THE WINE EDUCATION CENTRE

The educational arm of Wines of Western Australia

View 2026 Courses

The Wine Education Centre (WEC) is the prime provider of wine education for consumers and trade in Western Australia.

It has been providing quality wine education for well over 40 years. The Wine Essentials Course is designed to increase your wine knowledge and develop your palate. The only prerequisite is a love of wine. It is also an appropriate course for those about to enter the wine trade, with a Certificate of Merit awarded upon completion. Throughout the year, Old Bridge Cellars also hosts the Wine Education Centre’s specialty wine courses. These are short courses which focus on a particular style or region. All courses are managed by Blair Hill, who comes with a wealth of wine industry experience.

Wine Educator – Blair Hill

BPE, Dip Ed (UWA), Grad Dip Bus (Marketing) (ECU) DIP WSET (WSET-UK)

In addition to his longstanding role as Director at the WEC, Blair’s wine education experience includes the delivery of Level 2 and 3 of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) courses, and a sessional lecturer at Curtin University in Sensory Evaluation 202, a second-year Oenology and Viticulture unit. In his ‘day job’, Blair consults to a number of Western Australian boutique wineries in strategic sales, marketing and business development across domestic and international wine markets. He is a Director of Vintage Fine Wine Distributors (VFWD), which imports and distributes exclusive French, Italian, South African and ultra-premium Australian wines of provenance and regionality. Blair has been the wine reviewer for ABC 720 radio’s ‘Afternoons’ for ten years, for which he won the Court Wine Bar/Wine Press Club Media Award. He has judged at a number of regional wine shows including the Geographe, Swan Valley, Perth Hills and the WA Boutique Single Vineyard Wine Shows.

Courses 2026

Wine Essentials Course - March 2026

Venue: By Old Bridge Cellars North Fremantle

March Dates: Commences Tuesday 3rd March – 24th March, 2026

6.30PM – 8.30PM (four weeks – two hours per week)

Price – $395 pp (15% off for WoWA Members and their staff)

The Wine Essentials Course is held over four consecutive weeks, the course covers six wines per session.

The course provides the necessary information for all wine enthusiasts who are looking to increase their wine knowledge and approach to tasting. It is also an appropriate course for those about to enter or are in the wine trade.

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  • Week One – Learn how to taste and assess a range of wine styles and understand the wine show system in Australia.
  • Week Two – White wine production, styles and botrytis cinerea (noble rot).
  • Week Three – Red wine production, styles, importance of oak and cellaring potential of wine.
  • Week Four – Food and wine matching to be held at Samsons Paddock restaurant, Mosman Park.
  • Plus a Saturday vineyard visit to the Swan Valley or Perth Hills and the Essential Wine Tasting Guide.

Contact Person: Blair Hill

Telephone: 0417 987 461

Email enquiries: [email protected]

Book here

Champagne Masterclass - Structure by Design

Tracy Mann is hosting another Champagne masterclass in 2026!
Venue: By Old Bridge Cellars North Fremantle
Date: 31st March
Price: $250 

Structure by Design explores one of Champagne’s most quietly decisive choices – the vessel in which primary fermentation takes place.

By comparing stainless steel with a spectrum of oak formats—from large foudres to smaller barrels—this seminar examines how vessel, volume and oxygen exchange shape texture, phenolic architecture and the long-term structural profile of a wine. 

Champagne base wines fermented and stored in oak can acquire aromatic breadth and structural nuance that are integral to the DNA of many premium champagnes.

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Rather than treating oak as a flavouring component, the focus here is on its role as a structural tool, contrasted with the precision and reductive clarity obtained from fermentation in stainless steel. Today in Champagne, many Domains and a new generation of growers have come full circle—rediscovering oak and its many attributes. Through comparative tasting and technical context, Structure by Design invites a closer look at how these fermentation choices influence what ultimately ends up in the glass. This masterclass features eight outstanding (some never seen before in Perth) Champagnes, spanning small domains, larger Houses and prestige cuvées. Featuring limited Cuvee’s from Henri Giraud, Lallier (Ouvrage) and Tarlant with rare and exclusive cuvee’s from Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee and the Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle N.26 which was Wine of the Year in 2023 with 100Pts from James Suckling with an RRP of over $500!” Places limited so be early
 

Book here

Wine Essentials Course - June 2026

Venue: By Old Bridge Cellars North Fremantle

June Dates: Commences Tuesday 2nd June – 23rd June, 2026

6.30PM – 8.30PM (four weeks – two hours per week)

Price – $395 pp (15% off for WoWA Members and their staff)

The Wine Essentials Course is held over four consecutive weeks, the course covers six wines per session.

The course provides the necessary information for all wine enthusiasts who are looking to increase their wine knowledge and approach to tasting. It is also an appropriate course for those about to enter or are in the wine trade.

Read more

  • Week One – Learn how to taste and assess a range of wine styles and understand the wine show system in Australia.
  • Week Two – White wine production, styles and botrytis cinerea (noble rot).
  • Week Three – Red wine production, styles, importance of oak and cellaring potential of wine.
  • Week Four – Food and wine matching to be held at Samsons Paddock restaurant, Mosman Park.
  • Plus a Saturday vineyard visit to the Swan Valley or Perth Hills and the Essential Wine Tasting Guide.

Contact Person: Blair Hill

Telephone: 0417 987 461

Email enquiries: [email protected]

Enquire here

Wine Essentials Course - September 2026

Venue: By Old Bridge Cellars North Fremantle

September Dates: Commences Tuesday 2nd September – 22nd September, 2026

6.30PM – 8.30PM (four weeks – two hours per week)

Price – $395 pp (15% off for WoWA Members and their staff)

The Wine Essentials Course is held over four consecutive weeks, the course covers six wines per session.

The course provides the necessary information for all wine enthusiasts who are looking to increase their wine knowledge and approach to tasting. It is also an appropriate course for those about to enter or are in the wine trade.

Read more

  • Week One – Learn how to taste and assess a range of wine styles and understand the wine show system in Australia.
  • Week Two – White wine production, styles and botrytis cinerea (noble rot).
  • Week Three – Red wine production, styles, importance of oak and cellaring potential of wine.
  • Week Four – Food and wine matching to be held at Samsons Paddock restaurant, Mosman Park.
  • Plus a Saturday vineyard visit to the Swan Valley or Perth Hills and the Essential Wine Tasting Guide.

Contact Person: Blair Hill

Telephone: 0417 987 461

Email enquiries: [email protected]

Enquire here

Sparkling Wines of the World

Explore the wonderful world of sparkling wines. You will be guided through a range of the world’s best sparkling wine styles including Champagne, Cava, Prosecco and others.

Blair Hill DipWSET will discuss the regions of origin and the methods of production for each of the styles. There will be up to eight wines tasted throughout the two hour session and some premium cheese plates provided.

  • Date: Tuesday 24th November 2026
  • Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
  • Venue: By Old Bridge Cellars North Fremantle
  • Price: $99pp
  • Contact: Blair Hill 0417 987461 [email protected]
Enquire here

Testimonials

I wanted to thank you for the recent Wine Essential’s course I attended. It was really enjoyable and I appreciated your vast knowledge and teaching. It is a good thing you are still an educator because you do have a gift.

Dell Lusick

 

Thank you and the team for running such a great course. We benefited greatly from your expertise and knowledge of wine and you were a patient and kind teacher.

Paul and Katrina Mc Gurgan

 

I loved that course! Never have I looked forward to Tuesday evenings so much. Blair is such a good teacher!

Julian Sunario