Explore the boot of Italy, from top to toe. We'll make stops in Alto-Adige, Lombardia, Marche, Piedmont, Tuscany, and Sicily.
Vince Attard, along with Keri Kunzle will be your hosts for the evening.
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Take all 6 classes for $300 (a $60 discount).
Class #1: Introduction - learn how to taste wine like a professional sommelier, including how to assess quality.
Class #2: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Sauvignon Blanc. From Bordeaux to California.
Class #3: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay from Burgundy, and New World regions such as New Zealand and Oregon.
Class #4: Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gruner Veltliner from Germany, Alsace, Austria, and Australia.
Class #5: Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre and Viognier from the Rhone, Spain, and California (the Rhone Rangers).
Class #6: Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Tempranillo from Tuscany, Piedmont, and Rioja.
See individual class descriptions for more detail.
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This week's course will teach you how to taste wine like a professional. You'll learn how to navigate a restaurant's list and how to choose a wine for dinner. We'll explore how to start a wine collection or build up your existing cellar. We'll also learn how to assess quality in a wine by scientific and not-so-scientific methods.
A brief introduction to how wines are made, the major grape varieties and what makes some wines more age-worthy than others.
Taste 8 wines that will highlight the structural elements of wine, giving you the foundation to taste and evaluate wine like a professional.
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Fixin to Nuits-St. George, the hilltop of Corton to the almost unheard-of AC (Appellation Controlee) of Maranges, the Cote d'Or offers a variety of flavors to appeal to all palates, and prices for all pocketbooks. Discover why Pernand-Vergelesses offers such value, learn about the elegance of Chassagne-Montrachet rouge and the premier crus of Beaune.
Taste and compare Pinots from value villages and prized single vineyards.
The southern explosures of the Cote de Beaune offer Chardonnay in myriad flavors: toasted hazelnuts, steel, minerals, oyster shells, honey, lemon, grapefruit, and even melon and tropical fruits. The Pinots offer earthy raspberries, and fraise de bois, summer pudding, earth, and spice.
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This week's class introduces the grape varieties that Bordeaux is known for, and how these grapes have traveled the world to find new homes, where they are now considered classic.
Tonight's topics include:
- The white grapes of Bordeaux and their flavor and structural characteristics: Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle
- Where do these grapes grow and what styles of wine are made from them?
- The red grapes of Bordeaux: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot
- Old world regions and styles of wines for Bordeaux red and white varieties.
- A look at the terroir of Bordeaux - what makes it so special? Why is it important? How does the terroir of other Classic areas for Bordeaux affect the wines made from them?
Long Live Spanish wine!
Taste wines from and explore some of Spain's less familiar regions. Let's get off the beaten path!
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This week will center on the grapes and wines of Burgundy, and other classic wine regions known for making world-class wines from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Some questions we will explore:
- The terroir of Burgundy - what exactly makes a grand cru so grand? How do these compare to Premier Cru and village level wines?
- How does the terroir of California's Sonoma Coast compare to Burgundy, New Zealand, Oregon, and Tasmania?
- What are some hot new regions for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the New and Old Worlds?
- How are cool climate winemakers challenged by climate with a finicky grape like Pinot Noir?
- How do the communes of Burgundy compare to one another and express themselves through the two main grape varietals?
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Explore the sub-regions of Chile and Argentina with Jorge Perez.
Taste the difference that altitude makes in Argentine Malbec. One small leap over the Andes makes an entirely new set of flavors in Cabernet: explore this grape in both its Chilean and Argentinean guises.
Chile has an incredibly diverse climate and geography, yielding diverse 'terruno' [terroir] that results in wines that hold their own in the global context. From top to toe in Chile, we'll cover some of the best examples, from the Leyda Valley in San Antonio, to the Alto Maipo in the Andes foothills, home of Antiyal and biodynamic superstar Alvaro Espinoza. We'll venture to most southern part of Chile - Malleco. If we went any further, we'd be in Antartical.
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Class #4 concentrates on the aromatic and semi-aromatic white wine varieties including the great whites of Alsace, Germany, Austria, and Australia. Discover what makes these wines so special.
Topics include:
- Terroir for white wine - growing wines on the climatic edge.
- Riesling and Gruner Veltliner - how these grapes, the darlings of sommeliers, express the individual terroir of their regions and vineyard sites.
- Gewurztraminer - from bone dry to lusciously sweet, a variety of style and terroirs from one of the earth's oldest grape varieties.
- The "other" Pinot - Pinot Gris. How it differs from Pinot Grigio and why this variety is becoming a worldwide favorite.
- Muscat - Moscato, Gelber Muskateller, Moscatel, Moschoudi, Muscat of Alexandria - the many guieses of Muscat.
- How do red wines fare in Classic regions known for elegant, unoaked white wines?
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Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and Viognier - some of our favorite grapes!
These wines have a richness and depth that warms and comforts the soul. Viognier's perfume is evocative of warm summer nights and Syrah and Grenache's meaty, spicy, fruity flavors are ones we find ourselves reaching for time and again. Tonight's class concentrates on these wines.
Topics include:
- Why these grapes have become some of Robert Parker's favorites, and how the popularity of them will affect price and availability.
- The terroirs of the northern and southern Rhone - why there is 'The Great Divide' between the climate and grapes grown in each.
- Southern France, including Provence and the Languedoc.
- Garnacha in Spain, and how it is almost an extension of Roussillon, stylistically and theoretically.
- California, Washington, Australia, and Chile - New World territory for Rhone varietals.
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The weather is getting cooler and our thoughts turn to relaxing in front of the fire with a warming glass of cognac, or armagnac. The owner of Nicolas Palazzi wines, and producer of artisanal Cognac, will lead us on a tasting of Cognac and ARmagnac and explain the intricacies of the distillation process that turns wine into spirits, and creates stylistic variety. Discover how wines distilled on their lees give roundness and elegance, while those distilled without are more intense and fiery. Discover also how Cognac can pair with food, and how it acts as a digestif after the meal.
Don't miss this seminar with Nicolas: these are some of the best cognacs you will find.
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Who doesn't love the wines of Spain and Italy? Those who don't perhaps haven't been lucky enough to try great examples yet - it is the only explanation we can come up with anyway.
Tonight is your chance to sample wines from throughout these two countries known as much for the quality and variety of their foods as they are for their wines.
Topics include:
- How have Sangiovese and Nebbiolo stood out amongst Italy's 1000's of native grape varieties?
- The regions of Tuscany - Chianti and its sub-regions, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and Bolgheri.
- Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Toro - different expressions of Tempranillo from Spain's classic regions. How has the grape traveled into Portugal and how the different terroir and blending have created a new expression there.
- Barolo and Barbaresco - compare the King and Queen of Nebbiolo terroir. Why is one considered more masculine and the other more feminine?
- Great vintages of each of the regions are discussed.
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Kick off your holiday season with a seminar on Champagne. Our own Mollie Battenhouse, DWS, will guide us through this special region. While perfect for the holidays and special occasions, they can be for everyday too, and they are also, according to Mollie, the best wines for food and wine pairing. Discover how Champagne spans a range of styles, from bone dry, crisp, and elegant to robust, full-bodied, and toasty. We'll learn how Champagne is made and matured, and we'll explore the ways that the winemaking process and blending contribute to the overall style of Champagne. Taste wines from the big houses as well as individual growers and producers and discuss how they differ in terms of style, flavor, and market presence.
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