Announcing Wine 201

[Brad Ballinger]

Mary Baker (aka Rebel Rose) created a thread below in the non-Pinned section about starting a Wine 201 series. We already have a continuing Wine 101 series, and there seems to be enough interest in diving into some additional wine-related topics that would deepen eGullet Society members' understanding. Possible topics, mentioned in Mary's thread, include malolactic fermentation, fining and filtering, whole berry v. whole cluster fermentation, and micro-oxygenation. Some Society members also added to the list suggesting yeasts used in fermentation, and establishing ABV (alcohol by volume) levels.

Mary and I would like to use this Pinned thread as a collecting place for other topics Society members would like us to make part of either a new Wine 201 series or our existing Wine 101 series. By the way, topics in development for Wine 101 include "Making Sense of the Wine List" and "Sparkling Wines."

Although the subjects suggested thus far for a Wine 201 series relate to the production of wine, we can consider other industry subjects such as wine importing or consumer subjects such as the considerations of charitably donating or bequeathing wine.

As most of you know, Mary works for Dover Canyon Winery in Paso Robles, California, and has been a valuable resource regarding the wine industry. I had a small stint importing over five years ago, but almost all my experience with wine is from outside the industry - as a consumer, and I was asked to contribute to this forum from that perspective. For some of the topics in the Wine 201 series, however, we will likely draw on experience and expertise from others - both industry professionals as well as some of our knowledgeable Society members.

Thank you for your enthusiastic response to a Wine 201 series. And thank you for your trust in us to be a resource for you as you seek to learn more about wine.

Brad Ballinger

Edited to add: I'm unpinning this topic to see if it gets more play. But anyone can reply or add onto pinned topics as long as the thread is open, which this one was.

Edited November 13, 2005 by Brad Ballinger (log)

[Rebel Rose]

* How about another topic on miscellaneous practices that are permitted elsewhere, but not in the U.S.? Like chaptalization and cepage (cepage is permitted here if a wine is non-vintage), increased use of copper, etc . . .

* Another catchall topic on "what happens in the barrel?" Addressing racking, topping, sur lies aging, oxidation and reduction, the angel's share, etc.

* Would blending be a Wine 201 or Wine 101 topic? ::scratching head:: Why certain varietals are blended together, what characteristics each varietal is expected to contribute, how these wines age compared to 100% varietal wines, how blending trials are conducted, and whether the lots are vinified separately or together.

[mike volker]

Yes

best,

Mike

[jsolomon]

* Would blending be a Wine 201 or Wine 101 topic?  ::scratching head::  Why certain varietals are blended together, what characteristics each varietal is expected to contribute, how these wines age compared to 100% varietal wines, how blending trials are conducted, and whether the lots are vinified separately or together.

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Mary and Brad,

From my experience in education (I am far from an education professional, but parts of all of my jobs include education), and with my experience as a wine consumer, I think that blending should be a part of both (and Wine 301 and 401 if they come up) because there are reasons to blend across vintages, across varietals, to create certain products (e.g. port).

So, perhaps a simple overview in Wine 101 to give us the lay of the wine blending land... common blended products, why blending occurs now and in the past, and very general concepts of what a vintner thinks (along the level of red wine with meat, white wine with fish types of blending concept)

Wine 201 could contain more information...but I'm not so sure on what it should contain right now... Thank you for your work on these, to everyone!

[PCL]

Some keywords keep recurring:

'terroir'

'aspect'

'soil'

etc etc etc

Would this be a 101 topic or a 201 topic? Not being American, I'm not totally au fait with academic topic designations

[Brad Ballinger]

"Aspect"? Enlighten me, please.

[lcdm]

Hi,

I have just returned from a family trip to Calif. and was fortunate enough to visit Unti vineyard. I thought it was very interesting how different vineyards used different methods of growing the vines (how they were pruned and trained). I think it would be interesting to learning about how other regions tend to their vines and also the reasoning for it.

Lisa

[Rebel Rose]

Some essays on viticulture science might be informing. Maybe we should separate them out by calling them '301.'

