Along with the update of the new site, there’s all kinds of things going on here in Wineaux-land.  Here’s great new information on the Combatting Swirl Envy classes, based on an earlier post.  Enjoy!

We get a lot of questions asking about our special (that means “different”) wine classes, and what the heck’s going on!

Well, this ain’t yo’ Momma’s Wine 101.

In fact, except for educating the palate, there’s very little about actual wine that’s talked about. It’s all about progressing from wine neophyte to wine snob.

Let me tell you a little about my history.

For nearly twenty years, I have been doing some sort of adult training, education, and instruction. The lion’s share of this experience has been in the Information Technology (computer) field. Hey, I know DOS! In addition, the last year has seen me developing and teaching leadership and psychology courses (ah! the pleasures of education!) which have proven to be popular and successful.

When I first came to Las Vegas over 16 years ago, I was the new kid on the block in the IT Department. That meant that I got the, um, “less than desirable” teaching assignments. And I enthusiastically made them my own.

In the Information Technology area, one of my favorite courses was called “PC Basics.” I loved this class because I was able to take folks who were completely clueless about computers and turn them into PC whiz kids. So what was it about this class that made it so special? After all, there were lots of classes on Word Processing, Spreadsheets, How to Create Graphics, How to Use an Email System, blah blah blah. My place in this schema was simple: how can you create a spreadsheet if you don’t even know how to turn on a computer? If you don’t know what the buttons on a mouse mean or how to hold it, then the concept of “point and click” is meaningless. So I took my students by the hand (figuratively speaking), and led them into the fascinating world of bits and bytes. And made fanatics of nearly all of them.

I took that same philosophy into the world of wine. How can the concepts of regions, varietals, and terroir make sense if you don’t know how to hold a wine glass correctly? What good is a restaurant wine list going to do for you if the language makes no sense? And, most importantly, how can you look cool among a bunch of wine snobs?

That’s where Vegas Wineaux and Combatting Swirl Envy come in! I planned this around the concept of ushering students through the very basics of wine … it is even *pre* Wine 101! It’s all about understanding less than the basics so that the most elementary of wine classes makes sense. I decided to assist students in sharpening their observation skills, honing their wine drinking skills, and learning how to understand and conduct themselves during a wine tasting – whether it’s at a store, an event (think UNLVino), or a winery. In other words, they are so comfortable with the very basics that they are more than ready to really learn about wines and to kick their skills up notches unknown by mankind. (thanks, Emeril). They are also more at ease in their own familiarity of setting up their home wine collections and sharing their wines with (sometimes better wine-educated) friends.

Has this helped students who attended my “live” classes? I’ve made many of them into wine fanatics just as I made my PC folks into computer geeks! They can’t wait to get into the next level of wine classes! What’s even more fun is that they scoff at those people on TV and in the movies who don’t even “get” basic wine tasting etiquette. (“He gets paid millions of dollars and can’t even hold a damn glass right!”) Love it!

So what’s in the future for Vegas Wineaux? Why hasn’t there been classes recently? What’s going on?!? Look for Combatting Swirl Envy classes online!  The costs – both in money and time – of gas and travel make it difficult for many potential wine geeks to attend live classes, and just as difficult for me to plan them. In addition, since Vegas is a 24/7 town, what’s great for my schedule isn’t great for everybody’s. So I decided to go global! Combatting Swirl Envy in the form of videos will be available to online subscribers, with the target date yet to be decided.  I will have much more information on that very soon.

That doesn’t mean that live classes are out of the question, of course. In fact, wine-free wine classes are in development for those who want to learn about wine etiquette but don’t want to drink wines. Yes, that makes sense.  Grabbing people for DUI’s is a great income stream for the boys in blue (okay, technically it’s khaki here in Vegas.  Irrelevent.)

If you’ve just moseyed by and are liking what you see here, be sure to subscribe.  RSS will notify you of each time an update is made here on the site, but subscribing by email will get you an occasional newsletter that will keep you up to date on plans, activities, and more which may not make it to the site.

Enjoy it all! I’m so happy to see that the subscriber list is growing and that many of you are dropping wonderful notes and emails of encouragement and enthusiasm. Stay with us and watch us as we grow!

I had a brand new bio more or less written out and then found this one in the dead database files. Oh what the heck (I said). I haven’t changed much and neither have my goals!

Enjoy!

So what – or who – is the Vegas Wineaux? And why does she want to see people enjoy wine? Isn’t wine just for snobs or the very rich? Now, that’s where the Vegas Wineaux and Combatting Swirl Envy come in to rid everyone of those notions. Because anyone can achieve wine snob status.

Irene has been passionate about wines for most of her life. From the first time that she tentatively sipped her grandmother’s homemade apple wine, she has been fascinated by this magical elixir. Through the years she has continued to enjoy wine in its many forms. She joined wine clubs, haunted tastings and wineries, subscribed to wine magazines, hosted and attended home wine-tasting events, and took as many classes as she could – both privately and at the local Community College – to learn as much as possible about wines.

Her wine epiphany came when she tasted a truly fine wine and realized that wine was more than just Mogen David or Boone’s Farm. And while her path to full wine enjoyment has occasionally taken her to other life adventures, the past five years has seen her singularly focus on the appreciation of wines and the pleasure that they give.

Irene’s years as a technical trainer has served her well in the world of wine. An appreciation for clear-cut information and detail morphed into an ethereal enjoyment and respect of the skill and knowledge that it takes to produce wines of quality. Her years of experience as a bartender and bar manager and years-long membership in the American Wine Society have given her a respect for and heightened her appreciation of wines and enhanced her ability to fully understand and discern the qualities within them. She has the skills, love, and ability to share her knowledge and passion for this elixir with anyone who wants to learn.

So what is this Vegas Wineaux thing about? It’s about starting from square one when it comes to wines. It’s about learning the ABCs before learning how to read. In other words, before one can become a Wine Snob, one must start off as a Neophyte. One must learn about Combatting Swirl Envy – that feeling you get when you see true wine snobs swirl and savor their wine. This is a fun way to get a solid foundation before tackling the business of learning about types, regions, and styles of wine, and Vegas Wineaux is just the one to start you on your journey.