Wine Fundamentals 1 Class 3

Pinot Noir ............................... Cabernet Sauvignon


Food and Wine

This topic has had a lot of press lately and there seems to be a great deal of conflicting information and attitudes out there. The basic principle of food and wine matching is very simple—if it works for you, it’s good.
Both wine and food are things which bring us pleasure, and there’s no point in developing anxieties over serving just the right this or that with just the right that or this. We live in an increasingly cosmopolitan world, and so it’s worthwhile looking at the old guard before we toss it out.
The most classical,they are actually known as “classical matches”,form of wine and food matching is to marry the wines of a region with the foods of a region, based on the argument that the two evolved together. They have a sort of community relationship. Some examples are the Riesling of Alsace with choucroute garni; Barolo with truffles and game; Muscadet with oysters; red Bordeaux with lamb.
What we soon observe when looking at classical matches is that most of them observe some very basic principles that can be applied to other wine and food matches. There are a few worthwhile rules of thumb to observe to avoid truly disastrous meals and getting at those rules is quite simple—we only have to go back to the basic components of wine and observe how they interact with the various components of food.

Weight, Intensity

The central consideration for the food and particularly to sauces and cooking styles: we match weight to weight—light to light, heavy to heavy. Wine should not be heavier. Primary issue here is balance. Full bodied wine matched with full bodied food. Intensity can act as a counterbalance to weight particularly evident with rich, fat laden foods matched with light-bodied, but intensely flavoured wine in this case we are looking for contrast.

Acid, Salt, Sweet, Bitter, Tannin, Umami

Acid

Some regard acidity as the most important consideration after weight, and sometimes before weight.
It functions, in both wine and food, as a counterbalance to sweetness, and to fat where both sweetness and fat coat and tire the palate, acid refreshes and cleans. It is therefore an essential component in wines matched to rich dishes such as those based on butter or cream, oily foods such as deep-fried goodies, oily fish and buttery shellfish, and also cuts through high salt foods such as oysters.
Acidity can function as well as a mirroring taste for relatively high acid foods such as tomato-based dishes, and dishes with lemon and capers. Acidity in food often clashes with tannins in red wines.

Saltiness

For particularly salty dishes, typically look to a mix of sweetness and acid. Salty old cheeses usually require sweet wine match. It will also accentuate the effect of alcohol. Acidity cuts saltiness (you lick the salt before you bite the lemon when doing tequila shots).

Sweetness

Perception of sweetness is governed by two factors. The level of residual sugar, and the level of balancing acidity. Sweetness can be matched with mildly spicy food because sweetness can mask spiciness. Sweetness can offer matching flavours for moderately sweet dishes.
Sweetness is a fine foil for salt: as in old cheeses; and also as in dishes based on soy. In food, sweetness needs to be matched with a wine at least as sweet or the wine may taste thin and acid. Weight is still important, but sweetness level even moreso.
Tannin and sweetness rarely successfully match (red wines end up tasting drier).

Tannin and Bitter

Typically bitter wines can be matched with like flavours especially grilled or charred foods how ever this can also cause too much bitterness and is a tricky one. Particularly tannic wine typically require meats of dense texture. Chewiness and protein moderates tannin. Tannic wines are diminished with rare meats due to the iron in blood. The fat of meat also coats the mouth and softens tannic impressions.

Umami

The so-called fifth taste is associated with mouthfeel and the effects especially of glutamates in the mouth, msg especially and salt. The concept is ancient and Japanese and has been variously translated, the current standard seems to be deliciousness. Ask yourself: given all of the other components of a wine, is it also delicious? Does it have a moreish quality; do you say, yummy, that tastes good I'd like another sip?

Language Development

Intensity (Aroma)

This is a word which tends to present difficulties early on, and it probably should. The reason it probably should is simple it is a relative term, and to use it effectively, you have to be able to relate it to a decent number of wines. The useful relative terms are as follows. Not aromatic; moderately aromatic; highly aromatic. This seems rather boring, but there are other ways to speak of these. For a wine which is not aromatic which presents very little aroma at the time of
primary olfaction, we occasionally call the wine shy, or sometimes dumb. We borrow this language from the human personality and by doing so we want to explain that the wine is not expressive, not forthcoming, or is introverted.
Moderately aromatic wines occupy the great middle ground neither introverted nor extroverted, they are wines which do not call attention to themselves, but do have something to say, and say it at a normal conversational volume. These wines may be subtle, balanced, seductive. Highly aromatic wines are extroverts, and they have a tendency to shout, wear tuxedo tshirts etc. Very often, their intense aromas are their most interesting trait and the language we use often borrows from the extroverted character type are words like aggressive, showy, forthright, forward, exuberant.

