Scholars participate in five judging workshops, each including 30 wines served blind. These brackets of wine follow a theme based on a single variety/style. Approximately half the wines are from Australia, and the rest are from around the world. The workshops focus on the variety/styles Australian grape growers and winemakers work with. These wines are considered ‘iconic’ in the Old World, such as Shiraz and blends, Cabernet Sauvignon and blends, Pinot Noir, Riesling and Chardonnay.

The aim of the judging workshops is to teach the scholars about quality, asking them to identify the wines worthy of medals in line with those selected by the tutors.

In addition to the judging sessions, scholars attend a range of master classes featuring either an individual variety or style or producer.  These classes feature world-class examples of the feature category. The aim is to place Australian wine in context with the great wines of the world.

The one continuous feature of these forums is great quality, which comes to a crescendo on the final morning when the six red Burgundies of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti are presented blind. Here each scholar has to identify the vintage, and the six Appellation Controlees from which they respectively come.

During the week the scholars undertake a written tasting exercise, completing a mini-dissertation relating to one of the master class feature varieties. They are asked to show detailed knowledge about where the relevant grapes are grown, how they’re grown, how the wine is made and overall quality. This MW/WSET-style exercise is marked by the tutors and the scores are used to establish the overall Tutorial Dux. 

Each evening there are dinners involving tastings and discussions of a curated selection of great wines of the world. Generally, they are wines of extreme rarity and high cost, wines that the scholars would not have an opportunity to buy and taste. They are not necessarily wines of great age, as some of the world’s most expensive wines are from recent vintages and are chosen as benchmarks of the modern era/wine industry.

The scholars’ performances are scored throughout the week, and at the end of the week, a Tutorial Dux is awarded the Basil Sellers Prize, which includes a return Business Class trip to Europe and introductions to many of Europe’s great wine houses.