Ever notice how great wine makers are focused on purity but equally great brewmasters are happy to mess around with crazy ingredients?

I spent Monday morning talking with Patrick McGovern, which is not a bad way to start the week. Pat is the UPenn scholar behind the seminal book on ancient wine entitled (surprise, surprise) Ancient Wine.

We ended up talking mostly about some of the ancient brews he has resurrected, with the help of Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Brewery. Of the four they have remade, his favorite is Chateau Jiahu, which is crazy beer-mead-wine hybrid from nearly 8,000 years ago.

Pat & I are talking about having him come and teach a class at the Philly Beer School or for the Cru Club sometime next year. Keep an eye out!

The Beer School’s resident brewmaster Dean Browne has come up with a whole new series of classes.

A personal favorite is coming up at the end of the month. Old School Beers is all about brewing using wild yeasts. This is kinda wonky, but there isn’t a beer or wine drinker out there who wouldn’t love this class, or these brews. Don’t prove me wrong!

Garret Oliver. The brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery is talking smack about Philly. In a recent Metromix interview, the erstwhile author claims that “when it comes to high-end restaurants, there’s no place [in Philly] on the level of, say, Gramercy Tavern when it comes to both food and beer.” Hmm. Really, Mr. Oliver? Guess you need to spend a little more time out of the tank, so to speak.

On the wine front. The good state of Pennslytucky is awash in some really good and surprisingly cheap Brunnello, in particular from the ’03 vintage. Keep an eye out for Il Poggione, Donatella Colombini Cinelli, and Caparzo… all great wines that are priced well below retail. And by cheap here, we mean under $40 (if that price tag surprises you, it’s time to take the Wines of Italy class)

Finally…. gimme some love! On Wednesday, the third installment of my wine column is coming out in the Daily Beast. Please give it a read, and write in (hopefully nice) comment. This time, I am taking on “big wine” and unveiling some of the dirty secrets they don’t want you to know about. Think your wine comes from an actual winery? Think again….

Keith Wallace is the founder of the Wine School, a contributor to the Wine Lover’s Companion, creator of Philly Uncorked show, and the wine columnist for The Daily Beast.

• Sommelier SmackdownWednesday, October 7th
• Corked & ForkedFriday, November 6thThere are only a few seats left for both of these classes.

Corked & Forked Classroom

• Old School Brews Friday, October 23rd
• Top Winter and Holiday BeersFriday, December 11th

The Philly Beer School

• Focus on Mourvedre Saturday, October 17th
• The Wines of Italy Wednesday, October 21stThere are only a few seats left for both of these classes.

The Wine School of Philadelphia

The Cru Club is our super-secret club for over-the-top winos. These are the upcoming events:

• Focus on MourvedreSaturday, October 17th
• Chef’s Tasting Dinner at L’OcaSunday, October 25th
• The Central Loire ValleyFriday, November 20th
• Ultra Premium
  California Cabernet

  Thursday, December 3rd

• Chef’s Tasting DinnerSunday, December 20th

The Wine School Cru Club

If you dream of jumping into the world of wine, now is the perfect time. A wine certification or even a diploma is the smartest way to launch your palate into the big leagues. Our fearless leader, Keith Wallace, will be personally teaching the winter semester programs.

Over the years, many students have asked us if we ever planned on writing a book, and we always answered the same way: Someday, we’d say. Someday we’ll write something and try to sell it to someone, probably our significant others and our families. Well, someday has finally arrived: Keith and Brian recently accepted an offer by a major national publisher to write a cooking and beverage pairing book called, appropriately, Corked & Forked.

We have 11 months to develop the recipes, find the perfect pairings, and write it all up in an entertaining, easy-to-understand form. After that, it’ll be another year for the publishing house to work its magic and turn our manuscript into the form you’ll find on bookstore shelves. As we work on the book, we’ll be chronicling our successes and failures on a new blog, www.uncorkable.com. Check back regularly to see what we’re up to…and to see if we’ve burned down either of our kitchens. It’ll be a busy next year, but, even more than usual, a really tasty one, too.

You can also check out our Corked & Forked classes. They are the series of cooking and wine pairing classes on which the book is based.

So…Time to Celebrate!

Good news serves a purpose bigger than just the news itself (wrap your mind around that one after three glasses of Champagne!). It also provides a perfect excuse to pop the corks on bottles that you otherwise might not have been able to justify. Here, then, are the wines we’re likely to celebrate with, all of them available right now in PA.

Find them here: The Wine Finder

Guy Larmandier NV Brut Vertus 1er Cru – How can you call it a celebration without Champagne? And this one, a gorgeous, minerally, exuberant premier cru, is not only addictive to drink, but under $50. Which itself is cause for celebration. $49.99. Code: 29631.

Lail Vineyards 2005 “Blueprint” – Lail’s J. Daniel Cuvée is one of the legends of California. The only problem is that it’ll set you back an awfully pretty penny. Which is what makes the “Blueprint” proprietary blend such a treat. A Napa meritage with this kind of pedigree for just $29.99? Now that’s a steal. Code: 11310.

Verget 2006 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru – One of our favorite Chablis producers. One of our favorite 1er crus. One of our favorite vintages in recent memory. Yeah, we’ll take a bottle of that. $49.99. Code: 21714.

Mollydooker 2007 “Two Left Feet” – Yes, it delivers all the oaky, succulent drama you’d expect. And yes, it’s downright gluggable. But there’s more to it than that in ’06: A sense of structure, an underlying freshness. Perfect for celebrating with friends, or just enjoying a quiet glass or three on your own. $24.99. Code: 27280.

Find them here: The Wine Finder

Cool-Weather Whites

Just because autumn is here doesn’t mean that you have to give up on whites. It just means that you’ll have to choose a bit more judiciously. The ones below are a great starting point. And if you look hard enough, you’ll find an entire world of great autumn whites lining wine-shop shelves.

Find them here: The Wine Finder

Foreau NV Vouvray Brut – Too often, even the most ardent wine lovers forget about Vouvray. This is unfortunate, because bottlings like this one offer plenty to love: Good fruit, a real sense of structure, and an unexpected stoniness. For $24.99, that’s a heck of a wine. Code: 29788.

Chateau de Lancyre 2006 Roussanne – The classic white varieties of the Rhone are perfect this time of year, no matter where they’re grown and vinified. This Roussanne, from the south of the country, offers all the spicy floral character you’d hope for, as well as the rich mouthfeel that will pair perfectly with the heartier foods of the season. $17.99. Code: 21732.

Tablas Creek 2007 Cotes de Tablas Blanc – And speaking of great white Rhones, check out this one from what many consider to be the first family of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the Perrins of famous Chateau de Beaucastel. This Paso Robles blend of Viognier, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, and Roussanne is perfect right out of the cellar. Over chill it at your peril. $18.99. Code: 17843.

Muelenhof 2007 Riesling Kabinett Erdener Treppchen – When the weather turns cooler, a gently chilled Kabinett Riesling like this one is more than perfect: It’s restorative. Great fruit, zippy acid, and a flavor profile that bridges the gap between summer and autumn with aplomb. $18.99. Code: 26814

Find them here: The Wine Finder

Brian Freedman is the Director of Consumer Education at the Wine School, a contributing writer for John Mariani’s Virtual Gourmet, and contributing editor for Philadelphia Style Magazine.

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