Wine School, Half way through

June 26, 2012

 

So we're half way through our wine school, and I thought it might be a good idea to take stock and assess how it's going. We've just finished an extremely general set of classes on the Old World, trying to cover the numerous delights of the three largest producers of wine in the world in 24 wines.

 

You may think that there's not much point in trying to cover the whole of Europe in such a contracted range and you'd be right, but there's more to it than that. We've discovered how to recognise the things that exist in a glass of wine and whether we like them or not. The point of the Wine School is not to learn about wine so much as to learn about our own personal preference.

Let's take Burgundy for example; this patch of land in eastern France not 15 miles from end to end. In a very general sense, you'll find a style of red wine here that's subtle and delicate with rich game characteristics, and rich creamy whites with melon fruit and buttery tones. The point of tasting these wines is to figure out whether we like wines of this style, because even as wine “professionals” we have preferences. We all love wine, but we don't love all wines. Iain loves the bitter tannin which can be found in north east Italy, but isn't a big fan of Sherry. Ed on the other hand loves sherry and indeed all things fortified, but isn't a fan of New World Riesling. We learned this not only through trying different wines, but by understanding what it was about these wines that we like and dislike.

So have a think about it, what kind of wine do you like? If you're not sure then a wine school is for you.

 

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