Category: Wine 101


Sep
2020

DipWSET Theory: Tasting Loire Valley, Pays Nantais

categories: Wine, Wine 101, Wine World (D3)

The Loire Valley is going to be a multi-series event. Rather than tackle the whole large thing at once, I’m taking little nibbles, breaking up my studies into four regions and including one associated tastings for each. For a simplified look at the Loire Valley, please see Loire Valley Regional Round-Up and Wine Review and Pop Quiz(es): Loire Valley.

This series will follow the flow of the Loire River, France’s longest river at 629 miles. Today, we begin our travels as we flow upriver from the Atlantic and step off the boat to discover Pays Nantais and its star grape Melon.

Loire Valley Overview; Fernando Beteta
Loire Valley Overview; Fernando Beteta

 

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Sep
2020

It’s the Biz: German Wine Business

categories: Wine, Wine 101, Wine Biz (D2), Wine World (D3)

True confession time: I’m starting my D3 studies ‘early’ because as I’m working through my D2, I’m finding that I need real life references as to how the D2—Wine Business—material works in today’s wine industry. It’s like fate that the below question came at the bottom of a newsletter from the Napa Valley Wine Academy. So, I’ve decided that, in an effort to connect the dots between D2 and D3, I’m going to ask this question of every region I study.

Explain how wine law and regulation influence the style, quality, and price of wines from Germany.

http://germanwinecanada.com/
http://germanwinecanada.com/

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Sep
2020

DipWSET Theory: Tasting Alsace Noble Grapes

categories: Wine, Wine 101, Wine World (D3)

Today I want to talk about Alsatian grapes—not Riesling-related. Riesling is accompanied by three other grapes in the “noble grape” category, namely Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat. These are the grapes that are permitted for Grand Cru wines (there are currently 51 Grand Crus in existence) and regulated wines such as Vendange tardive and Selection de grains nobles.

visit.Alsace
Courtesy visit.Alsace

Let’s start with nobility…

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Sep
2020

DipWSET Theory: Tasting Germany—Not Riesling

categories: Wine, Wine 101, Wine World (D3)

Would that I could have a bottle of every single wine variety. I bet I could learn a whole heap that way (not to mention have a whole heap of fun). But, alas, the money tree seems to be in its dormancy. So the title of this post is a bit mis-leading, as I won’t be physically tasting through these wines, but more putting together what I can gather from my readings about the style and structure typical to these varieties, as it pertains to German winemaking.

Germany Wine Region Overview; Fernando Beteta
Germany Wine Region Overview; Fernando Beteta

Afterwards, I want to take a walk through a few of the other notable wine producing regions of Germany and talk about what non-Riesling grapes thrive best there and why. Sound fun? Totally. Let’s go…

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