Grappolo Wine School is the passion project of Scott and Paula Thomas,
two industry veterans who love to share the joy of wine, rooted in culture,
through classes, events, and study trips.
Headquartered in Denver, we travel across the country, and the world, for food, wine, and culture.
Wine Education
Scott Thomas is at the helm of our wine programs which are designed to help you advance professionally or pursue your passion as an enthusiast. Our courses are interactive and dynamic, with a focus on practical, real-world knowledge. With Scott's guidance, you'll have the most up-to-date information and clear learning outcomes to achieve your goals.
Our Philosophy
Our goal is to make wine education fun while connecting to the rich cultures behind every bottle and building bridges between makers, regions, and wine lovers everywhere. We believe every bottle holds a one-of-a-kind tale.
Our motto is learn and sip together. We're all about bringing folks together, creating an unforgettable learning experience, and fostering a wine-loving community. We're also dedicated to giving back to our wine community through mentoring and scholarships, spreading the happiness of wine far and wide. After all, wine is more than just a drink; it's a passport to new adventures and endless joy.
Check out all of our upcoming public classes on our events page
Offerings
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We provide staff trainings tailored to your concept. We offer wine education, beverage-focused hospitality education, and consultation services. Whether it’s a new opening or an existing concept, we’ll work with you to get your staff armed with confidence.
Wine 101
Service 101
Honing your wine vocabulary
New World vs Old World
Regionally-specific training
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We work with groups of any size to create fun and didactic experiences through wine. Perfect as a team-building activity or entertaining special clients.
Sommelier Bootcamp
Taste Like A Pro
Wine Detective
Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles!
Aroma Workshop
These are just a few examples. Let’s chat about your event and how to make it shine! Contact us here.
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Would you like to host a class at your home or add an extra layer to a special event? We love creating custom educational experiences based on your needs.
Sommelier Bootcamp
How To Taste Like A Pro
Cellar consultations
Educational Aperitivos
These are just a few examples. Let’s chat about your next private event and how to delight your guests with a wine class. Contact us here
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A certification course through VinItaly International Academy, led by Italian Wine Ambassador and Educator, Scott Thomas.
This multi-week certification course introduces the wealth of native Italian grape varieties essential to comprehending Italy’s fascinating wines. We focus on regional appellations, autochthonous grapes, and a deep exploration of Italian wine and food culture.
This course provides career-changing knowledge through weeks of structured tasting sessions while covering theory on over 100 native grapes in all 20 regions of Italy.
Dates: Next Session: Fall 2024.
Learn More Here
AROMA WORKSHOP
This is our most impactful experience. A journey through the nose, an experiential walk-around training, learning to identify over 50 key aromas in wine, where they derive from, and how climate/grape/winemaking contributes to those aromas. We “blind-smell” singular components to expand one's "taste memory" and hone in on specific wine descriptions. Great for team building too.
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Can be scaled for up to 100+ people
Includes a 1.5-2hr workshop, all the aromas, training material, and digital/paper handouts.
The client provides sufficient space, wines for tasting, and glassware
Prices subject to change until an official estimate is given.
Food & Wine
Pairing Workshop
In this interactive workshop we explore the complex relationship between food and wine through a dynamic food and wine tasting. Breaking down the components that build flavors and textures and create harmonious (or disastrous) pairings. This is an ideal class for those seeking to deepen their understanding of the pairing process to create memorable dining experiences.
Wine Study Trips
Our study trips focus on the cultural, historical and geographical connection of the wine and food of each region we visit.
Wine Study Trips
Education through travel. There’s no better way to learn than to feel a place, to see the landscape, and to connect with the local community.
We call this tangible travel. Diverging from the books and placing our feet on the soil that we’ve been reading about for years.
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JUNE 2-8, 2024
JOIN US FOR A CULTURAL IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE IN THE HEART OF CHIANTI CLASSICO, TUSCANY.
We'll explore cultures and traditions through the lens of food and wine, cooking the foods of the region while tasting wines and learning the geography, history, and movement of people and ingredients that made Italian food what we know today.
This is a 5-day 6-night immersive experience at a villa surrounded by vineyards and wild boar. A place where we lived for 4 months in 2020 while Scott learned first-hand the entire winemaking process, from harvesting to bottleting.
Why travel with Grappolo Wine School?
