Wine, minus the snobbery

I love wine, and I think most of the rules around it get in the way of actually enjoying it. You don’t need to memorize regions or swirl your glass a particular way to know what you like. You mostly need someone to walk you through it without making you feel small.

That’s what I do. I hold the WSET Level 4 Diploma, one of the most advanced wine qualifications out there, but in a class I sound more like a friend who knows a lot than a lecturer. Honest, curious, and easy to follow.

Solo Sips with Tommy Hensel

Solo Sips is my YouTube channel, where I open a bottle and talk through what’s in the glass without the jargon. There are quick Tipsy Tidbits when you want one useful thing fast, and longer pours when you want to settle in. If you’ve ever felt clueless about wine and wished you felt like a connoisseur, start here.

Wine Classes

Two Bottles, One Grape: Why the Same Wine Tastes So Different

Same grape, two bottles, one hour on Zoom. You buy your own wine ahead of time from a shopping list I send you, and we taste side by side from wherever you are. No wine knowledge required. No special equipment. Cameras optional.

August 2026: Chardonnay. We put a Mâcon-Villages from southern Burgundy next to a California Chardonnay. Same grape, eight degrees of latitude apart, and one very different decision about oak. Everyone left able to predict a Chardonnay’s style from the label before buying it.

Next up: Sauvignon Blanc, October. Sancerre from the Loire against a New Zealand Marlborough. Two glasses that smell like they came from different plants (or planets, depending on your point of view). Date coming soon.

Add your email below and you’ll hear about it first.

Good wine is one more way to savor your own company. That’s the whole idea here.

Epicuriously yours,
Tommy