Foundation Wine Course

2011

Copyright © Brian Jamieson

Course aims

• To provide an introduction to the pleasures of assessing, understanding and enjoying the wines of the world.

• To broaden your experience and increase confidence when selecting and offering wines.

Introductions

• Name• Wine Circle experience?• Any favourite or memorable wine?

Course outline

Sessions1. Wines & winemaking

2. Old World: France

3. Old World: Iberia, Italy & others

4. The New World

5. Riesling

6. Matching food and wine

Structure of each session

• Some theory and information• DVD clips• Practical tasting

Wines & winemaking: Synopsis

1. Origins

2. What is wine?

3. Factors affecting style and quality

4. How to taste wine

5. League tables of production

6. Winemaking

7. Grape varieties

8. Introduction to single variety wines

Origins

• Mesopotamia 10,000 BC– Chance discovery of fermentation?

• Egypt & Phoenicia 3,000 BC– Phoenicians producing, bottling and trading

wine• Greece 2,000 BC• Italy & Nth Africa 1,000 BC• Iberia & France 500 BC• Roman Empire [inc. England]

Definitions of wine(extracts from EU directives)

• “….fermented juices of freshly gathered grapes made [according to local tradition and bottled in region of origin …]”

but, under pressure from newer member states, EU eroded the above to:

• “….total or partial alcoholic fermentation of fresh grapes….or grape must….”

Winemaking chemistry

Grape juice Yeast

Sugars: Fructose; glucose [Natural or cultured]

Acids: Tartaric and malic

Water: 75%

Ethyl alcohol Carbon dioxide (gas)

Composition of wine

– Water 85%– Ethyl alcohol 12%– Glycerol 1%– Everything else 1 – 1.5%

• Organic acids (Tartaric, Malic, Lactic)• Minerals• Tannins & other pigments

– colouring & ageing properties• Esters, aldehydes & higher alcohols

– aroma & taste

Alcohols

• Ethyl alcoholC2H5OH

• Glycerol

HOCH2CH(OH)CH2OH

Added ingredients

• Most national regulators allow controlled additions of:– Sugar, to increase alcohol levels– Fruit acids, if natural acidity is low– Cultured yeast strains, to improve

fermentation– Sulphur & sulphites, universally used as an

anti-oxidant, preservative– Alcohol, usually grape spirit, to

fortify/strengthen

• Sorting • De-stemming • Crushing• Fermentation• Filtration• Blending• Fining• Maturation• Bottling/labelling

How is quality & variety introduced? In Vineyard Post-harvest

• Grape variety• Geology & soil• Climate• Aspect; slope• Culture (pruning,

training of vines, etc)• Weather at harvest• Time of harvest

(residual sugar levels)

Wine tasting

1. Sight Eyes

2. Aroma Nose

3. Palate(taste) Mouth

Tutored wine tasting

1: Sight - Eyes

• Clarity• Colour

– rim– body; density

• Suggestions of– production method – steel or oak– age– grape variety

1: Sight – Age of wine

2. Aroma - Nose

• Fresh - Proceed• Any mustiness – REJECT

– One bottle in 20 corked– Try the cork first for mustiness

• Aromas?

Aroma exercise: 1

• Lemon– 1

• Raspberry– 13

• Vanilla– 40

Aroma exercise: 2

• Aroma 27– Honey

• Aroma 4– Pineapple

• Aroma 18– Cherry

3. Taste - Mouth

• Tip of tongue – Tingle of bubbles• Front of tongue - Sweetness• Front side of tongue - Saltiness• Back side of tongue - Acidity• Back of tongue - Bitterness

Taste

• Acid/fruit balance• Which fruits or non-fruit flavours

– Fruity– Floral– Vegetal– Mineral

• Length of taste

Tasting “ground rules”

1. Eyes first!

2. Smell

3. Taste

• Colour, clarity, depth, rim, tears/legs

• Fresh or musty? • 500 chemical aromas

– objective & subjective

• Tongue/senses• ‘Length’ a sign of quality• Teetotal tasters!

1. Weighbridge Un-oaked Chardonnay 2009. Peter Lehmann. Eden Valley • South Australia• Since 1979

Look– Light straw: greenish hues?– Density of colour?

Aroma– Fresh; pre-dominantly fruity – melon, peach, papaya

Taste– Light, subtle. Fruity with acidity conferring crispness

and freshness

Drink with?

The BBSRC, and to a lesser extent, the Wellcome Trust, have pasted in basic details from your application and final reports. For ease of reference I attach further copies of the three questionnaires

Some facts and figures

Where is wine produced?

