Alyssa B.
Yelp
My boyfriend and I took a wine class at DCanter recently. We both had a really pleasant experience! The summary of my experience is this: If I wanted to become a true connoiseur of wine, I would definitely look for a class elsewhere, but for the purpose of having an enjoyable evening, this hit the mark for me.
The classes here are very affordable (usually around $35 apiece). Most wine classes in the DMV are $85 + so this was a nice way to learn a little more about wine without breaking the bank. Now for the million dollar question (or maybe the $35 question): is this class as good or informative as an $85 class? Honestly, no. You get what you pay for. But for $35, I feel that I really did get my money's worth. The class was reasonably small (8-10 people) and held in a small room in the back. We were all seated around a large table and given 6 small pours of different mid-priced wines to taste. There were also a few small food pairings (mainly cheeses and cured meats). For $35, I was already pretty happy before the class even began.
The instructor was young and sweet. She lectured from a power point, which I had never seen before at a wine class (it hit me as kind of millenial-ish), but the powerpoint was, nonetheless, informative and well-organized. We learned some interesting information, particularly about sparkling wines. The class lasted about an hour and they gave us an order form with all the wines tasted in class.
Between the powerpoint, the instructor, the attendees, and the price, this class definitely seemed more geared towards the late 20s/early 30s crowd, but that isn't to say that it's not a class that can be enjoyed by all. If you're already super knowledgeable about wine, you probably won't learn much, but if you're just looking to taste a few fairly good wines, learn a few new interesting pairings, and gain some random wine tidbits to impress your friends without dropping a ton of cash, DCanter is the place for you. As I mentioned earlier, this class is more about about having fun and trying new wines than gaining a ton of knowledge. It's sort of like Wines 101: Lite Edition.
The shop itself is nice too. It's small, but they do offer a good selection of wines. The man working in the store portion was nice albeit a tiny bit pretentious, but he kind of deserved to be because he really knew his stuff. As the name implies, DCanter pretty much exclusively sells wine. They have a few beers, but nothing spectacular in that department.