5 week Wine Course

Red Nose WineClonmel Business Parkwww.rednosewine.com

Course Details

• €75 per person • 5 weeks starting Thursday October 11th • 7.30-9pm in Shop • At least one night will be offsite ( not

included in price – Food & Wine extra )• Set agenda – but open to change• Cheese night – Nov 1st • Food night – Nov 8th

Course Outline

• What is wine ?• How to Taste & Assess Wine• Wine Serving & Storage • Grapes – 3 White & 3 Red • Wine & Food & Cheese• Wine Regions • Wine Styles• Anything else we think of

It’s a tough job

Wine Philosophy

• Wine should reflect the land where the grapes are grown and also the people who tend the vines and make the wine

• Wine is an organic living entity that changes constantly

• It is not a production line product – Different should be good, not bad

• Try to mix up the type of wines you drink– There is huge diversity out there

Wine Quotes

• “Wine is bottled poetry”.Robert Louis Stevenson

• “The best use of bad wine is to drive away poor relations”. French proverb

• "In water one sees one's own face; But in wine, one beholds the heart of another.“ French proverb

• “Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world” Ernest Hemingway

• “Wine improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it”. Anonymous

Wine

• Alcoholic beverage made from fermented grape juice

• Yeast + Sugar = Alcohol + Carbon Dioxide• Most wines are Light Wines• Except

– Sparkling Champagne, Cava, Prosecco – Fortified Port, Sherry, Madeira– Aromatised Vermouth

Differences

• Colour Red, White & Rosé• Sweetness

– Dry ( <=4g/L RS )– Medium Dry ( <= 12g/L RS )– Medium Sweet ( <=45g/L RS )– Sweet ( > 45g/L RS )

Examples• Bone Dry

– Muscadet, Loire S/Blanc ( Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé ), Chablis, Brut Champagne

• Dry – Most Chardonnay, S/Blanc, Semillon, Loire based Chenin Blanc

• Med Dry– Riesling, Viognier, Gewürztraminer, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Gris

• Med Sweet– Tokay, vendage Tardvive

• Sweet– “Botrytized” wines, Sauternes, Saussignac

Sweetness & Acidity

• All about balance – just like life • Sweeter the wine more acidity

needed• Dry wine acidity not needed

– Already appetising & crisp• Too much acidity = ‘green’ wine ( or

“tart” )• Too little acidity = “flabby” wine ( or

“flat” )

Tasting Wine

• The 5 senses– Smell, Taste, Touch, Sight, Hearing

• Taste– Sweet, Acid, Bitter, Salt, Savoury

• Smell– MUCH more….

The Jelly Bean Test

1. Close your eyes 2. Pinch your nose3. Start eating a jelly bean

• What do you taste

4. Let go of your nose• What happens?

5. The difference?

The Palate

Tasting• Quality

– Cleanliness• Cork taint, Sulphur Dioxide, Oxidised

– Balance• Acidity, sweetness, tannin and alcohol

– Length• Flavours linger long after the wine

• Environment– Avoid Perfume, Smoke – Correct temperature

• ( 10° - 13°(W) OR 15° - 18°(R) )

To spit or not to Spit

• Wine Fact there are no tasting facilities in your throat– You do not need to swallow to taste

wine

• Economic Fact we are in recession – Only spit bad wines– Enjoy the good ones

(sensibly of course)

Wines to taste

• White – Chardonnay – Santa Alicia Reserva Chardonnay 2011, Maipo Valley, Chile

• Brilliant yellow with golden tones• There are intense aromas of banana, papaya, pineapple and

mango combined with elements such as toasted oak, vanilla and butterscotch.

• The palate is concentrated, with mineral and tropical notes.

– Christophe Camu Petit Chablis 2010, Burgundy, France• Light to mid gold• Clean, flinty nose, restrained citrus, melon, hint of gunflint/smoke• Tangy grapefruit and lemon, tart acidity but nice roundness and

richness, smooth, hints of butterscotch and white pepper spice, lovely flinty finish, with more grapefruit, refreshing with good length.

Wines to taste

• Red – Tempranillo – La Granja ‘Pig’ Tempranillo 2009, Cariñena, Spain

• A soft rounded juicy red wine, with rich ripe raspberry flavours. It is nicely balanced with tobacco and coffee.

• A great match for barbeque roasted pork chops, spare ribs, sausages, grilled vegetables and cheeses.

– Lar de Paula Madurado, Rioja, Spain• Single variety Tempranillo from a selected harvest from vines over

20 years old, matured in new oak for four months.• The wine has an intense cherry red colour.• The nose has a great intensity with nuances of ripe black fruit.• On the palate it is meaty, with sweet tannins and notes of fruit

jams

What’s in a Grape ?

• White – Chardonnay – It is a good-yielding variety that is like a sponge easily

influenced. – Buds early in the season and also ripens relatively early – delicate.– The best chardonnays come from cool climates like Burgundy or

California’s Carneros District, but the variety also adapts well to warmer regions like Australia

– Chardonnay ripens easily and produces medium-to-full-bodied wines with rich apple, citrus, and tropical fruit aromas and flavors.

– It can be vinified as a crisp, fruity quaffing wine, the best, most complex chardonnays, as in Burgundy, are fermented in small oak barrels and put through a secondary, malolactic fermentation, which imparts toasty, buttery characteristics to both the wine’s aroma and flavor.

– Chardonnay is best paired with simply prepared seafood and poultry dishes – salmon is great with it.

What’s in a Grape ?

• Red – Tempranillo – Tempranillo is a primary red wine grape for much of Spain, especially

wines from the Ribera del Duero and the Rioja Alta.– short growing season and this early ripening tendency is the source of

the name tempranillo, which translates to "little early one".– Tends to be low in acidity and sugar but high in tannin. – Can age well in ideal growing conditions. – Berry like fruit ( plums ) , vanilla, coconut and sweet wood with

light oaking – More smoky, tasty and tarry with heavier oaking. – Some wines display leather and tobacco characteristics – Also works very well blended ( Garnacha being a good match )– Great match for lamb – pork – herbacious foods – roast chickn