When we reported earlier this month that our friends from the Bortársaság had been forced to close their lovely store in District V, we said it would at least give us Pest-types a good excuse to cross the river and visit the spiffy new Buda-side outlet of Hungary’s leading up-market wine retailer/distributor. And now there is another reason. Currently, the Wine Society – as some English-speaking old-timers still call it – is accepting “applications” for something called the “Bortársaság Wine Academy.”
The first course being offered is a three-session introduction of the major wine regions and wins of Hungary, including tips on how to taste wine and what wines to buy. While we had a chuckle at the name for the sessions – the very educational-sounding “Module1″ – it does seem that they are taking the whole thing pretty seriously: note that one of the two 12-person “classes” starts its weekly sessions at 10:00 a.m. So be aware that, if you are one of those people who likes to outshine the other students, you won’t want to staying up late the night before class doing extra “studying.”
Check the Bortársaság’s website for more details. Each three-session course costs Ft 19,500 – “including all wines and course material” – which seems like a pretty good deal, even if there is no financial aid package for students from disadvantaged, beer-drinking backgrounds.