Pinot Noir

Some believe this to be a very ancient grape variety native to France. For some, it is the greatest of all grapes, capable of providing the most ethereal, spiritual, intense pleasure. At the same time, the most ardent lover will admit that Pinot Noir is also often the worst of wines, source of nothing but disappointment. Yet they keep drinking it, looking for that one bottle in a thousand which is truly sublime. Others simply give up on it, acknowledging that it isn’t really worth the trouble though most of them move on to grapes with similar tendencies like Italy’s Nebbiolo, with which Pinot is sometimes compared, though not for flavour for uniqueness.
It is also a tough grape to grow, fickle, false, unstable, changeable, unfaithful the same words can be applied to the grape once it hits the bottle.
Because of its tendency to betray both its grower and its drinker, it is sometimes known as the heartbreak grape or the gypsy grape.

In the Vineyard

Features

Compact bunches with occasional variation in skin thickness and berry size.
Buds early and ripens early.
Vines do not live long—50 years is very old for Pinot.
Variety is unstable and prone to genetic mutation there are many clones, for example many different clones of Pinot producing wines with different characteristics.

Susceptibility

Rot is a significant problem—especially in the fall after rain. Early budding makes it vulnerable to spring frosts. Vines are relatively short-lived.

Soils and Climate

Prefers well-drained, deep soils, especially with limestone subsoils. Likes the chalky, calcium rich soils of champagne. Prefers cooler, marginal, temperate sites. In warm climates, it tends to flatness and cooked flavours, losing its essential aromas.

In the Winery

Vinification and Ageing

Chaptalization common in Burgundy. Sometimes new oak is used for maturation, but tradition suggests that this can overwhelm what is an essentially delicate wine older oak may be best.
New world tends to longer macerations to extract colour and tannin. Variety is typically low to mid tannin and medium to low acid with usually pale ruby colour.

Aromas and Taste

Fruit: strawberry, strawberry jam, black cherry, plum, raspberry.
Earthy: leather, game, mushrooms, beetroot, barnyard.
Floral: violets.
Low-medium tannin, medium acidity, medium body.

Noted Regions

Spiritual home is central France in Champagne and Burgundy for still wines, it is Burgundy foremost, especially the villages of the Cotes de Nuits.

Other regions are Russian River Valley and Carneros in California, as well as the Santa Lucia Highlands. Willamette Valley of Oregon. New Zealand especially the Nelson region and Central Otago. Parts of Australia the Yarra Valley and Tasmania.


Cabernet Sauvignon

Along with Merlot, the most important of the international varieties it is planted everywhere although it does best in moderate to warm climates cooler climates often don’t have enough heat for ripening and often result in harder green flavours.

In the Vineyard

Features

Thick skins and loose bunches—buds late and ripens late.
Small, blue-black berries with very large pips and small amount of pulp.
Wood tends to be tough.

Susceptibility

Powdery mildew (oidium) a problem in some climates and rot in wet, cool autumns.
Vine, though is generally hardy and adaptable.

Soils and Climate

Quite adaptable, but generally needs a warm soil because of late ripening.
Bordeaux—deep, gravely soil.
Coonawarra—limestone subsoil with red loam on top. Also does well in rich alluvial soil of the Napa Valley.

In the Winery

Vinification and Ageing

Natural affinity for new oak (vanilla and spice).
Durable and can stand high temperature fermentation and long-ageing in oak as well as extended maceration after fermentation.
Ages very well especially in Bordeaux.

Aroma and Taste

Fruit: black currant (cassis), black cherry, blackberry.
Earthy: cigar box, tobacco.
Herbal: mint in US, eucalyptus in OZ.
Can have vegetal, bell pepper streak if a little under ripe.
Also tannic, concentrated, full-bodied, deep color.

Noted Regions

Spiritual home Bordeaux, France, especially the left bank districts of the Medoc, Graves and the Haut-Medoc. More specifically, the Haut-Medoc communes of Pauillac, St.-Estephe, St.-Julien and Margaux as well as the commune of Pessac-Leognan in the Graves district a little further south.

Other regions California especially the Napa Valley. Australia especially Coonawarra. Certain parts of Italy and Spain also excel with CS as do Washington State, Argentina, and Chile.

Wine Fundamentals 1 Class 2

Sauvignon Blanc .............................. Chardonnay

How to Read a Label

Learning to read wine labels and to understand what the various items displayed on them mean can be a life-long pursuit, but there are a couple of important things to remember that can reduce confusion.
Even the most seasoned veteran wine buyer would probably be fibbing if s/he said s/he could confidently read every label.
Certain items appear on every label and constitute international standards: Volume, Alcohol level, Address of responsible party and Country of origin.
There are, however, two basic approaches to wine labeling: one is the varietal approach; the other is the geographical approach.
Either one of these may be augmented by the addition of a brand name which, if you like, you can understand as a third approach.
The varietal and the geographical may also be used together and, for various reasons, increasingly are. The essential difference between the two approaches is a philosophical one: to the question, “What most influences the taste of a wine?” the answers will differ.

