The Wine Education Centre

About WEC

The Wine Education Centre (WEC) is the educational arm of Wines of Western Australia. It 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 run by Blair Hill, who comes with a wealth of wine industry experience. See his bio below.

Click here for further information about the 2023 courses. 15% discount is available for all WoWA Industry Members – please contact Larry Jorgensen for the discount code at [email protected]

Blair Hill

BPE, Dip Ed (UWA), Grad Dip Bus (Marketing)(ECU) DIPWSET (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 and tactical 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 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 is currently the Perth wine reviewer for ‘What’s Cooking’ – Radio NTS and Virgin airlines.

COURSES 2023

For more info please feel free to contact Blair on 0417 987461 or [email protected]

Wine Essentials Course - Como

WINE ESSENTIALS – Four Weeks (two hours per week)

BOOK HERE for the July Course commencing Monday 24th July 2023 6.30pm-8.30pm

BOOK HERE for the October Course commencing Monday 16 October 2023 – 6.30pm – 8.30pm

Price – $385

The cost of the course includes an ‘Essential Wine Tasting Guide’, vineyard visit in the Swan Valley or Perth Hills (Saturday) and food from a restaurant TBC in the Como/South perth area. All attendees that complete the course will receive a Certificate of Merit.

The wine essentials 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 the wine trade.

Week One – Learn how to taste and assess a range of wine styles.

Week Two – White wine production, styles and botrytis cinerea (noble rot).

Week Three – Red wine production, styles, oak and cellaring potential of wine.

Week Four – Food and wine matching.

There will be six wines tasted each week.

Venue: Old Bridge Cellars, 461 Canning Hwy, COMO WA 6152
Tel: 9450 6799
email enquiries: [email protected]

Contact Person: Blair Hill

Wine Essentials Course - North Fremantle

WINE ESSENTIALS – Four Weeks (two hours per week)

BOOK HERE for the July Course commencing Tuesday 25 July 6.30pm-8.30pm.

BOOK HERE for the October Course commencing Tuesday 17 October 2023 – 6.30pm – 8.30pm.

Price – $385
The cost of the course includes an ‘Essential Wine Tasting Guide’, vineyard visit in the Swan Valley or Perth Hills (Saturday) and food from Habitué. All attendees that complete the course will receive a Certificate of Merit.

The wine essentials 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 the wine trade.

Week One – Learn how to taste and assess a range of wine styles.

Week Two – White wine production, styles and botrytis cinerea (noble rot).

Week Three – Red wine production, styles, oak and cellaring potential of wine.

Week Four – Food and wine matching to be held at Habitué restaurant, North Fremantle.

There will be six wines tasted each week.

Venue: Old Bridge Cellars, 221 Queen Victoria Street, North Fremantle WA 6159
Tel: 9335 2702
email enquiries: [email protected]

Contact Person: Blair Hill

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.

BOOK HERE

When: 23rd November 2023
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Price: $90
Venue: Old Bridge Cellars, 221 Queen Victoria Street, North Fremantle WA 6159 contact [email protected]

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

Julian Sunario

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

Thank you for the fantastic course, and all the effort you put into making it happen. Venue is excellent as well – it is great to benefit from the ramp up in the local scene, how wine shows and judging works – and of course the tastings! This week’s comparison of Margaret River Chardonnay and Petit Chablis was excellent – looking forward to next week!

David Anthony

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

Get in touch

For general enquiries, please contact [email protected].

For further tourism information, please contact the following regional wine associations: