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By Ana Santos, Contributor
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Photos by
KJ Rosales |
Imagine a school where you can sip a glass of
wine during class while watching TV shows and movies. If you are one
of Ines Cabarrus’ students taking her Beverage Management and Wine
Appreciation class at the Enderun College of Hotel and Restaurant
Management, you just might find yourself in such a learning
environment.
“The subject I teach covers a wide range of
topics related to wine and all other kinds of beverages. I have to,
for example, discuss the production process like how beer is
fermented and wine is made. It’s almost like chemistry and can get
pretty boring. So I try to make it as fun and as educational as I
can by making it very visual. I had my students watch The Simpsons
and cited Moe as an example of bad bar tending. I teach this way
because I learn best this way,” explains Ines.
At Enderun, where empirical knowledge and
practical application of Culinary Arts theories is key, teaching
methods that will stimulate students’ interest and creativity are
encouraged. Cabarrus herself is a refreshing change from the
traditional image of a sommelier. Young and bubbly, she is a
pleasant contradiction to the perception that learning about wine
has to be done in a stiff, formal environment and appeals only to
older age group.
“I once had the students watch Sideways
because of how the characters in the movie talk about wine. The
movie is a great example of how wine is a passion, a lifestyle,
almost an art for some people. It isn’t just a drink; it is an
essential part of life.” There is an excitement in Cabarrus’
voice as she talks. Clearly, her enthusiasm about wine and her view
about how it should be fun and experiential are telling of Ines’
own passion for it, and are quite infectious. This is the same
vibrant personality and energy that Ines projects in each of her
classes.
There is a saying that being a teacher is equal
parts preparation and theatrics. Ines acknowledges the fact that her
majoring in Theatre Arts from the College of the Holy Cross in
Massachusetts greatly influences her teaching.
“A lot of it is definitely about acting—you
have to keep the students awake. I’m known for jumping from one
end to the classroom to another, for using varying facial
expressions and lots of gestures and trying different teaching
styles,” Ines candidly says, gesturing with her arms.
“My background has also trained me not to be
nervous in front of a crowd, and I guess it helps that I like being
the center of attention,” Cabarrus laughs gamely at herself,
adding, “I try to teach this same confidence to my students. We
are in the hospitality industry and students should be trained to
properly conduct and carry themselves with confidence when they face
guests. I also employ a lot of role-play to make the students feel
comfortable about public speaking. I find that they learn more about
a topic when they have to talk about it in front of others.”
Cabarrus is quick to say that it is not all fun
and games. She will be the first to tell you that teaching something
as subjective as wine appreciation has to take into account one’s
individual tastes and requires a lot of innovation on the part of
the Instructor. “Not everyone is into wine or spirits and some may
even be intimidated by it—that’s okay. I usually conduct the
wine tasting sessions in groups. This way, students can form their
own opinions and discover their own preference. I don’t believe in
forcing or imposing that wine should be this, or wine should be
that. Letting them define their own tastes fosters initiative.”
A sommelier who also has an International
Diploma in Hospitality Management from the William Blue
International Hotel Management School in Sydney, Ines may be citing
her own personal experience when referring to this. The early
knowledge that she acquired to become a sommelier was borne out of
her own inquisitiveness and intense self-study.
Cabarrus’ interest in wine started at the age
of 14 when she traveled to Australia with an uncle who was a wine
aficionado. “Every time we would have dinner, we had wine. I felt
very grown up to be allowed to take my first sip. While in
Australia, we visited vineyards and went to cellars to buy them by
the cases. I found this experience to be really fascinating,” she
recalls.
This fascination grew steadily over the years.
“When I lived in Chicago, which a gastronomic experience in
itself, my friends and I would always try out new restaurants. I was
always, by default, asked to choose or suggest the wine that would
best go with our meal. It turned out that I had a knack for choosing
the wine that would not only taste good, but be of good value.”
Pouring over wine magazines, going to wine shops
and reading up on female sommeliers like Andrea Immer, Joanna Simon
and Natalie McClean who she describes as putting wine in a very
simple language added to her knowledge.
Perhaps more than that, Ines’ affinity and
interest in wine can be traced further back, to a bit of trivia
about her ancestry.
“We are distant descendents of a French
princess named Teresa who was best friends with Josephine. She was
rumored to have introduced Josephine to Napoleon. One of Teresa’s
descendants went into the wine business and had a vineyard in the
Bordeaux area, in Médoc where the wine Château Pontoise Cabarrus
comes from.”
“I just found out about this last year over
dinner and of course, wine with my family. My father suddenly
remembered this fact. And! He even pulled out this bottle that he
had been keeping the basement. It was totally dead of course, but
there it was—Chateau Pontoise Cabarrus. I told him that he could
have told me sooner—after all this time that I was talking about
wine. It was quite funny. My uncle visited the chateau which still
exists,” Cabarrus smiles at the recollection.
Not many people can claim this heritage and
given that not many people grew up with wine (compared to our
European counterparts), one may find it difficult to teach it as a
subject to a predominantly Asian class. But Cabarrus dispels this
notion this by saying that perhaps the only drawback is the Asian
tendency to be allergic to wine and turn red after a few sips.
It helps that in the last couple of years, the
wine market has been booming, with recent surge in the number of
restaurants serving it, many local distributors holding wine tasting
events, and supermarkets carrying more if it. This increased
accessibility to wine has made it more affordable. Different kinds
of wine are also emerging and gaining popularity. Cabarrus
elaborates, “New world wines from Chile, Australia, New Zealand
are more fruit forward. You can taste the fruity flavor of these
wines right away making them easily adaptable to the Filipino
palate. Old world wine like French wine more subtle and complex in
terms of taste.”
In class, Cabarrus further capitalizes on this
by finding ways to make the students get overcome any reservations
that they may have. “I make the wine tasting very interactive. I
don’t tell them what to expect so they are not afraid of coming up
with the wrong answer. The students invent their own tasting notes
(descriptions of the wine according to color, taste, smell). We
compile them as a class and then compare them to the tasting notes
of the experts. Often, the students’ tasting notes are usually
close to that of the experts.”
She shares that some students are able to
accurately pick up or detect the smells of wine just by drawing from
their own experiences.
“While we were tasting Chiraz, one student
said it reminded her of her dad’s shoe closet. What she was really
smelling was the leathery aroma which is distinct to Chiraz. When we
were tasting Chevignon Blanc, another student said that it smelled
like vegetables. And indeed, the composition of Chevignon Blanc
makes it smell very grassy. I had a blind tasting for whisky, vodka
and scotch. The group that guessed everything correctly—even the
brand—were a group of Korean students.”
These discoveries are encouraging to Cabarrus
and what makes teaching incredibly gratifying for her. “I love
sharing information about my passions, my interests and talking to
people. Teaching allows me to do both. I am still surprised at how I
can impact change people’s lives with my teaching, albeit in a
small way.”
Just recently, one of Cabarrus’ former
students confided that what he had learned in class helped him
deepen his relationship with his dad who had always been a wine
lover. His classroom knowledge became conversation starters with his
dad. Bonding experiences soon followed as he and his father started
going out on their own wine tasting activities. At the time that he
had told her this, Ines’ student had just come back from a trip to
the Napa Valley wine region with his whole family.
Wine is quite literally, in her blood. And as
her students chart their own path their way to becoming hoteliers,
sommeliers and gourmet chefs, knowledge and a lifelong appreciation
of wine is what Ines Cabarrus hopes to pass on to them one glass at
a time … or make that one class at a time.
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