Tag: wset

DipWSET Theory: Rhone Valley Overview

After Alsace, the Rhone Valley is probably my next favorite French wine region. The diversity in terrain, climate, and soils, makes for a whole host of grape varieties and wine styles. Much modern winemaking in my home state of California takes its literal and figurative roots from the Rhone, so the history, along with comparative tastings, are of particular interest to me.

Today, we start with an overview of the Rhone Valley. A lot will focus on signature grape varieties of both the Northern and Southern Rhone, as well as some key terms and facts that will help us moving forward. Because my text doesn’t go into the winemaking history of the region, I’m not going to cover that in detail during this series, though I may drop an interesting anecdote here and there if it is relevant to the material being discussed. If interested, The Oxford Companion to Wine (Fourth Edition), does have a good historical synopsis. And if you’re interested in the California-French Rhone connection, I highly recommend American Rhone: How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink by Patrick J. Comiskey.

Drainage basin of Rhône River
Drainage basin of Rhône River

Alright, let’s get started.

(more…)

DipWSET Theory: It’s the Biz—Bordeaux Wine Business

Alright, alright, alright…it is the exciting conclusion to our Bordeaux series, looking at the business side of things. If you haven’t read through the France Overview, Bordeaux Overview, the Left Bank, and Right Bank articles, please do-so, as there are a lot of key terms and facts that will help this section make a bit more sense. Also, check out the Bordeaux tastings, as it puts a lot of that knowledge into palate-perspective.

Berndt Fernow - Self-photographed Bottles of Bordeaux Wine in Shop, Bordeaux, France
Berndt Fernow – Self-photographed
Bottles of Bordeaux Wine in Shop, Bordeaux, France

On y va!

(more…)

DipWSET Theory: Right Bank Bordeaux

Here we go into the Right Bank of Bordeaux and associated appellations. If you’ve not yet read either my France Overview or my Bordeaux Overview, please do so, as there are a lot of key terms and concepts covered there that will help make sense of this post. I’ve also already covered the Left Bank of Bordeaux here.

Included is also a look at the Entre-deux-Mers as well as the sweet wine appellations of BordeauxSauternesBarsac, and other, smaller sweet AOCs.

Right Bank Bordeaux, France; Fernando Beteta
Right Bank Bordeaux, France; Fernando Beteta

(more…)

DipWSET Theory: Bordeaux Overview

Alright cool kids, here we go, diving right into France‘s most popular region—Bordeaux. If you’ve not read my generic France Overview, definitely do. I cover a few key terms that will be important to know going forward.

Here we’re going to cover a lot of information as it pertains to Bordeaux as a whole. Separately, we’ll dive into the Left and Right Banks and take a look at the specific AOCs, crus, wine styles etc.

France Bordeaux Overview; Fernando Beteta
France Bordeaux Overview; Fernando Beteta

(more…)