Don’t forget about Austria! [Note to self]
[Information based on WSET Level 3 material]
Category: Wine
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Wine Region Overview: Greece
[Information based on WSET Level 3 material]
Greece is one of those wine regions that fascinates me, simply because the tradition of winemaking is so old. I’m one of those people that gets joy out of studying wine because it takes me into different cultures and different cultures’ histories. I kind of wish this section was a bit bigger in the WSET text book. But, I guess that gives me more room to dive deeper either on my own time or, dare I say it, in pursuit of my WSET Diploma??
Interestingly, I was listening to a podcast interviewing a winemaker from Greece, and he said that around 2008 or 2009, the Greek wine industry collectively decided to market three key grape growing regions that each have a specific wine grape associated with them. This, they thought, would be easier for consumers to digest, instead of bombarding them with the 200 grape varieties native to the country—not to mention the scattered plantings of international varieties as well.
Wine Region Overview: South Africa
[Information based on WSET Level 3 material]
When we talk about South Africa’s wine regions, we’re mostly talking about the Western Cape. It is here that the overall hot-climate country receives cooling influences from both the Southern Ocean—namely from the cold Benguela Current that comes up from the Antarctic—as well as the Cape Doctors, south-easterly summer winds that can reduce the temperatures of the more inland areas as they funnel through the region’s mountains and hillsides. Those mountains and hillsides also mean that grape growers can plant their vines at different aspects, altitudes, and in varying soil types. As a tactic, many growers will plant their vines on the south-facing portion of the slopes, away from the hemisphere and limiting the intensity of the daily sunlight and/or utilizing some of those mountains and hills as shade.
We should also touch on South African Wine Laws, as they use a bit of a different language than I’m sure many of us are used to. The South African GI system is the Wine of Origin Scheme, or W.O.
The term geographical unit is the phrase used to indicate that grapes from several regions or districts were used in the production of the wine. Again, the most important of these geographical units is the Western Cape. About 90% of all the wine produced in South Africa comes from the Western Cape. The other 10% come from Orange River, located in the Northern Cape—this is an extremely hot region that utilizes irrigation to produce high volume, inexpensive white wines that, for the most part, do not leave the country.
Next level in, after geographical unit, is regions—large areas within the unit that have common geological features. The regions of the Western Cape to know: Coastal Region, Breede River Valley, and South Cape Coast. Regions are then further split into districts. The last, smallest unit is wards.
Wines that are labeled as Estate Wines come from a single estate from which all the grapes are grown and produced (including bottling).
Last note about labeling: South Africa has a voluntary sustainable agricultural scheme called Integrated Production of Wine, or IPW. Certified producers can display that credential as part of their W.O. label.
Alright, let’s take a dive into some of those regions within the Western Cape.
Wine Region Overview: New Zealand
[Information based on WSET Level 3 material]
Australia is such a large wine region, and that’s where my Oceanic-wine-focus tends go go. But let us not forget their close neighbor, New Zealand. As you might expect, being a group of islands between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific ocean, the climate here is overall maritime—the asterisk goes here for Central Otago which, centered around the Southern Alps, actually maintains and continental climate.
Other key piece of info, when determining the difference between the two islands: Remember, NZ is in the Southern Hemisphere, so the South Island climate will be a bit cooler; the North Island climate, a bit warmer.
Thinking about the geography of the two islands, most of the vineyards of the South Island tend to be on the eastern side where the vines are protected from rain-bearing winds from the west by mountain ranges that span pretty much right down the center of the island itself—the Southern Alps. (Quick shout out to Nelson who braves it out over there on the left with its east coast pride.) But, again, this is a maritime climate situation—rainfall is inevitable and can be a concern during the growing process. However, it’s noted that most of the soils tend to be free draining, which is excellent for vine vigor. Of course there will be some vineyards located on flatter lands that can be overly fertile (this will happen closer to the ocean), resulting in a bit more greener, herbaceous notes on the wines (specifically in reference to the most planted grape, Sauvignon Blanc).
But it’s noted that due to this excessive vigor and having to work around wet, rainy conditions, New Zealand growers have become well-versed in the art of trellising and other canopy management techniques and that the Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand initiative has helped set winery standards and assist growers in achieving well-maintained and sustainable vineyards.
Wine Region Overview: Southern Italy
Ok cool kids—or, bambini—this is our last stop on our tour of Italy’s wine regions—Southern Italy. Don’t forget to check out what we learned in Northern and Central Italy as well.
[Information based on WSET Level 3 material]
First thing you have to know is that Southern Italy is hot. If you’ve been there during the summer months, you know what I’m talking about. Luckily, despite many preconceived notions, the wines of the Southern Italian world are not all big, bold reds. Let’s take a look…
Overall, the climate of Southern Italy, is hot and dry in the inland areas, becoming more humid toward the coast. As in, Central Italy, many vineyards are planted along the slopes of the Apennine, in which case the vineyards are cooled by altitude. Those planted in the coastal area of the Puglian Peninsula will receive some moderating sea breezes.
Traditionally, vines were bush-trained low to the ground as a way to utilize the canopy to protect grapes from sunburn. Many old vines still use this viticultural method, however newer vineyard plantings use cordon training and trellising in order to incorporate mechanization in the vineyard.