Before I get into any tastings, I’m sharing my Top Portugal 10—the top 10 ‘quick’ facts I’ve decided are the ‘need to know’ to master this wine producing country. In black are my ‘quick facts,’ as written in my notes. In pink are a few ‘fun facts’ I found in my supplemental reading materials.
What are your favorite Portuguese wine facts? Share with me—either in the comments below or contact me directly. Vamos la!
As some of you know, one of my study methods is to create a quick “Top 10,” an at-a-glance list a few key points from a certain country or region. They’re broad, general facts that will test my memory (or, more like, alert me to the things I still have to memorize). I want to provide my Top Southern Italian 10 for you here, but I’ve included a few anecdotes as well—just a few findings that I found interesting that may help with memorization (or, at the very least, entertain you for a moment).
For basic information about Southern Italy’s wine region based on WSET Level 3, please see Wine Region Overview: Southern Italy
Hello and happy weekend. I’ve got your weekly round up of newsy wine items. Lots of great stuff both in traditional media and inside the blogs. So have a fun scroll-through.
For those of you following along on my WSET Diploma Studies, this past week we hit Italy (DipWSET Theory and Tasting—Central Italy (Part 1) DipWSET Theory and Tasting—Central Italy (Part 2) [Paired with Metalica] DipWSET Theory and Tasting—Umbria ) and will continue with that massive, detailed country into next week.
Until then…cheers!
If you’ve been touring Central Italy with me, then you know we’ve stopped on the West Side and East Side—but what about poor Umbria stuck smack dab in the middle? It is technically on the West Side, as it is on the west side of the Apennine mountain range, but in my mind I keep it separate.
When I think of Umbria I think of white wines made from Grecchetto, and this may be because that was the focus in Level 3. And while there’s not loads of details on this central wine region in our Diploma text, it does go into a bit more detail. So below I’ve compiled a list of key points as well as a little tasting.
Before moving forward, test yourself. How would you describe the climate and terroir of Umbria? What are the key characteristics of the Grecchetto grape and what wine styles are produced from it? What is the key red wine grape? Describe its characteristics and the wine styles produced.
Hello my friends and happy Valentine’s Day weekend—and/or President’s Day weekend for those of you who may be celebrating with a day off. I’ve got loads of news for you below, so much so I had to categorize it between local (California), international, pandemic-related stuff, and a section I like to call ‘just for fun.’ Of course, keep scrolling to get to the Blogs, lots of great independent inside and fun educational posts this week as well.
For those keeping an eye out for my WSET posts, I assure you they’re coming. It’s a fine line between writing about my studies and, well, actually studying. A quick sneak peek to where we’ll be headed next: Italy, Greece, and Portugal. So get your palates ready.
Stay safe and healthy out there and don’t hesitate to connect with me directly, or of course on any of my social channels. Cheers.