Geographical Labels

Geographical labels are primarily identified with old world or European wines. Part of the reason for this is that the European Union takes the French approach as its model for wine legislation.
In the wake of the phylloxera devastation and the various forms of fraud and adulteration which were common in the early part of this century, the French government designed a system which would try to guarantee the authenticity of quality French wines.
Authenticity in this case meant that the wine came from a particular place (that is, an appellation), and followed the local traditions of viticulture and winemaking (that is, was controlled).
This would effectively protect both consumers and producers.
Today, the EU recognizes two classes of wine: Table Wine, and Quality Wine Produced in a Specific Region (QWPSR)—in French, the acronym is VQPRD
Though it is a simplification, the French choice to label their quality wine with geographical names flows from their answer to a question as to what most influences the taste of the wine.
The answer to that question has long been that it is terroir that most influences the taste. This belief is held so deeply that for many regions, it is illegal to label a wine with its grape variety and still maintain the quality designation.

Governing Bodies and Label Notation

Most countries which export wine (all of the EU countries) have governing bodies which oversee and regulate their wine industries. Though the name of the governing body itself rarely, if ever, appears on the label, the
governing body is responsible for approving the wine, usually first and
foremost on the geographical origin of wine, but also for issues such as
grape variety, yields, growing techniques and vinification.
It is important to be able to identify the marks of these governing bodies on labels, which are designed to guarantee the wine’s authenticity.
The following lists the marks of some of the governing bodies—all of the initials are acronyms in the native languages stating that the wine’s geographical place name is authentic and that the growing and making of the wine is controlled and regulated.

Some Examples
AOC (sometimes just AC)—appellation d’origine controlée—France
DOC(G)—denominazione di origine controllata (e garantita)—Italy
DO(Ca)—denominación de origem (calificada)—Spain
DOC—denominaçao de origem controlada—Portugal
Qba/Qmp—qualitätswein (bestimmter anbaugebiete) (mit prädikat)—Germany
GI—geographic indication--Australia
AVA—american viticultural area—United States
WO—wine of origin—South Africa

Varietal Labels

A varietally labeled wine is simply one in which the grape variety or varieties are prominent. Though certain European wine-growing regions have used the varietal approach combined with the geographical (Germany and Alsace are examples) for many years, varietally labeled wines are most identified with the New World wines of North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Like the geographical approach to labels, the varietal approach asks the question: What most influences the taste of wine?
It may be, however, that it also asks: What do consumers want?
The answer will likely be different depending on the market, but there is little doubt that new world and British consumers have answered overwhelmingly that they prefer varietally labeled wines.
At the upper end of the market, this is less true, but certainly in less expensive wines, varietal wines are dominant.
Increasingly, however, we are seeing wine labels which feature both grape variety and growing region in equal balance. This is partly due to the influence of the EU which has worked with some new world countries to help them develop geographically based authentication systems with the threat that if they don’t, they will lose access to the European market.
The United States has developed the AVA (American Viticultural Area); Canada has the VQA (Vintner’s Quality Alliance); and Australia is working to establish a system based on what it calls a GI (Geographic Indication)
Brands.
There is a third option to labeling, the brand.
The focus with branded wines will generally be to ensure the consumer a consistency of product. Branded labels are often combined with geographical and varietal terms on the labels. Though it is very often the least expensive wines on the market that are marketed based on brand, some of the world’s most famous wines are, basically, brand names. Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, for example, is a brand name for a wine which is properly described as AOC Pauillac.

Some Things to Think About

In practice today, geography, variety, and brand (or some form on proprietary name, such as “Bin 65” or “Yellow Label”) are often mixed on labels.
Geographical labels are often criticized for making unreasonable demands on consumers and shooting themselves in the foot in the process. Italy, for example, now has over 300 DOC zones.
Who, ask the critics, has time to do a PhD in geography while looking for a bottle of wine to serve with chicken parmagian?
Critics of varietally labeled wines counter that the crutch of varietalism (grape labeling) has led consumers to an ever-shrinking set of varietal wines at the expense of wonderful blended wines and varieties which are a little more difficult to pronounce. There has been, in other words, a flattening out of the market—200 Chardonnays to choose from, but little else.
This, in turn, has led to growers planting vines based solely on the market share their prospective varieties hold, not on the time-honoured principles of terroir.
Chardonnay, for example, will grow anywhere; but it won’t grow wonderfully well
anywhere. For some, the power of a small number of varieties has fuelled the decline of Romance in the world of wine the discovery of an intimacy between grape, place and the mind of a maker which suggests a harmony with the natural world which is deep, profound, resonant, and life-affirming.

