"Wine Insights" Course Schools Students in the Virtues of Vino

Did you know that the journey to getting a Rutgers University degree can include enjoying a glass of wine?

"Wine Insights" is a one-credit course taught at Rutgers that is very popular among students and fills up very quickly each semester.

Taught by Rutgers Professor Lena Brattstein, the course comprises of classroom lectures and three wine tastings held each semester.

Each tasting has a different theme - local wines, for example, Brattstein said, noting that some of her students have been unaware that New Jersey has several wineries in-state.

Students must be 21 and older to take the course, which features more than just sitting back and sipping a glass with classmates. Students learn about the geography of regions that yield wine, the health benefits of drinking wine, even the specifics of the grapes that go into each bottle.

The course's most recent wine tasting, held in the Cook Campus Student Center, was all about Italian wines, the regions they come from and the food they pair well with. Eight different varieties of wine, both red and white, were poured out to taste.

At the Nov. 17 tasting, Bill Whiting, director of wine education for Banfi Vintners, one of Italy's prominent wineries, was the featured presenter.

Whiting stressed that the most important thing while tasting wines is whether the sampler enjoys it. Drinking a glass of white with a steak is not a faux pas if that is what you like, he said. 

"Wine is like art, it's like music," Whiting said. "It is all subjective."

During a two hour presentation, Whiting talked about the country's history in wine production - 20 regions produce wines, with more than 4,000 wines in total made throughout the country.

Students smelled and tasted mouthfuls of wines such as Bolla Suave, Frascati Superiore, and Riunite D'Oro, and learned about the way the grapes are rated in quality by the Italian government, the American embrace of Italian wines, and the food that paired well with each.

Whiting said that wine and food are windows into learning so much more.

"If you really want to learn about a culture, follow their stomachs," he said.