Who took John Boyer's class? Most of us remember his class as one of our favorites. He has a Kickstarter campaign to start a Wine Lab in Blacksburg. I figured some people on here might be interested in backing it and learning more. It sounds like a great place to visit when we go back to Blacksburg for games.
Blacksburg Wine Lab is so named because it will be designed to be a place that encourages clients to "experiment" with new wines; the "lab" also has a connotation of a place to learn and discover, a fitting theme for a university town. We plan a wine "salon" of sorts in the historical sense: that as a regular social gathering of eminent people (especially scholars, intellectuals, writers, artists). Blacksburg Wine Lab will be such a setting for people in Blacksburg: a refined environment for professionals and community members to meet, learn, share, and interact over wine. A unique feature of this establishment is its educational mission: not only will it feature wines from lesser-known regions of the world, but it will host regular wine lessons, lectures, special guests, and special events: a true community center with wine as a common denominator.
Click here for the full Kickstarter site.
Comments
With how many textbooks he sells each year(and there is a new, required edition each year), I am surprised he needs a kickstarter to fund this.
I was a little surprised too. But I liked his status on LinkedIn and he immediately started messaging me. I looked at the campaign and there aren't many backers. I decided to go for the $23 pledge and help spread the word. Seems like something that I would like to visit and that would do well in Bburg.
This book is probably niche enough that you couldn't pirate an ebook copy and spend that few hundred somewhere more important. Like Big Al's during happy hour.
This practice drove me nuts as an undergrad... I had a few professors in tech related classes that would take a subset of a larger mainstream textbook and repackage this subset for their class and release a new version every year. Fuck all that. I remember one year of it where the professor was griping to the class about how few of this books has sold, and how unprepared we must all be. One person found the ebook, ~3 days later we all had a copy, i think most that had bought a hard copy, returned it.
College textbooks are a scam. College textbooks with minor modifications, repacked by Tech professors so they get some kickbacks is horse shit. I'd save 200-500 a semester pirating the ebooks.
You need an online access code that is only found with the physical copy of the book. That is how it is required.
He misspelled bourbon
we need a bourbon lab
I experiment with bourbon regularly.
Sounds like a wine snobs paradise, maybe they should be up in hooville? hokies are more about whiskey, bourbon and beer...
Am I gonna drink wine at a tailgate? Probably not. Do I drink wine at all? Definitely yes. I'm sure there are plenty more like me. Plus steak and mimosas are a clutch pairing at my early morning breakfast tailgates.
Judging people's alcohol preferences sounds like something that should be up in hooville...
To add to this his Geography of wine class is a must if you can fit it into your schedule. Judging by how popular the class is, plus fork and cork etc. this could have a lot of success.
Is there a Coursera version?
I'm willing to supply my own wine, and could provide a guest lecture on Italy.
Not sure I know a lot of his videos for the course are on youtube or vimeo. Actually kept the books from the class too.
I encourage everyone to watch the entire thing and the sequel if they haven't already. It's almost up there next to Cowherd's rant in my book
I may start, because of this.
Guilty of drinking copious amounts of local VA wine in Lot 8 in the past...plan to do the same before we beat Georgia Tech next fall. Chilled whites go nicely with scrapple and eggs for noon games!
Can't tell if this is /s or not....
We can beat them at winemaking too.
This. It would make sense as the agricultural school for us to take the lead on this, plus I think we already have at least a minor in Viticulture available through the Horticulture department.
We can build their hospitals and make their wine.
And put tech's own med school grads in there. I think we just eliminated their job market.
I suspect there will always be a place for douchbags.
Your opinion of this would be different if you knew John Boyer. He's about the least pretentious person I've met. He is fascinated by the variations in wine and expresses his fascination through passionate teaching and exploration. I owe my interest in wine to him and his Geography of Wine class.
How dare you, sir, use a beer image in a wine discussion. Have you no couth?
Here you go:
Wow when did this class start?? Please don't tell me it was available back in 99.....
The people who are the most pretentious about wine tend to be the least knowledgeable about the actual wine they're drinking. Wine is complex. You really have to know your shit to be a true wine conniseur. It's a lot easier to parrot what you hear and act with disdain toward anything else. Like the dumbasses who crashed the market for Merlot winemakers because Paul Giamatti's character in Sideways hated it.
If you're pretentious about wine, you're probably a poser.
Wow, generalize much?
what if you're pretentious about people who are pretentious about wine? what are you then?
FYI Bourbon is a type of Whiskey.
And as a Hokie, I much prefer wine over beer and bourbon, so clearly you only speak for yourself.
Scotch, on the other hand is a close no. 2 to wine for me.
Must not downvote opinions.
If you like Scotch, and dislike bourbon, you're drinking the wrong bourbon. I was Scotch lover before becoming a lover of bourbon myself. I still love Scotch, but there are some damn fine bourbons out there as well.
Basically, I love all things whisk(e)y. It ain't just a clever handle.
If you think i'd like certain ones based on that palette, then what would you recommend?
Edit: I like Zinfandel, Cab Sav, and Malbec. Some Pinot Noirs. Basically the heavy hitters.
I know I initially talked bourbon, but if you enjoy the peatiness of Scotch, I highly recommend Whistlepig Rye to start you off. It has a nice earthy finish. I will be honest, I am no bourbon connoisseur. I listen intently whenever bourbon threads come up and I always look to try new things. Whiskey bars are your friend. While still a little pricey, if you can find one that does flights where you can try a bunch of different ones it is cheaper than springing for an entire bottle you aren't sure you will like. There are way too many tasty bourbons out there for a man to limit himself to Scotch though. It took me longer than it should have to realize that. My personal favorite, that just recently became available in VA, is Widow Jane. I still have so many to try myself.
I second APFoW's recommendation of high rye bourbons for scotch lovers.
What kind of scotch do you like? That will tell me a lot more about recommending a bourbon than your wine preferences.
Strong, spicy, a tad sweet, a tad peaty. I think (think!) I like ardberg?
His geography of wine class is a ton of fun and extremely informative. Guy is obviously passionate about it. Hope it works out for him.
I think John Boyer would be a great target for a TKP AMA. It has been 5 years since his Reddit AMA! https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/sys70/ama_professor_john_boyer_ak...
If you think it would be a hit on the site, I'll reach out to him.
You have doubts that it would?
He's not generally known for his sports knowledge prowess
Yeah, because we're strictly sports here.