limitations.
Use the video as a guided sensory lab.
Score 80% to complete the lesson.
Our wholehearted recommendations
Independent study gets you surprisingly far. When you want a skilled instructor tasting alongside you, these are the two places we recommend without hesitation.
Our first recommendation for learning face to face: gifted instructors, serious wine, and classes that stay lively rather than solemn. Choose a 90-minute tasting or commit to a longer wine course.
Browse live classes and courses ↗Our strongest recommendation for structured online study: rigorous programs that can carry you from an introduction to wine through advanced sommelier coursework and certification.
Explore online wine courses ↗Independent recommendation: Willie’s Wine Lessons is not affiliated with either school and receives no compensation from these links.
A history of wine
Follow wine from Neolithic jars through Mediterranean trade, medieval vineyards, colonial expansion, phylloxera, appellations, Prohibition, and the modern global cellar—with evidence separated from legend.
Explore the chronological history →Winemakers who changed the glass
60 biographies connect famous names to specific cellar choices, wineries, landmark bottles, and the limits of the legend—from Madame Clicquot’s riddling table to Randy Dunn’s mountain Cabernet and Eben Sadie’s old-vine Swartland.
Meet the winemakers →
World Wine Explorer
Travel through 68 major and emerging regions with climate, landscape, grapes, signature styles, classification systems, export reach, food, and a sensible first bottle.
Open the world map →Climate change & wine
Follow warming, water stress, frost, fire, disease, and extreme weather from the atmosphere through the vine and into the glass—then open a specific assessment for every region in the World Wine Explorer.
Explore the worldwide climate guide →Optional Nerd Mode
Follow smell into flavour, unpack buffering, meet tannin–protein interactions, and do just enough fermentation maths to become dangerous around a whiteboard.
Find the science companions inside each level →
