Wine School of Philadelphia Named Silver Winner Trade School as Keith Wallace Discusses Vineyard Frost Damage and Wine’s Religious Roots

Keith Wallace hosts an episode of After Wine School, noting Alanna Zerbi is teaching upstairs, and thanks The Philadelphia Inquirer for naming the Wine School of Philadelphia the silver winner for top trade school in the 2020 Philly Favorites, highlighting reader and student voting and quoting the magazine’s praise for open, anti-snob wine education. He explains the school’s state-recognized professional certifications are authorized through Vermont’s National Wine School and contrasts this with unregulated international trade certificates, arguing wine education should provide entry to the industry without four- or six-year degrees. He then describes severe East Coast vineyard losses from early bud break followed by an April freeze, including reported 80% losses in Pennsylvania and 100% bud loss at Maryland’s Black Ankle Vineyards, and similar frost damage in Hungary, offering mitigation ideas like delayed/double pruning and sprinkler protection. Wallace closes with cultural anthropology on wine’s role in ancient rituals and how Roman destruction of the temple system influenced communion, and mentions teaching a fall course on modern wine history.

00:00 Big Inquirer Win 01:16 Reading the Praise 02:30 Why Trade School Matters 03:01 Certifications and Regulation 05:14 East Coast Vineyard Freeze 06:20 How Bud Break Works 08:02 Damage Reports and Stakes 09:29 Support Local Wineries 09:49 Global Frost in Hungary 11:38 Frost Protection Strategies 14:23 Wine and Communion Origins 17:05 Romans and Ritual Shift 18:38 Closing and Future Classes

Know Your Palate (Part 2): Sweetness vs Ripeness, Acidity, Tannins & Sensitive Tasters Keith Wallace hosts an After Wine School episode focused on "Know Your Palate" (Part 2), shifting from smell to what happens on the palate. He clarifies the difference between aromas (smelled) and flavors and taste sensations (tasted/felt), then breaks down three core palate elements: sweetness, acidity, and bitterness/tannin.

The episode explains perceived sweetness from alcohol and oak-derived baking-spice flavors versus real sugar, with a home tasting exercise using off-dry Riesling, Chablis, and high-alcohol Zinfandel/Petite Syrah. It covers how acidity underpins fruit flavors, highlights tartaric acid as unique to wine and linked to aging and microbial stability, and offers an at-home comparison of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with unoaked Chardonnay (or alternatives like Marsanne/Roussanne or Albariño).

For bitterness, it explains wine’s condensed tannins, how skin/seed contact affects tannin extraction, and suggests tasting Pinot Noir/Gamay against high-tannin wines like Aglianico or Nebbiolo.

The hosts advise students not to rely on personal “algorithms” and to build tasting skills step-by-step. They also discuss genetic tasting sensitivity (formerly “super tasters”) and an at-home PROP strip test to gauge sensitivity, especially for tannin perception, and close by promoting their Level 2 program, online options, and the Wine School USA podcast/YouTube channel.

00:00 Welcome Back: Know Your Palate (Part 2) — Taste on the Tongue

00:48 Aromas vs Flavors: Stop Confusing Smell with Taste

02:15 Sweetness 101: Sugar vs Alcohol vs “Perceived” Sweetness

04:39 At-Home Sweetness Drill: Riesling vs Chablis vs Big Zinfandel

06:32 Acidity = Fruit Flavor: The Acids Behind What You Taste

08:21 Tartaric Acid & Acid Levels: Why Wine Tastes Like Wine

10:09 Acidity Practice: Sauvignon Blanc vs Unoaked Chardonnay (and Alternatives)

11:25 Bitterness & Tannins: What That Dry, Grippy Feeling Really Is

13:05 Tannin Tasting Exercise + Don’t Invent “Wine Hacks”

15:32 Sensitive Tasters: PROP Strips and the (Very) Memorable Scale

Sustainability in Wine: Green Certifications vs Greenwashing (Organic, Regenerative & Biodynamic Explained) Keith Wallace and Alana Zerbe discuss what sustainability really means in wine and whether green certifications reflect genuine practices or greenwashing. They define sustainability (long-term ecosystem preservation), regenerative agriculture (restoring depleted soil and water), biodynamic farming (self-sustaining farm inputs with lunar-calendar traditions originating with Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s and later adopted in Burgundy and Champagne), and organic certification (USDA-administered, expensive, recordkeeping-heavy, and focused on avoiding synthetic pesticides/fertilizers and GMOs). They explain why “organic” labeling in the US is complicated by strict sulfite limits that can be exceeded even without additions due to fermentation, and contrast this with the EU’s focus on vineyard practices. They cover certification costs and economics (including Demeter as the main biodynamic cert and other regional programs), and note that small producers may practice near-organic methods without paying for certification. They also highlight gaps in many sustainability paradigms, including labor practices, citing a case of an Italian certified winery found using trafficked/slave labor. Practical winery and supply-chain topics include high water use (up to 10–20 gallons per bottle), dry farming, controlled irrigation using AI, satellite imaging and drones, CO2 capture and reuse/resale, and composting winery byproducts. They emphasize packaging and shipping impacts: heavy glass bottles are energy-intensive, glass recycling has declined due to loss of China as a trade partner, and alternatives like bag-in-box and cans can reduce impact; overseas shipping by boat can be more efficient than trucking, making some imports potentially lower-carbon than domestic wine depending on location. They also mention solar and wind energy at wineries, agrivoltaics (solar panels above vines), cover crops, biodiversity, and integrated pest management (beneficial insects and plantings to divert pests). Consumer takeaways include choosing lightweight bottles, supporting alternative packaging, considering certifications while remembering their cost, visiting vineyards to ask questions, and recognizing that local regional norms and peer pressure can influence adoption of organic/biodynamic practices.

01:26 What “Sustainability” Means in Viticulture (Cover Crops, Soil Health, Beneficial Bugs)

02:51 Regenerative Agriculture: Restoring Depleted Soil & Water

03:21 Biodynamic Winegrowing Explained (Science, Rituals, and Results)

05:12 Organic Wine Basics: USDA Rules, Recordkeeping, and Costs

05:49 Certifications Under the Microscope: Sulfites, Demeter, and the Price of Compliance

08:44 Small Producers vs. Big Industry: Why Certification Can Feel Insulting

10:39 The Missing Piece: Labor Ethics and “Sustainable” Certifications

11:56 Inside the Winery: Water Use, Dry Farming, AI Irrigation, CO₂ Capture, and Compost

14:44 Packaging & Shipping: Heavy Bottles, Boxed Wine, Cans, and Transport Emissions

18:27 Renewable Energy & Vineyard Innovation: Solar, Wind, and Smarter Biodiversity

20:47 Consumer Takeaways + Wrap-Up, Next Episode Tease, and How to Learn More