Online Wine Classes
Online wine classes are nothing new. Highly respected wine institutions like Wine Spectator and the University of California at Davis have offered online courses for years. Interest in such programs was initially high, but these programs did not attract a large audience. The truth was they were clunky and confusing for the end-user.
Those days are gone, and online learning has been transformed. What used to be a dry attempt to imitate a serious classroom is now a fun and engaging experience. Today, there are many online wine classes worth attending. The impetus for the sudden change came with our communal need for social connection and distraction during the COVID-19 shutdown. We hope to see it continue.
The virtual wine tastings listed on this page are short (one or two hours) events. We recommend checking out the “Best Online Sommelier Courses” article if you want online wine courses.
On this page, we focus on fun and informal virtual wine tasting classes. IF you are looking for sommelier certification, we include a few at the bottom. However, for a comprehensive look at online wine programs, please check out our reviews of the best online sommelier courses.
Three Types of Online Wine Tastings
Streaming & Tasting
These online wine classes are the most common largely due to popularity of the format. Often deployed via Zoom and allow interaction between the student and the instructor.
Self-Paced
Recoreded wine lectures tend to be a hit-or-miss affair with video and audio quality generally a mixed bag. Many of the best self-paced promgrams are online sommelier courses that are not covered here.
Hybrid
These programs tend to be produced by companies that also offer wine samples as well as online education. A concept that is more popular in the UK than in the US due to the lower barriers to wine shipments in the UK compared to the USA.
Onine wine Tasting #1
Streaming & Wine Tasting
A monthly wine tasting lab with the ability to purchase a wine kit, plus access to their back cataloge of videos. $30/Month Subscription.
Wine School of Philadelphia
Stream any class you like (at least two per week) for free plus a monthly deductive online tasting with the owner. $20/Month Subscription
Bevinars & Mark Oldman
One of the more famous wine personalities hosting online wine classes. Entertainment- focused and professional $55/Class
Wine for Normal People
Live zoom class with podcast host Elizabeth Schneider. Wine recommendations are given. There is a lot of interaction with the host. $35/person
Zuri Wine Tasting
Weekly deductive tastings plus sommelier-style palate development classes offered several times per month. $55/class plus wine.
San Francisco Wine School
Online students attend classes also attended by in-person students. Classes include wine for online students. $125/person average.
Cork & Fizz
Great concept for parties and groups, with a annual membership of $250/year. Currently on hiatus, but previously offered 2 events per month.
American Wine School
This midwestern wine school offers a Virtual Wine 101, but currently is not offering any upcoming classes. $50/class plus wine.
ONLINE Wine Tasting #2
Self-Paced Online Tastings
Vinebox
A good option for beginners, as it includes wine samples along with a recorded wine tasting with a sommelier-instructor accesible via a QR code. The lectures are wine are not stellar, but it’s an interesting program. $64+/Tasting
Voluptuary / Lucid Wine
This urban winery in Sacramento offers virtual wine tastings with a selection of their pine, plus a pre-recorded wine talk. Currently not available for purchase. $29+Tasting
Napa Valley Wine Academy
A second offering on this page from NVWA. This is a recorded lecture from Tim Gaiser, MS and included the standard Court of Master Sommelier tasting guidelines. $150/person
Wine Folly School
Expensive non-certification programs like Wine 101 and Wine 201. Like most Wine Folly products, this hews very closs to standard Court of Master Sommelier talking points. $100+ per class
ONLINE Wine Tasting #3
Hybrid live + recorded Wine Classes
Master the World
This company offers wine sample kits along with either a live webinar or a recording of that talk. They feature well respected sommeliers and wine personalities like Tim Gaiser and Jimmy Smith. The tastings focus on blind tastings and WSET certifications. They fractionalize wines into tasting kits, and offer high quality tastings.
Online Wine Tasting Club
A British firm that sells both recorded and live wine classes which include wine samples. The samples are shipped in lightweight aluminum pouches instead of glass. A great concept, and one they invented. Inquire about shipping cost before purchasing, as this is a UK company.
$41+/class
WineAlive
Another British company that offers hybrid online classes with wine samples. A larger firm with high-profile wine experts like Oz Clarke and Tim Atkin. Their main bread and butter is wine festivals. Currently, no classes are on their schedule, and some of their tastings are now on YouTube.
