Night School

It’s my mom’s last day in Utah and she flies out tonight. Since I’m taking her out to dinner right after work and then heading to the airport I figured I’d share some fun things with you instead of trying to put together a post mid-airport rendezvous.

I’ve long toyed with the idea of going back to school for an MBA. I work as an office manager and do the accounting for several large contracts as well as support accounting for a design shop. Lots of numbers, lots of marketing, lots of “businessing.” Yes, that is my super professional word I just made up. Don’t worry about it.

Anyway, I’ve looked into several MBA programs that are offered on weekends or in the evenings. I always start to feel guilty about the amount of time it would take away from my family and also the sheer cost of it all. Not to mention the fact that I’m not entirely sure it would help me at this point – I mean, I have far superior experience than what any slip of paper might offer me.

So…

Naturally, I found a night school that I can get on board with.

Enter Fox School of Wine.

Done and done.

Mrs. Fox offers classes on Friday and Saturday nights in Park City (actually Deer Valley) and covers a variety of topics. Nick and I have gone once before for a class called “Down Under: Wines of New Zealand and Australia”

Over the weekend we decided to do a little schooling with my mom and dropped in on “Can Red Wine Save Your Life?”

The study materials:

2009 Louis Latour Marsannay – Pinot Noir
2010 Greg Norman – Pinot Noir
2009 Naked Earth – Merlot, Cabernet, Grenache, Carignan
2008 Tres Ojos – Granacha
2009 Rodney Strong – Zinfandel

My favorite of the night was the Zinfandel!

What I love about Kristen’s classes is that you are seated at a table with a few other guests and everyone in the class (roughly 20 people) does the tastings together. We all shout out the different things we smell, taste, appreciate or dislike about the wines.

It is not until the end of the tasting that everyone votes a “grade” for each wine. Once the grades are decided Mrs. Fox discloses the critic reviews as well as the price for each wine.

At our last class, Nick and I learned a lot about the overall tasting process, how the wines are made, how to decipher the smells, etc. At Saturday’s class we learned about the health benefits of wine. “Can Red Wine Save Your Life?” – the answer – “MAYBE”

Here are some of the facts Kristen shared that I found to be particularly interesting:

A moderate amount of red wine lowers the risk of heart attack for people in middle age by 30-50%
Red wine can help raise HDL (the good cholesterol) and prevent LDL (the bad cholesterol)
The skins and seeds of red grapes carry resveratrol which is an antioxidant that helps minimize some types of cancer. **Pinot Noir is 4 TIMES higher in this antioxidant than all the other red wines.
Resveratrol also helps boost the immune system, protect against heart disease and can prolong life
Red wine can help aid in digestion
Wine might possibly help preserve cognitive function in the elderly – including the prevention of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other dementia.
Wine shows benefits for all ages and lifestyles EXCEPT premenopausal women with a family history of breast cancer.

She also talked a little about the sulfites in wine and how some people have an “allergic reaction” to these… as well as why certain people get headaches with red wine.

Overall, the class was very informative and as always, a lot of fun.

If you are in Salt Lake or Park City you should definitely check out her class schedule – she is just about to go on Spring Break so there are only a few classes left. The next two are “The Secret of Blends” which looks really interesting because you get to try each of the “parts” that make up a blend and then the resulting wine – the other class is “The Easter Bunny’s Favorites” – you can sign up here.

Of course, the best part about going back to school: school shopping duh!

My mom and I spent quite a bit of time shopping while she was in town – of course we had to wear our new finds