Language Development

Colour

As we’ve mentioned, colour tells us much about a wine and is affected by several
factors—grape variety, climate, method of vinification, age.
In the interests of developing some vocabulary related to colour—vocabulary we will work on over the coming weeks I include here a standard colour progression for red and white wines.

Reds

Purple, mauve, lilac, and blue-black colours dominate in young red wines made from heavily pigmented varieties, and most never leave this stage; they are consumed.
Ruby often still dark, but no longer dominated by purple and blue hue; this is
common for young wines from more lightly pigmented varieties for some wines, this is the plateau of good drinkability usually 1-3 years.
Red or Garnet Red an intermediate stage common in fine wine usually 3-5 years.
Red-Brown (brick or tile red) brownish tinge develops at rim; most fine wines at
their peak here usually 5-10 years.
Mahogany a darker tint at the confluence of the red/brown axis most wines do not reach this stage in good health 10-15 years or more.
Amber Brown a very old wine; and an acquired taste.

Whites

Pale Yellow/Green common to cool-climate whites with the greenish reflection not often present in warm-climate wines.
Light Yellow most common for dry white wines.
Yellow/Gold common in young sweet wines and also in 2-4 year old wines which
have been aged in wood.
Gold next stage for sweet wines, and for very fine dry table wines after 4-6 years.
Yellow/Brown may be the peak of a mature sweet wine, but typically indicates
senility in dry whites, oxidation.

Sauvignon Blanc

In the Vineyard

Features

Mid-sized berries in tight bunches
High acid levels
Late budding and early ripening, which makes it ideal for cool climates
Susceptibility
Highly susceptible to Botrytis
Powdery Mildew
Black rot on fertile soils
Soils
Most successful on chalk and flint (silex)
Gravel, loam

Climate

Ideal for cool climate but likes sun
Long growing season for sweet styles (the grape is rarely found as a single variety sweet wine—it is blended, however, with Semillon to produce one of the world’s most famous sweeties, Sauternes).

In the Winery

Vinification and Ageing

Classic style is cool fermentation in inert vessel with no MLF to retain fruit and acidity common in the Loire Valley and New Zealand.
Other classic style is blended and aged in wood for white Bordeaux and some new world wines.
New World experiments with oak and MLF designed to tame the wild aroma of the grape have been marginally successful and given birth to Sauvignon often in the guise of Fume Blanc which tastes much like barrel-fermented Chardonnay.
Generally designed for early drinking, but when blended with Semillon in Sauternes and dry white Bordeaux, the wines age well though not because of the Sauvignon—more like in spite of the Sauvignon.

Aroma and Taste

Fruit: gooseberry, passion fruit, kiwi, lime and lemon zest, grapefruit, green fig.
Vegetal: asparagus, green pepper, cut grass, green beans.
Earthy: wet stone, gunpowder and flint, mineral.
Cat’s pee (this familiar descriptor seems to be going by the wayside in favour of
‘currant flowers’ or ‘black currant bud’), armpit sweat.
High acidity, medium alcohol, dry and sweet styles.

Noted Regions

Spiritual Home eastern Loire Valley in appellations of Sancerre, Pouilly-Fume, Quincy, and Menetou-Salon. Bordeaux—especially Graves, Entre-Deux-Mers, and Sauternes.

Other important areas New Zealand’s South Island Region of Marlborough and other areas of New Zealand. Sonoma and Napa Valley California. Grown in most cool climate countries, Canada, parts of Australia, Chile, Italy, South
Africa.

Chardonnay

In the Vineyard

Features

Large berries, usually with small brown spots.
Early budding and ripening.
High sugar capability.
Neutral grape, which makes it as attractive to a winemaker as a blank canvas is to a painter.

Susceptibility

Generally quite hardy but susceptible to powdery mildew, frost, and uneven fruit set. Acidity drops quickly at ripening, which can make for flabby wines (or require acid adjustments).

Soils and Climate

Highly adaptable to different soils and climates.
Classic expressions are from limestone soils, or other calcium rich soils with good
drainage such as chalky marl—also does well on sandstone.
Poor results in wet soils.
In warm climates, has a tendency to over ripen.