Pricing Unknown.
Level One Sommelier Programs
ONLINE WINE COURSES
This school offers a liberal-arts-for-wine-nerds approach to wine education. Their Level One is a comprehensive eight-class wine course that delivers the essentials any wine lover should have. This program is offered as a professional certification, a few steps above the “award” given by WSET… if such things matter to you. The L1 program does not require wines and is delivered through high-quality videos and interactive quizzes, with a final exam at the end.
Wine & Spirit Education Trust
A few courses regarding wine tasting are as complete as the Wine and Spirits Education Trust program. Designed to start you in a career as a restaurant professional, the first stages are pretty accessible and straightforward. Analyzing wine with their on-point tasting sheet will separate you from other wine amateurs. The WSET has a serious approach to wine evaluation, and is guaranteed to refine your tasting skills.
Gone but not Forgotten
The Graveyard of Online Wine Classes
Many schools that started to teach online wine classes during 2020 stopped. Mostly, this was due to the time and resource demands of running these classes.
The Cellar MuseTanya Morningstar Darling is an excellent wine educator. She is on the teaching staff at the Northwest Wine Academy at South Seatle College. Her online wine classes are well-structured and dynamic. They touch the academic lecture vibe, but only a hint. We did find it challenging to navigate the website. Online wine classes are listed under “Online Learning.” Tanya has dropped the pricing of her online classes (as of February 2021) from $39 to $35 per person. Tanya also creates recorded content for Napa Valley Wine School. Link
San Francisco Wine SchoolSFWS offers a wide range of virtual wine classes. Many are of the type covered by our Online Sommelier Course article. However, they do offer several excellent virtual wine classes as well. These are based on the “Trade Tasting” format this wine school offers in person. These are underwritten courses by a PR Agency or a wine trade group to promote a specific wine region or brand. Some of these events are excellent, but they are best enjoyed knowing you are being marketed to, not educated. It’s a significant difference. Link.CorkbuzzAnyone looking for a high-quality wine class should seek out Laura Maniec Fiorvanti and Corkbuzz. Since this NYC wine school-cum-wine bar hit the scene, they have been knocking out home runs. While they don’t offer professional certification classes, many of Corkbuzz’s classes are geared toward the wine professional. These online classes are polished and organized and offer plenty of social interaction. Priced at $15, the value is hard to beat. There is a lot of respect for Laura’s focus on the students’ experience, considering her fame in the wine world.Napa Valley Wine Academy This is for their original series of online classes. they returned bigger & better than ever!I am surprised these classes ended this far down from the top of this list. This wine school is one of our top-rated schools. Their use of technology led us to believe these classes would blow everyone else out of the water. Sadly, the content and delivery were not up to the level of their other offerings. The $49/ticket is also the most expensive virtual wine class on this list. That is not to say these programs are not worthwhile. Their speakers are engaging, and much knowledge can be taken from these classes. However, there were many technical and organizational issues around their programming. Once those issues have been addressed, we expect these classes to jump to the list’s top. Napa Valley Wine Academy is now only offering pre-recorded material.Vino To GoThere used to be a great wine school in Toronto called iYellow. One of their former instructors, Tasha Taylor opened up a school/wine event company in 2018 called Vino To Go. Her classes are pure fun and pizzazz. They are not the most in-depth classes, but they are great social events with plenty of wine education in the mix. Tickets are reasonably priced at $13/per person. For someone who is looking for more in-depth instruction, though, I would suggest looking elsewhere. Currently, the website is not online.Gastro Local
Originally called NYC Food and Wine Trails, Gastro Local is the brainchild of Tatiana Gana. These classes are fun and have hit the top three largely because they are comparable to other online wine classes on this list, but with one big difference: they are free. Sadly, these classes are no longer offered.
Jancis Robinson’s Wine Course
Udemy has proven to be a reliable source of online learning material for all topics, from marketing to engineering. Wine is extensively covered, and overall quality is outstanding. Student reviews help you identify time-worthy courses from unreliable ones, and a five-star system adds to consumer confidence. However, there’s one Udemy wine course you don’t want to miss: “Mastering Wine – Jancis Robinson’s Shortcuts to Success.” This delivers three and a half hours of wine knowledge from the best in the industry.