ECL Virtual Wine-Tasting, December 2020
Please ask any questions, or add any comments!
Start drinking the white. Open the red. When you pour the rosé – don’t touch it!
Compare and contrast the New World (Argentina), the Old World (Europe), and South Africa
Wine styles, grape varieties, flavours, mouthfeel…
Wine 1: Dry white “unprotected” – South Africa
34°S, 19°E
MLF, bâtonnage and oak aging…
Chardonnay around the world: Burgundy, Champagne, Europe, California, Australia, Israel…
Timeline: The Cape of Good Hope, Wijnberg, Klein Constantia 1685, British colonisation, Pinotage, 1990s, recovery?
Wine 2: Rosé (still or sparkling) – Provence or Catalonia
How to taste wine like a pro:
The colour
The nose
The mouthfeel
Tannin
Body – mouthfeel – viscous, velvety, thin, buttery…
Alcohol – often lower in Europe vs New World – the % abv x 3/4 = units per bottle
Acidity – most whites and rosés have about 5 g/l
Sweetness – dry wines have 1-4 grammes of sugar per litre
Flavour characteristics and intensity – primary, secondary, tertiary
The finish – count in seconds
Aix-en-Provence: 43.5°N, 5°E
Wine 3: South America – Dry Red: Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina
Mendoza: 33°S, 69°W
QUIZ!