In the Winery

Vinification and Ageing

Anything goes grape but there are two classic styles.
Inert vessels produce neutral, occasionally apple-scented wines with crisp acids and mineral tones. Chablis is the classic expression.
Oak ageing or barrel fermentation with MLF, fatter, buttery, vanilla-scented wines, often with tropical fruit scents White Burgundies from the Cote d’Or are the classic expression; many New World wines are made in a similar style.
Tropical fruit notes common to new world styles often a result of brief skin contact.
Cool climate—chaptalization (sugar added during fermentation to increase alcohol and body); Warm climate—acidification.
Some wines can age well up to 10 years and beyond, but this is personal taste.

Aroma and Taste

Fruit: apple (sometimes baked), pear, lemon, mango, pineapple, peach.
Dairy/Bakery: cream, butter, biscuits, yeast.
Woody: oak, vanilla, toast, smoke.
Caramelized: honey, butterscotch.
Nutty: popcorn, almond, hazelnut in older wines.
Medium to high acidity and the potential for high alcohol.

Noted Regions

Spiritual home Burgundy in central France. More specifically, Chablis, the Cote de Beaune, and the southern areas of Burgundy in the Maconnais (Pouilly-Fuisse).
Most specifically, the villages of Meursault, Chassagne-Montrachet, and Puligny-
Montrachet on the Cote de Beaune in Burgundy. Champagne.

Other important areas California especially Napa and Sonoma, though the grape is grown all over California. Australia especially South Australia. Italy especially the Langhe hills in the north-western region of Piemonte.
Everywhere else on earth, from India to Canada.

Wine Fundamentals 1 Class 1

The History of Wine

Place in Consciousness - Religious and Cultural

From its most ancient origins, wine has been filled with sacramental meaning and has often operated as a form of connection with spiritual realms which are beyond the day-to-day lives of human beings.
It was, too, a form of medicine, charged with healing powers, dulling pain, providing sleep to the insomniac, aiding in the digestion of food. By extension, it was, as well, a form of spiritual medicine, giving comfort, courage, renewal, lifting inhibitions, and was capable of peeling back the veil separating humanity from the sacred a.k.a. getting pissed drunk.
Many cultures, for example, have concepts of ‘sacred drunkenness’ though it is not always wine which is used to reach this state.
In mythological terms, we see it linked often with blood in the Christian Eucharist as the stand-in for the blood of Christ, as the blood of Dionysus in Greek myth, or of Bacchus in Roman myth.
In the medical world, it worked as an antiseptic mixed with water, it made the water drinkable; and the alcohol in it could clean wounds. It has long had the cachet of luxury, largely because from earliest times it was available only to a privileged few. In the near east, grain was the standard crop and ale the beverage of the masses. Later, with the Greeks and the Romans, we see the democratization of wine.

Origins and Movements - Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans

There are many different species of grapes some native to Europe and the Middle East, some to North America, and some to Asia.
What we are interested in, however, is the Euro-Middle Eastern species known as vitis vinifera, simply because the species native to other parts of the world are very rarely cultivated as wine making grapes, though they do have a certain significance to the world of wine.
Vitis vinifera translates as the ‘wine bearing grape’.
There is general agreement among historians about roughly when and where the vine was first cultivated. Current speculation suggests that this first happened in the area known as Transcaucasia in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains of present-day Georgia and Armenia. Carbon dating of petrified seed or pips suggests that this was likely around 7 000-5 000 BCE ???
From there knowledge of winemaking, viticulture, and the appreciation of wine spread along trade routes into the Middle East. The important Tigris and Euphrates rivers have their sources in the Caucasus range. Into Mesopotamia where Sumerian culture was located, to Egypt and other cultures of the Middle East, such as Phoenici.
Phoenicians from the land which is today Lebanon were a people who traded and expanded their empire. They founded Carthage in North Africa, later in Spain and spread their influence all over the Mediterranean basin. They likely were the first to bring the vine to Western Europe the cultivated vine, that is.
Greeks likely first discovered wine through the influence of Middle Eastern cultures, with whom they traded, but Greek culture adopted the vine and wine so much so that along with olive oil it became their primary product for export.
Greeks took the vine to Italy, a place they found conducive to the vine, and to France where they founded a colony at present-day Marseilles.
Though Greek influence is still evident in France, it is much more obvious in southern Italy, where the names of a number of grape varieties pay homage to the Greek inheritance Greco, Grechetto, Aglianico. Roman culture expanded the vine immensely, and the expansion of the Roman Empire brought the vine to some of the famous sites of today to Burgundy, to Bordeaux, to Champagne, Alsace, the Rhine and Mosel in Germany, along the Danube.
Everywhere they went, they planted the vine essential food for the army.

