WINE FAULTS COURSE FOR WINE PROFESSIONALS AND SOMMELIERS
Learn how to identify and recognise common wine faults — directly in the glass, through smell and taste.
 >>> As this is a pilot course running for the first time in January, we are offering a 50% discount to first-time participants. 
 
You’ll always compare each fault with a clean control sample to clearly perceive the differences.
Experience and taste the boundaries between minor deviations (imperfections) and distinct wine faults. Together, we’ll explore oxidation, volatile acidity, reduction, and Brettanomyces.
Taste the key components responsible for each fault individually, without cross-contamination.
Develop and refine your ability to detect fault-related aromas and flavours.
With the help of the DAF (Deductive Approach to Faults), build your personal memory bank of off-flavours and aromas — enabling you to intuitively identify faults with confidence.
 
WHAT ARE YOU TASTING, AND WHICH FAULTS ARE WE COVERING?
Cork Taint (TCA) - 12 glasses - 1 full-bodied red - 1 light white - increasing TCA contamination on the glass. From minuscule amounts of TCA (no cardboard aromas yet, but…!) to above sensory threshold. Test your individual sensory detection threshold. We are all different!
Brettanomyces - 8 glasses - 1 full-bodied red - 1 light red - 3 components created by this yeast. Understand tolerance and balance btw positive Brett and faultiness.
VA - 6 glasses - 1 natural red - light white - 2 components. Understand the tolerance level to accept this characteristic as a deviation or fault.
Oxidation - 4 glasses - 1 full flavoured white - 1 component. Recognise one of the most common faults when wines are served by the glass.
Reduction - 2 glasses - 1 aromatic white - 1 component. Discover how volatile sulphur compounds can create positive aromas in wine and when they become a fault.
Lightstrike - 2 glasses - 1 traditional method sparkling - 1 component. Discover how potent UV light can be in creating the wrong flavours in wines.
Heat Damage - 1 fortified wine. Discuss and taste the difference between oxidation and oxygenation.
Mousiness - 1 wine - learn and taste this newly talked-about wine fault associated with wines with low sulphite addition.
Smoke Taint - 2 wines - a fault that is increasingly seen when grapes are exposed to wildfires during ripening.
 
Time: 2 days in January, 2026 - 11 & 18 
Address: 7A Malzgasse 4052, Basel  (10 min walk from Basel SBB)
Educator: Juan Lo Bello, Wine Faults Academy
Language: English