Our Mission
Sartvourez™ blends the word “art” into the French verb for “savor”. Savor means “to taste”, and “to enjoy to the full”. It also means “to be wise and know deeply” because the word shares a common root with the Latin word “sapere”.
With these concepts in mind, we adapt the power of arts education to develop sensory learning and growth. We teach you to taste wine, experience the pleasure of tasting to the fullest, and acquire deep knowledge of your sensory awareness and cognition.
While the foundation of our approach is Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), we weave principles from research in other disciplines, including meditation and mindful eating, inquiry-based learning and tacit knowledge transfer, and creative thinking and positive psychology.
Our mission is to deliver authentic and empowering individual yet communal sensory learning experiences that spark curiosity, ignite creativity, cultivate growth and bring delight.
Jane Chiang
Sartvourez Founder
Hello! I am an American living in France and a former lawyer transformed into an art-lover and wine-specialist by the beauty of Bordeaux.
My lucky metamorphosis occurred through earning a diploma from the prestigious DUAD expert wine tasting program from the Oenology Department of the University of Bordeaux—which also happens to be the birthplace of modern wine-making, including the science of wine-tasting.
Alongside, I received VTS@Work certification from the Hailey Group to teach visual arts in the business world. This mixture of learning at all sensory levels sparked the creative impulse in me to reimagine and apply VTS and other cognitive methods to the wine education and experience setting.
Why I Created Sartvourez
When I moved to Bordeaux, a world famous capital of fine wine, making a career change to wine was an easy decision. What was not so easy was tasting wine, understanding what I was smelling, tasting, perceiving. I couldn’t find the words or describe my experience, and especially not in a group setting.
My experience with traditional wine tasting educational methods
I enrolled in the University of Bordeaux’s highly respected DUAD program to learn as much as I could about wine. The tasting education was robust, and I received hours of practice. Even still, learning to become aware of, understand, and identify what I was smelling and tasting was a real struggle.
I would stumble upon a slight recognition of a smell or taste in a wine. Not knowing what to do, I’d hold onto to it, feel it from different angles, and try to memorize all of the sensations so that I could re-live and understand it the next time it appeared. Because I was able to make some sense of what I perceived, that understanding transformed the wine into a glass of joy and pure delight. I wanted to repeat the experience. But it felt like a haphazard accident that was difficult to replicate with regularity.
A satisfying and rich art education
Around the same time, with the Hailey Group, I refined my skills in facilitating VTS (Visual Thinking Strategies) art discussions for the professional setting. VTS was created by Philip Yenawine, while he was Director of Museum Education at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, in partnership with Abigail Housen, a cognitive psychologist.
VTS revolutionized the learning and enjoyment people experienced at museums. The method is research-driven and designed to nurture the skills of museum visitors and enhance their pleasure from looking at art. VTS is extremely effective at developing self-awareness, curiosity, critical thinking and communication skills when encountering complex and ambiguous materials, like works of art.
From my very first VTS experience, I discovered my individual capacity to recognize, understand, learn and deeply appreciate a sophisticated painting I knew nothing about. On top of that, it was easy to share my thoughts and struggles—unguardedly—and learn from people that I had just met. Everyone else had a similar experience, including people with zero art exposure to professionals who’ve worked in the art world.
A different approach
How was it possible that my learning happened so quickly, deeply, openly and enjoyably with a group of strangers? I knew then that I wanted to bring the same profound learning, appreciation and communion of discovery to wine-tasting.
And so, I started Sartvourez. I adapted VTS to offer an alternative, personalized approach to learning and engaging with our other, non-visual, senses.
Since then, many people, including non-drinkers, have experienced:
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The thrill and wonder of unexpected affirming discoveries
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The magic of getting lost in the fusion experience of savoring art and wine
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Excitement and camaraderie in the warmth and company of others