Impact of Disease, Trade, Exploration

Post-Roman Empire, through the Middle Ages, viticulture was kept alive by the Church in Europe, most especially by the Benedictine and Cistercian Orders.
The Benedictine Order was Europe’s most powerful and spread out all over Europe and took viticulture with them. Wine was essential not just for the Mass, but also as a daily food in a time before potable water was widely available
It was also, of course, a saleable product, and contributed revenue to the Orders.
The Monastic Orders of the Middle Ages operated as multinational corporations there were, for example, over 1 000 Benedictine monasteries spread around Europe, and in a pre-industrial age, they generated income through agriculture.
An essential contribution of the Benedictine order was written documents on the techniques of viticulture. Also significant was the Cistercian order (founded by Saint Bernard), an ascetic offshoot of the Benedictines who believed that work, especially agricultural work, was a form of devotion, and who tried to be largely self-sufficient, making their way through their work.
It is important to remember that during the Middle Ages, the Church had much greater influence over European consciousness than it does today and the Monasteries were able to amass large and valuable land holdings through donations from wealthy people fearful of the fate of their eternal souls.
Opening of the New World brought new opportunities for viticulture in late 15th and early 16th centuries and we see the vine arrive in South America with the Spanish, the explorer Cortes is usually given the credit for introducing the grape, and Portuguese and then into North America with the English, French, and Spanish.
If nation states wanted to increase the size of their holdings, develop colonies, increase wealth and power by exploiting resources of new lands, the church went with them. Whatever the motives of the church were to expand the reach of the word, to save pagan souls, increase their own wealth and power they invariably took the vine with them because it was essential to the communion service and essential to the laity as well. The grape they brought known as the Mission grape, and there are still some plantings around.
South African plantings begin in the 17th century as the Dutch plant in the Cape at a way-station for East Indian trade routes. In the late 18th century, the English bring the vine to Australia hoping that country would become England’s vineyard as well as her prison. The most significant event of the 19th century, and perhaps history’s most important event after the initial cultivation, is the arrival of a variety of diseases in the latter part of the century in European vineyards.
It all began with mildew issues,powdery and downy mildews and culminated with the arrival of a vine louse dubbed phylloxera vastatrix, vastatrix translates as ‘ravager’ or ‘destroyer’. The louse most likely arrived in the Mediterranean basin in the 1860s at the mouth of the Rhone River which was probably the most densely concentrated area of vines on earth, Mecca for the louse. Infestation is fatal for the grape vine, because the louse feeds on the roots of the vine and in feeding, injects a poison into the roots, which is taken up by the vine’s internal system.
The louse made its way slowly east, west and north and eventually affected every part of Europe. It is hard to imagine scale of this, but one historian estimates that there may have been as many as 11 billion vines in France alone.
Eventually it was discovered that the louse was native to Eastern North America and that the native species of vines which grew there none of which are vitis vinifera, and none of which make very good quality wine had developed near immunity to the louse. European vines could be grafted onto these American roots and their character would not be fundamentally altered.
But the effect of phylloxera was lasting and in some ways beneficial because in the wake of phylloxera, there was widespread fraud, especially in traditional wine producing countries which experienced a shortage of wine and fake products, such as wine made from imported raisins or weird mixtures of beet juice and sugar were sold with labels suggesting they came from famous growing areas, such as Bordeaux or Burgundy. This led to government action to prevent fraud, and protect the famous names of origin, regulations and processes to guarantee the authenticity and, in some cases, the quality or potential quality of wines from specific places.
Government regulation has its beginnings in France in the 1930s with the creation of the appellation of origin laws: the establishment of the AOC (appellation d’origine controlée—ie. controlled name of origin) would influence the European Union’s approach to agricultural regulation and would echo throughout the world.
Today many products have their authenticity defended by such laws wine, for sure, but also products like cheese, beer, and even certain breeds of livestock which must be raised in particular ways and in particular places.
On a positive/negative note, it changed the constitution of the European vineyard as growers planted varieties with different characteristics mostly high yield (quantities) and good disease resistance and this led to the loss of certain characterful varieties which were difficult to grow.
Estimates vary, but there may be as many as 15 000 different varieties of vitis vinifera, but the wine world is dominated by only a small handful of varieties.

Tasting Theory Mystique

Sometimes people are filled with fear over the prospect of tasting wine or more about the prospect of communicating what it is they are tasting. The way over that fear is to begin to understand that there are techniques of tasting, and that tasting is a craft that is learned, not some in-born trait that some people have and some people don’t. The entire thrust of the ISG’s (International Sommelier Guild) approach to tasting can be summed up in one word: DISCIPLINE.
Tasting technique is developed through practice in two areas.
1. actually putting wine in front of your eyes, under your nose, and in your mouth.
2. and then developing a vocabulary to describe what you see, what you smell, and what you taste.
At the beginning, this may well detract from your enjoyment of wine because it breaks down into seemingly disunified bits and pieces what is ideally a harmonious and complete experience which is usually simply liked or disliked very few of us like to explain why we like something or don’t like something. But looking at things closely from different angles allows us to ask more questions and ultimately may well provide us with expanded horizons or allow us to choose to expand our horizons and take us away from being relatively simple consumers to being intelligent, informed consumers.

