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Oct
2020

DipWSET Theory: New Zealand Overview

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

We’re starting our tour of New Zealand with this FUN FACT: New Zealand is both the most isolated and smallest (by volume) wine producing country in our world. It is 1,000 miles away from its nearest neighbor, Australia, and produces just 1% of the world’s wine.

Remote and low-volume it may be, but its impact and place in our industry is certainly one to be examined.

New Zealand Overview; Fernando Beteta
New Zealand Overview; Fernando Beteta

On a personal note, I choose to travel next to New Zealand in order to decipher a distinction in the wines produced—as compared to the grown varieties’ Old World origins and to its New World neighbors (specifically the U.S., Australia, and South Africa).

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Oct
2020

DipWSET Theory: South Africa Cape South Coast Region

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

Our last stop in our tour of South African wine regions takes us to the Cape South Coast Region and its associated districts and wards as well as a quick look at the Klein Karoo Region. If you haven’t read through the South Africa Overview yet, definitely do so before diving in here, as there are a lot of key terms defined that will be integral to your understanding of the specific regions. Also make sure to check out information on South Africa‘s Coastal Region, Breede River Valley and Olifant River Regions as well.

 

“Cooler climates beckon winemakers around the world. It is hardly surprising that Africa’s southern tip, with its cool Antarctic influence has been colonized by the vine.” (The World Atlas of Wine, 8th edition)

Note: For a simplified look at South African wine information, please see Wine Region Overview: South Africa. (More appropriate for those studying for their Level 3 exams.)

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Sep
2020

DipWSET Theory: South Africa: Coastal Region

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

We begin our tour of South Africa in the Coastal Region—the birthplace of the South African wine industry. On April 6, 1652, Dutch-born Jan van Riebeeck, South Africa‘s first European settler wrote, “Today, praise be to God, wine was pressed for the first time from Cape Grapes.” The region continued to be a focal point for European wine drinkers, enthralled as they were with the Muscat-based sweet wines being produced, often preferring the luscious wine—simply called “Constantia”—to Tokaji, Madeira, or even Yquem.

Indeed the drink became the stuff of literature: Charles Dickens tells of “…the support embodied in a glass of Constantia and a home-made biscuit” in Edwin Drood; Jane Austen speaks of Constantia’s “… healing powers on a disappointed heart.”

Though the grapes grown and wine produced are much different than those described by our poets, the Coastal Region is arguably still one of the most popular regions South Africa has to offer. It contains the tourist town, Cape Town—a now shared name with wine district Cape Town District (once Cape Peninsula District)—as well as other well-known districts and wards such as Swartland, Tulbagh, Wellington, and of course Constantia.

 

For a simplified look at South African wine information, please see Wine Region Overview: South Africa. (More appropriate for those studying for their Level 3 exams.)

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Sep
2020

DipWSET Theory: South Africa Overview

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

I’m not going to lie, one of the reasons that I jumped into the Loire Valley (Pays Nantais, Anjou-Saumur, Touraine, Central Vineyards) was because I’ve experienced a recent fascination with Chenin Blanc. I’ve come across a few great expressions from here at home in California. I dare say it is Clarksburg’s heritage grape. (Read Yolo County: Little grape-growing region that could page 1 and page 2). But that love for local got me thinking—where are the actual benchmark regions for Chenin Blanc? Well, the Loire Valley obviously. But I also always hear about it in reference to South Africa. So that is where my studies are taking me next.

South Africa Wine Region Overview; WineFolly.com
South Africa Wine Region Overview; WineFolly.com

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Sep
2020

DipWSET Theory: Tasting Loire Valley, Central Vineyards

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

Last but not least, we end our tour of the Loire Valley in the Central Vineyards—where the region’s overall cool, continental climate is the main contributing factor to the racey acidity in its claim-to-fame grape. If you’ve not yet taken a stop in Pays Nantais, Anjou-Saumur, or Touraine, be sure to read about those as well to learn what makes this region, the home of the famed Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, so special.

Central Vineyards, Loire Valley; Fernando Beteta
Central Vineyards, Loire Valley; Fernando Beteta

Note: For a simplified look at the Loire Valley, please see Loire Valley Regional Round-Up and Wine Review and Pop Quiz(es): Loire Valley. (More appropriate for those studying for their Level 3 exams.)

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