The Chocolate Grape

Ripe, sharp, extracted, fruit forward, hot, round, minerally, young, soft, corked, sporked, torqued… what? As much as people like to be guided through tasting the X, whys and Zs of wines A, B and C — personally I think wine is WAY too subtle for most people to taste and/​or most of us just plain can’t tell what the hell the wine «guru» is talking about. If I want a narrator for my wine, I’d stuff the bottle inside Teddy Ruxpin.
Cassandra (The Chocolate Grape) is tops in my book because she doesn’t try and dump a ton of foo foo on your head to make it seem like your getting your monies worth. She’s taught dozens of wine classes for me and my clients and she’s the best not because she knows about wine (which she does), but because she’s an entertainer. That’s a skill that’s hard to learn. She knows how to take a wide variety of people in the same class, and unite them through their senses, shared history, humor, and let’s face it — wine gets you buzzed. if it didn’t do you think we would still make it? i think not!
She is an effective and engaging speaker and knows how to guide a class and get people interested. I’ve recommended her to clients for consulting, wine education, fun classes, and more — and she has NEVER let me down.
Shawn Refoua
Director — Sf Mixology