"Where can we learn more about wine? Where do we go from here?"

Participants inevitably ask the same two questions on the final evening of the introductory wine courses that I teach. My usual advice is to do what I have done over the years: join a wine club, attend wine merchants' tastings and "meet the winemaker" sessions. Enroll in specifically targeted wine courses at CAE, TAFE and other institutions. Arrange once a month dinners for like-minded friends - featuring theme wines and the occasional masked bottle to focus palates. Have a night out at one of the many winemakers' dinners held at restaurants around town.

This year, for example, my advanced wine study has included both shiraz and cabernet tastings at Harrys at the Glen, a Narkoojee wine dinner at Matteos, a weekly masked tasting lunch, and numerous sessions of sips and spits at liquor stores. One such learning experience was a wine and cheese tasting at the Windsor recently. Cheese guru Will Studd and winemaker Stephen Phillips presented a mixed and matched flight of half a dozen Calendar Cheese Company cheeses and Coldstream Hills wines, peppering their presentation with comments on the finer points of wine and cheese making and matching.

The tasting included a 2000 sauvignon blanc, paired with a Meredith fresh farm chevre: my least favourite varietal alongside a cheese style I usually avoid. I was nearly converted to the cause. The sauvignon, water pale and pungent, went beautifully with the creamy, faintly acidic goat cheese. And in the cheese I couldn't find even a hint of that despicable billy goat taint.

Next pairing saw the Calendar Triple Cream, luxuriously thick and rich, washed down with the toasty, oak fermented 1998 chardonnay. Then there was the Jensens Red, a washed rind cheese made from autumn milk, initially smelly but, happily, with a mild and sweet interior. This was fortunate as the lightish 1998 pinot noir would not have coped had the cheese been strongly flavoured throughout. A generous indulgence I thought, at $AUD35.00 per person.

Tastings

Becks Bier

A Pilsener style from Bremen in Germany. Brewed according to German law and tradition, it contains only water, barley, malt, hops and yeast. Aromatic and faintly sweet to the nose. Light and refreshing on the palate, showing delicate malt and hops flavours and slight bitterness at the finish. An excellent luncheon aperitif. About $AUD14.00 the six-pack of 330ml bottles. Becks Web Site.

Redgate Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 1999

Margaret River, Western Australia. Light yellow green. Likeable nose, ripe with a hint of toasted barrel fermentation. Lovely well-weighted balance of mature fruit and clean acid. Flavourful finish. Rating: gold. Cellar: to 2005. Price: about $AUD18. Redgate's Web Site.

Alfred Sparkling Shiraz

Red Cliffs, Victoria. Medium-ruby, small vigorous bead. Subdued nose presents a pleasing mix of blackberry, yeast and wood. Lighter style, fresh and lively on the mid-palate, ripe fruit leads to dryish aftertaste. Rating: bronze. Cellar: unnecessary. Price: about $AUD13.

Majella Cabernet Sauvignon 1998

Coonawarra, South Australia. Deep opaque purple - you could use this in your fountain pen. Stunning wine, intense blackcurrant and dusty oak bouquet. Huge palate stacked with concentrated, extracted cabernet. Chewy tannins lead to a "drink another bottle" finish. By the time I got to taste this there was not much left around. Beg, buy, borrow or steal a bottle if you can. Rating: trophy. Cellar: to 2012. Price: about $AUD26. Majella's Web Site.