AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BASICS
of wine tasting via estate-bottled French wines. We break the class into two parts. The first part begins with a general overview of the geography of French wine regions and their principle grape varietals. A particular focus is lent to how wines are classified in France.
The first part
begins with a general overview of the geography of French wine regions and their principle grape varietals. A particular focus is lent to how wines are classified in France. By discussing the French ‘appelation’ system, we help decipher typical French wine labels. This part of the class develops an understanding of key regions and grape types, but also demonstrates the idea that French wines are defined primarily by the location of the vineyard where they’re grown.
The second part
of the class concerns how to taste and appreciate French wines. The aim here is to perceive and appreciate various wine styles and to trace these styles back to the places and people who make the wines. The tasting familiarizes students to the essential building blocks of wine: acidity and sweetness, tannins and alcohol, aromatics and flavors. It’s one thing to taste a wine , and another to manage talking about it! So one key aspect of the second part of the class is providing some common words and language used when tasting wines.