Paula and Scott Thomas spent more than two years living in Italy with time divided between Piedmont and Tuscany. This time allowed for a deep understanding of Italy’s many beautiful regions, all of which are rich with regional and cultural identity. By traveling with us, you gain unique access to places that would otherwise be inaccessible. Over the years of visiting, we’ve forged strong relationships with producers, farmers, and business owners who share their stories of place better than anyone else.
Meet The Team
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Food anthropologist, cook, writer
After more than a decade working as a pastry chef, I moved to explore the history of food, the people who grow and produce it, and how we steward the land, to connect it all with the food on our plate.
This journey took me to the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy, where I earned a Master's degree in World Food Cultures and Mobility, while working at the Slow Food International HQ connecting with leaders across the world.
I've had the fortune to work with communities at the local and global level, promoting community-based programs that support food sovereignty and environmental justice. I’ve visited farms in Mexico, Colombia, Greece, The Philippines, and many European countries, to understand diverse methods of food production and the connection between our food and the environment.
In 2022, I earned a scholarship to MAD Academy for an intensive training in Environment & Sustainability with some of the most forward-thinking restaurateurs in the world. And later joined the James Beard Foundation's Legacy Network 2022 cohort.
I’m a food preservation geek - slowly mastering fermentation after a week-long residency with the one and only Sandor Katz, and a biodiversity junky.
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Master's degree: World Food Cultures & Mobility - University of Gastronomic Sciences
MAD Academy Alumna Environment & Sustainability program
James Beard Foundation Legacy Network Advisor 2022-2023
Food Anthropologist
Certified Chef by ACF
Certified Pastry Chef by ACF
Food Writer
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Wine culturist, wine educator, and sommelier
From restaurants to sales to the vineyard to the classroom…I've spent my adult life working and studying wine.
I speak Italian, mind you poorly, thanks to two years in Northern and Central Italy while earning a master’s degree and being fully immersed in the culture. The goal while there was to travel as much as possible, meet as many producers as possible, and soak in all the traditions and history of Europe. This transformed my understanding of wine and sparked a newfound passion for sharing what I've learned.
Today, I'm a Denver-based wine educator and consultant. I’ve held teaching engagements at MSU Denver's School of Hospitality and taught several master's courses at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, plus led dozens of large-scale seminars at the Keystone Wine and Jazz Festival, Crested Butte Wine and Food Festival, and Steamboat Food and Wine.
Some fun facts:
I’ve worked in Panzano in Chianti, harvesting Sangiovese and working side by side with i Chiantigiani while learning the complete winemaking process. These are my forever friends.
I once hit a golf ball across the Douro River, deemed “the river hero,” by Gillyane Robinson of Taylor’s port.
Paula, my wife and business partner, inspires me every single day. I want to be like her when I grow up.
In a bustling dining room, I dowsed an unassuming restaurant guest, literally firehose style, from head to toe with champagne as it rocketed out of my hands….a PSA folks- the pressure is real.
I’m in the kitchen daily studying the interaction between foods and wine…my favorite pairing is still potato chips and bubbles.
All of this to say I take wine seriously, but I strongly believe wine education should be approachable, unpretentious, and above all, experiential. I bring fun to the subject knowing that wine can be complex, but wine education doesn't need to be. I'm a staunch advocate for exploring regions and grape varieties that are rarely spoken about encouraging discovery and continued biodiversity. This is why I’m most proud to be an official Italian Wine Ambassador and one of only 12 US-based VIA educators teaching the Italian Wine Maestro curriculum.
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Master's degree: Wine Culture and Communication - University of Gastronomic Sciences
Certified Wine Educator + Certified Specialist of Wine
Vinitaly International Academy Certified Maestro Educator
Italian Wine Ambassador - *recipient of the Franco Ziliani Award for the highest marks in 2023
Official Orvieto Ambassador
Certified Sommelier
WSET III
We strive to honor the people and land from where our food and wine come from, cherishing the cultural nuisances that make it worth sharing and preserving. To the farmers, growers, and producers who bring us the goods to build hospitality. we aim to be a force of change within the food and wine industries through education.
We Build Community
We are committed to building community, supporting a responsible food system, and giving back.
In 2023, we offered three full scholarships to Colorado women for our Italian Wine Maestro course certification, as part of a partnership with Women’s Wine Guild.
We supported Slow Food Denver by donating a Sommelier Bootcamp class. As well as, Denver Urban Gardens by donating two auction items, a pasta-making class and a wine dinner.
We ensured the food we sourced for any of our classes and events followed responsible production practices, following the seasons when purchasing local ingredients from farmers we know. For imported food, we followed Fair Trade, non-GMO, organic practices.
