ST. HELENA, Calif., Dec. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Andrea Robinson, MS today announces 10 full scholarships available for women and BIPOC candidates to attend the Master Sommelier's new virtual wine course, "Great Wine Made Simple", beginning January 27, 2021. The 8-session series comprising a complete essentials course, will be a live-streamed broadcast-quality immersion in the world's wine regions and styles, with the experiential immediacy of live Q&A and remote guests.
"I wanted to do something concrete, and specifically to bring skill-building and connection to candidates wherever they are," said Andrea Robinson, MS. "We all know women, and especially women of color, face dismal pay and opportunity gaps across industries. On top of this, the pandemic's economic impact has hit these women hardest, adding 50-plus years to the predicted 200+ it would take to achieve pay parity at the current pace of progress. Early mentoring and immersive education were huge to my career, and our industry needs this under-served talent."
Underwritten by Andrea's industry partners, the Napa Valley Vintners and Coravin, which are also committed to supporting diversity in the wine world through their own initiatives, the scholarships include full tuition, two mentoring webinars with Andrea and special industry guests to provide support and coaching for the recipients, as well as Coravin's latest wine preservation system, "Pivot", a set of Andrea's The ONE stemware, wine gift cards for the tastings through Gary's Wine & Marketplace (in accordance with state wine shipping laws), and a Virtual Tasting with a notable Napa Valley winemaker and Coravin Founder & Inventor Greg Lambrecht.
Scholarship applications are due by January 8, 2021, and recipients will be announced on January 15, 2021. Applications may be submitted through this form: https://forms.gle/sXA1mkvsjbTVkz5TA While current wine or hospitality industry experience is not required, the application includes a personal statement of why the candidate wishes to pursue a career in the wine or hospitality industries, and what they will bring to it.
"Many industries and demographic groups are in need of 're-skilling', especially with the pandemic's impact," Andrea notes. "Wine and service experience are difficult to get, due to the cost and experiential aspects. If you can't access real-life experience tasting and talking about wines, how could you ever evaluate, sell, write about, pair, or price them? This course will provide that context, and it'll be a blast, too."
"Great Wine Made Simple" will run every Wednesday at 4 p.m. PST starting January 27. Available to the public, the course costs $350 for all eight sessions, and students can also purchase a la carte classes for $50 each. Wines to taste along are additional. In honor of the Napa Valley Vintners support, Andrea is proud to be featuring exclusively wines from the Napa Valley, her home since 2004, in the kick-off to the "Great Wine Made Simple" series.
About Andrea Robinson, MS
Andrea Robinson is a world-renowned Master Sommelier who takes the seemingly daunting subject of wine and food, and brings it down to earth for all to understand and enjoy. Robinson, one of only 28 female Master Sommeliers in the world, couples this distinction with a strong culinary pedigree as a graduate and former Dean of the French Culinary Institute, author of four books on food and wine, and the recipient of three James Beard Awards. In addition, she has been widely featured across leading national television networks and publications as the "go-to" expert for all things wine. She and her husband John live and grow grapes in Napa Valley. For more information and full details on the courses and scholarship opportunities, please visit http://www.andreawine.com.
About Coravin, Inc.
Coravin is a privately held company located in Bedford, Massachusetts focused and the leader in wine tech around the world. Coravin designs and markets Coravin Wine Preservation Systems for wine enthusiasts, restaurants, wine stores and wineries. Coravin offers a range of products designed to meet a variety of preservation needs, from a few weeks, to several months, to years, ensuring the last glass tastes just as amazing as the first. With a presence in more than 60 countries, Coravin branded systems power some of the best wine by-the-glass programs around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.coravin.com.
About The Napa Valley Vintners
The Napa Valley Vintners is a nonprofit trade association has been cultivating excellence since 1944 by inspiring its 550 members to consistently produce wines of the highest quality, to provide environmental leadership and to care for the extraordinary place they call home. For more information please visit http://www.napavintners.org
Course Backgrounder
Great Wine Made Simple (GWMS) is an eight-week long wine immersion that explores everything from wine basics – starting with The Big Six Grapes – to regional explorations, wine styles, and ends with Pairing Food & Wine. Each one-hour session is followed-up by an exclusive Q&A session with Andrea, and the Master Sommelier has designed quizzes for each section allowing students to continue testing their knowledge outside the virtual classroom.
After learning so much from attending Zoom virtual tastings during the pandemic, Andrea is excited to bring the virtual wine learning experience to the next level. Immersive HD video, maps and graphics will bring the vineyard regions and winery workings to attendees as if they were there. Each broadcast-quality live-stream class is led by Andrea Robinson, MS with expert industry guests making appearances throughout. The first class will run on January 27, 2021 at 4 pm PST, and classes are scheduled every Wednesday until the course concludes on March 17, 2021. Recordings will be available to registrants for two months post-session. More information on class details, registration, and scholarship opportunities can be found on the course webpages: https://andreawine.com/virtualwinecourses/
Media Contact
Anne Girvin, AKG Insights, +1 9179748577, [email protected]
SOURCE Andrea Robinson, MS
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