2. El Polilla, Sauvignon Blanc 2010. DO Valle Casablanca• Central Chile• Produced for Wine Society by Emiliana Wines, an

organic producer.

Look– Pale yellow-straw

Aroma– Fresh acidic fruits; gooseberries; nettles; grassy/

vegetal, rather than floral

Taste– Fresh, intense gooseberry fruits. Acid/fruit balance?

The BBSRC, and to a lesser extent, the Wellcome Trust, have pasted in basic details from your application and final reports. For ease of reference I attach further copies of the three questionnaires

League tables (2005)

1. Italy2. France3. Spain4. USA 5. Argentina6. Germany7. Portugal8. South Africa9. Romania10. Australia

• Rankings according to quantity of annual production

• Two thirds of all wine is produced in Europe

• Spain has the largest acreage of vineyards

Consumption

UK Imports by volume

1. Australia

2. France

3. USA (California)

4. Italy

5. Spain

Grape species and varieties

• European Vitis vinifera – Wine making variety– Native to Europe; now universal

• American Vitis labrusca – Native to Nth America; doesn’t make

palatable wine– Rootstocks saved European wine production

in late-19th century Phylloxera epidemic; resistant to the Phylloxera weevil or nematode

Grape varieties

Anatomy of a grape

3. Tahbilk, Marsanne 2008. Nagambie Hills• Central Victoria. Established 1860. ‘Tahbik-tahbik’ – place of many

waterholes• ‘Marsanne, one of the world's rarest grape varieties - a wine with it's

roots in France but its heart in the Nagambie Lakes Region of

Central Victoria’. • Look

– Pale-yellow or straw (will deepen with age)

Aroma– Lemon, peach and tropical fruits with a dry mineral raciness;

also perfumed, floral nose - honeysuckle

Taste– Quite full-bodied, even oily, more complex than 1 & 2; the

flavours of fruits and honeysuckle

Simplified wine making!White Red

Destemming

Toasting barrels

Simplified wine making!White Red

4. Te Tera Pinot Noir 2009. Martinborough• North Island, New Zealand• Selected in 1980 as an area that mimicked the climate

Burgundy.• Hand harvest and careful selection of grape bunches.

Look– Density of colour?

Aroma– Fruity – red berries, cherries.

Taste– Fruity with earthy, mineral hints.– Complex, dense Pinot noir with soft tannins– Burgundian!

5. Leyda Cahuil Vineyard, Pinot Noir, 2007. Leyda Valley, Chile

• Cool region near Pacific Ocean.• Developed in 1990s.

Look– Density of colour?

Aroma– Fruity – red fruits. Some earthy, spicy background?

Taste– Lighter, simpler than 4. – Intense cherry and raspberry fruit flavours that are

complemented with a smooth, velvety finish.

6. Turner’s Crossing, Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. Bendigo• Bendigo, Central Victoria [Loddon River!]• Selected grapes; matured for 18 months in French oak

Look– Density of colour?– Rim?

Aroma– Vanilla from oak casks– Blackcurrants, mulberries, plums, pepper, cloves.

Taste– Full-bodied, huge, rich, fruity with hints of the flavours

of matured red wine:• leather, game, tar, cigar box, chocolate

Today’s wines

ALL SINGLE VARIETY

1. Weighbridge, Un-oaked Chardonnay 2009. Peter Lehmann. Barossa, Sth Australia

2. El Polilla, Sauvignon Blanc 2010. Valle de Casablanca, Chile

3. Tahbilk, Marsanne 2008. Nagambie Lakes, Victoria, Australia

4. Te Tera, Pinot Noir 2009. Martinborough, New Zealand

5. Leyda Cahuil Vineyard, Pinot Noir, 2007. Leyda Valley, Chile

6. Turner’s Crossing, Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

Today’s wines

1. Weighbridge Un-oaked Chardonnay £6.75 WS

2. El Polilla Sauvignon Blanc £5.75 WS

3. Tahbilk Marsanne £9.50 WS

4. Te Tera Pinot Noir, Martinborough £12.50 WS

5. Leyda Cahuil Vineyard Pinot Noir £9.95 WS

6. Turner’s Crossing, Cabernet Sauvignon £15.00 OZ

WS Wine Society OZ Oz Wines M Majestic

Mystery wine

• By aroma only, which of today’s wines is this?

A reminder

• Session II• 30 March 2011• 2.30pm• French wines

Finally…

Thank

you