Working backwards from drinking (101) to winemaking (201) to wine growing (301).

Hmmm. . . . sticky note to myself: ask Dr. Tom Rice, head of soil science at California Polytechnical Institute if he would be a guest here. He drops into our tasting room frequently, and he's very entertaining. I just hand him some paper and felt pens, ask a question or two about terroir, and away he goes. Customers love it. Is anyone interested?

[PCL]

"Aspect"?  Enlighten me, please.

←

Okay, this might be more of a building design term than anything, but 'aspect' can also be called 'orientation', or where the thing is facing in relation to the cardinal points...

Northern hemisphere locations would generally have farms/agriculture/plantings in a southern 'aspect' to catch maximum sun, and vice versa for the southern hemisphere.

[PCL]

a discussion on varietals??

[Andre]

Mary and Brad, this is great stuff.

Looking into the other dimensions of wine may be interesting as well e.g.:

The need to relax in order to enjoy a wine

The many effects of wine on the drinker: relaxing, intoxicating....

Wine and food side effects: wine or food turning sour, bitter, astringent....

Debating wine ageing and the modern wine techniques.

Wine tasting. Are we being mislead and missing the point ?

Wine etiquette - learning from the habits of the past.

Wine and the modern man.

The decreasing wine consumption world wide and what can we wine lovers do about it.

Properly serving wine depending on location and the importance of atmosphere.

There are endless topics from the philosophical prespective.

[KatieLoeb]

Some essays on viticulture science might be informing.  Maybe we should separate them out by calling them '301.' 

Working backwards from drinking (101) to winemaking (201) to wine growing (301). 

Hmmm. . . . sticky note to myself:  ask Dr. Tom Rice, head of soil science at California Polytechnical Institute if he would be a guest here.  He drops into our tasting room frequently, and he's very entertaining.  I just hand him some paper and felt pens, ask a question or two about terroir, and away he goes.  Customers love it.  Is anyone interested?

←

I would be.

I know the folks at Unti Vineyards too. Might be an interesting guest to talk about viticulture. Or I have a couple of Aussie winemakers that might guest if I asked nicely. What do you think?

[GordonCooks]

Some essays on viticulture science might be informing.  Maybe we should separate them out by calling them '301.' 

Working backwards from drinking (101) to winemaking (201) to wine growing (301). 

Hmmm. . . . sticky note to myself:  ask Dr. Tom Rice, head of soil science at California Polytechnical Institute if he would be a guest here.  He drops into our tasting room frequently, and he's very entertaining.  I just hand him some paper and felt pens, ask a question or two about terroir, and away he goes.  Customers love it.  Is anyone interested?

←

I am

[PCL]

I know the folks at Unti Vineyards too.  Might be an interesting guest to talk about viticulture.  Or I have a couple of Aussie winemakers that might guest if I asked nicely.  What do you think?

Hi Katie, which Aussies are you thinking of? Are they working in the US? Or are they part of the bunch that haven't left Australia... yet...

[Jason Perlow]

Botrytiscised and Dessert wines should be part of 201. Sauternes/Sweet Semillons, Icewines, Late Harvests (TbA, etc), Muscats, Ports and other dessert reds (Banyuls, Madiera, etc).

Understanding Champagnes and Sparkling Wine (NM/CM/MA vs RM, Prosecco/Spumante, Cava, domestic M.C. etc) (EDIT: I see you have this planned for 101)

[KatieLoeb]

I know the folks at Unti Vineyards too.  Might be an interesting guest to talk about viticulture.  Or I have a couple of Aussie winemakers that might guest if I asked nicely.  What do you think?

Hi Katie, which Aussies are you thinking of? Are they working in the US? Or are they part of the bunch that haven't left Australia... yet...

←

I'm buddies with Mohammed Ansaar at Fonthill and Wayne Keoghan at Annvers Wines. They're both still there. Both make very delicious wines. Ansaar is a particularly interesting fellow who moved to Oz from Fiji and whose background is in sugar cane farming originally. He bought some acreage and planted grapes and is applying his viticultural knowlege that way now.