The Tasting Sheet

Appearance Clarity

Relatively simple and straight forward is the wine clear? or is it hazy? or cloudy? Wines will typically either be Transparent (you can see through it) or Opaque (you can’t see through it).
Intensity

We also ask how intense the colour is, is it bright or is it dull; is it pale or is it deep

Colour

Seems relatively simple, but people are generally less familiar with colours than they like to admit reds are red and whites are yellow; but we will learn some differences as the course goes on; initially ask yourself about the quality of the colour; is the wine transparent, or is it opaque.

Nose Condition

This asks whether the wine is healthy or faulty. As you encounter more faulty wines, and recognize their characteristic smells, you will develop confidence making this assessment.

Intensity

This simply asks how strong the aromas are. They will be described as High, Moderate, or Low.

Flavour Character

This simply asks what it is that you smell. Usually just 2-4 descriptors are useful though some people use too many and end up being ineffective -being too broad. When we smell a wine, we vacuum up volatile aromatic chemicals which are dissolved in a mucous membrane and interpreted by our brains specifically in the olfactory bulb. Smelling through our nose is sometimes called direct olfaction. Below is a list, not an exhaustive one, of common wine aromas. Please notice that the aromas are arranged in categories a la Russian dolls. Always, when tasting, begin with the most general category before getting more specific.

Fruity Smells:
There is a wide range of fruity smells associated with wine, and many of them we will encounter at some point during the course. For simplicity, we can break down the fruity smells of wine into a set of categories.
Citrus Aromas:
lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange.
Berry Aromas:
These can be broken down into red berries like strawberry, raspberry and red currants and black berries like blackberry and black currants
Tropical Fruit Aromas:
Pineapple, mango, various melons, bananas, lychee.
Tree Fruit:
Cherries, plums, apricot, peach, apple.
Dried Fruit:
Confected fruits like strawberry jam, figs, prunes, raisins, sun dried tomato. Vegetable Smells:
Bell pepper, eucalyptus, grass and straw, mint, asparagus, green beans, olives, tea, tobacco.
Woody Smells:
Cedar, oak, vanilla, coffee, toast.
Caramelized Smells:
Honey, butterscotch, chocolate, molasses, soy sauce.
Earthy Smells:
Musty, muddy, tar, mushrooms of various types, forest floor and humus, manure and various other excremental smells.
Spicy, Herbal, and Nutty Smells:
Hazelnut, almond, coconut, licorice, black pepper, brown spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves.
Floral Smells:
Rose petals, violets, fruit blossoms such as peach and orange.
Dairy/Bakery Smells:
Yeast, bread dough, butter, cheese.
Chemical Smells:
Wet cardboard, sulphur, hydrogen sulphide (rotten egg), rubber.
Wine Flaws:
Oxidation, cooked and stewed smells, mould, cork, vinegar.

Aroma vs Bouquet (ie. Development)

This relatively old distinction can cause a great deal of consternation, but there are easily understood distinctions to be made easy intellectually, but perhaps more difficult practically. As wine matures, it begins to take on different smells the same wine at 2 years of age and at 12 years of age will smell different. The distinction between aroma and bouquet is designed to address this simple fact. What is most useful to remember is that aroma is the smell a wine most typically offers in youth, whereas bouquet is the smell of a mature wine; it is, in other words, a smell associated with the development of the wine over time some tasting sheets will use the word development instead of aroma/bouquet.
Aroma is most importantly linked with the aromatic signatures of the grape variety its the specific characteristics. Throughout this course, we will look at the major aromas associated with individual grape varieties and they will become your anchors for identifying wines in blind tasting situations. Aromas, then, are fruit smells and other common smells associated with a variety.
Later in our education we will come to call these smells primary aromas. The smells associated with bouquet tend toward the earthy, even the subterranean, and are ultimately more complex and elusive than the primary aromas mushrooms, truffles, forest floor, nuts.
In bouquet, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Aroma reaches out for things above the ground it is air, pure Eros.
Bouquet reaches beneath it is earth, sex and death, the smell of the Fall.
Later in our education, we will come to call bouquet by the name tertiary aromas.

Taste (Palate)

Sweetness:
Some wines are sweeter than others, and we will begin to understand sugar levels in wine. The standard degrees of sweetness are as follows:
Dry—Off Dry—Medium Dry—Medium—Medium Sweet—Sweet Acidity: All wine is acidic; what we are interested in doing is developing a sense of the degree of acidity in the wine from low to high. We will develop this by experiencing wines side-by-side with different levels of acidity.
Tannin:
A natural constituent of the skins of grapes and also of wood barrels, all wine contains some tannin, though it is in red wine that we experience it most; it produces a drying sensation on the teeth and gums. What we are interested in is examining the level of tannin in the wine from low to high.
Flavour Character:
Here we are interested in testing and confirming what we experienced when we first smelled the wine. The mouth warms the wine and the aromas travel up into the nasal cavity through the back route. This is sometimes called Retro-olfaction and we have access to this when we breathe out after spitting or swallowing wine. Also ask yourself how intense those flavours are.
Body/Alcohol:
All wine contains alcohol in the range of 5-17% for unfortified wines, higher for fortified wines. Alcohol provides the body of the wine. When we speak of body with respect to wine, we are asking ourselves how thick or thin, full or light the wine is. A good parallel is provided by milk: think of skim milk as light-bodied, whole milk as medium-bodied, and cream as full-bodied
Length:
Here we are interested in the finish of the wine and will ask ourselves how long the flavours last, what we call length or persistence.

Summary Issues

Balance:
This is perhaps the most important issue. Quality wines are marked by a balance of the constituent elements of acid, sweetness, tannin, alcohol, flavour and length. No single element should dominate the profile of the wine.
Quality:
We will begin to examine issues of quality in wines and rate them according to our perceptions from poor to excellent.
Maturity:
We will begin to understand the meaning of maturity and apply it to wines and come to understand the difference between age and maturity. We will ask ourselves whether the constituents of the wine indicate that it may benefit from further cellaring or whether it is currently drinking at its peak.

White Wine Vinification Fundamental Steps

Step 1.
Crushing of White or Black Grapes 
Variables: If black grapes employed, skins and juice must be separated. If coloration of juice is not desired, most commonly white grapes are destemmed at the time of crushing.
Step 2.
Separation of Free-Run Juice 
Variables: This is usually considered the finest quality juice, kept separate from press-wine.
Step 3.
Pressing of Solids 
Variables: Choice of press, use of press wines?
NB: PRESSING OF WHITE WINE IS PRE-FERMENTATION!!!!!
Step 4.
Settling and Clarification of Juice pre-fermentation (clear juice ferments better than very cloudy juice)
Step 5.
Alcoholic Fermentation 
Variables: Yeast culture choice or use of wild yeasts, duration and temperature of fermentation (generally cooler fermentation temperature than for red wine). Choice of fermentation vessel, size and material (i.e., stainless steel, concrete, wooden barrels).
Step 6.
Malolactic Fermentation 
Variables: Malolactic can be included or prevented. Significantly impacts on impression of acidity and flavor enhancement.
Step 7.
Ageing 
Variables: Duration of ageing period, choice of vessel, inert or porous, type of wood, age and qualities of wood, ageing on yeast lees or not.
Step 8.
Fining and Filtering (Clarification) 
Variables: Fining or not (Materials used?), filter or not (Materials/method used?), filter (How many times?)
Step 9.
Bottling/Packaging
Variables: Choice of container, labeling, closures


Red Wine Vinification Fundamental Steps

Step 1.
Crushing of Grapes 
Variables: Separation of grapes from stems (no or full or partial de-stemming)
Step 2.
Addition of Yeast 
Variables: Selection of yeast used, native or cultured  Chaptalization in cool climates for sugar level compensation (addition of cane or beet sugar) in certain years approved by AOC
Step 3.
Alcoholic Fermentation (Juice and skins together) 
Variables: Duration and temperature of fermentation, pumping over or punching down cap – all influence color and flavor extraction from skins. Choice of fermentation vessel, size and material (i.e., stainless steel, concrete, wooden vats)  Carbonic maceration for Gamay grape in Beaujolais – whole berry fermentation in closed vessel increases fruit profile = bubblegum/candy like
Step 4.
Separation of juice and Solids Post-Fermentation
Step 5. Pressing of Solids 
Variables: Choice of style of press, press wine kept separate, may be used or not to some degree in final blend
NB: PRESSING OF RED WINE IS POST-FERMENTATION!!!!!
Step 6. Malolactic Fermentation – Almost Universal in Red Wine Making
Step 7. Ageing Pre-bottling 
Variables: Duration of ageing, choice of vessel, inert or porous, type of wood, age and qualities of wood  Pigeage – punching down the cap – encourage extraction of color & tannins and aeration for deep red wines
Step 8. Bottling 
Variables: Choice of container, labeling, closure.
Use of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) can be employed at ALL above stages, from freshly harvested grapes to newly bottled wine to act as an antiseptic and anti-oxidant.