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“A great wine education class. I was amazed by the instructor's wealth of knowledge, the great wines to taste and talk about, and the small, intimate class size. A fun way to learn a lot about wine.”

—Will, Ritchie Creek Vineyards

Euro I – Burgundy, Bordeaux, Germany, Alsace

~ $279 per person; $529 per couple.
~ weekly on weeknights at 7:00 pm

A three-session seminar on the Classics. You can’t appreciate what is new until you’ve seen what started the world’s interest in fine wine. We’ll explore the climatic characteristics of these famous regions, plus the topographical features that make one wine worth hundreds of dollars while a nearby neighbor may only have commanded a tenth as much over a period of several hundred years. Equally important, we’ll discuss the history and cultural traditions which define why these wines are not just a composition of grape varieties, but rather are expressions of specific places. Northern Europe is on the margins for successfully keeping vines alive. The vines struggle, and that effort is reflected in the final product.

• See the projected wine list

Click below to enroll now, space is limited.

GrapeVarieties: Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Gruner Veltliner, Muscats, Scheurebe, Sylvaner Germany planting from the Romans and Charlemagne. Blending for consistency in quality. Holy Roman Emperor in Austria. Importance of river transport. German vs. French influence in Alsace. Aromatic properties. Desirability of sugar::acid tension. Undesirability of phenolic aftertaste. Alcohol level often lowered. Acid component for ageability. Cold climate and delicacy of aroma. Rain not a problem at end of season; hail or frost are. Variability of vintages. Winter kill is a concern. Geisenheim clones. Northerly latitudes make southern aspect and some gradient important. Role of water bodies. Role of schist in flavor. Timing of harvest and risk. Available labor pool. Selectivity and triage. German and Austrian Oeschle system. Stainless steel, jacketed fermenters. Cleanliness. Use of specialty yeasts, SO2. Sweet reserve. Filtration. German marketing problems in U.S. Northern European diet based on dairy products, cereals, meat. Utility of these wines to Asian-influenced cuisine on West Coast of America. Botrytis cineriae. Icewine, Canadian regulations vs. Germany.

GrapeVarieties: Chardonnay, Aligote, Pinot Noir, Gamay Jus Noir Celtic winegrowing predating the Roman occupation, then quality improved during the Monastic period. Church had tremendous advantages. Transport difficulty. Development of festivals and social - Trade societies. American rootstocks banned until 1887. Appellation Contrôlée arrived in the 1930's. Importance of negociants prior to 1980s. Burgundy has cold, dry winters with shorter growing season than Bordeaux. Heavy rain in late spring and October. Triage and winemaking techniques are particularly important. Plantings in the Côte D'Or, Côte de Chalonnaise, Côte de Maconnaise, Chablis, and Beaujolais. Burgundian sites are on very old limestone. Concept of terroir exaggerated by inheritance laws. Shift from sélection massale to sélection clonale. Triage can define difference between Premier Cru and village status. Use of wild yeast. Stems, 'bleeding' tanks for color, and various punch-down techniques. Timing of MLF, battonage during sur lie barrel aging. Carbonic maceration for nouveau wines. Vin gris. Beaujolais Nouveau festivals on 20 November. Styles and aging potential. Food for Chardonnay.

GrapeVarieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot Ageability and the secondary auction market. Small berry size, thick skin. Needs for well-drained soil.. Backbone in blends. Bouquet development over time in bottle. Genetic origin of Cab Sauv. Merlot ripens several weeks before CS. Favored in sites with more clay soil. Cab Franc more lifted, perfumey. Does best in the calcareous soils. Semillon once the dominant white grape in Bordeaux - and one of the most frequently planted around the world - but diminished now behind Sauv Blanc. Sauv Blanc provides steely flavor and strong acid component. Wines from Bordeaux were cited in the poems of Ausonius in 310 AD. Britain controlled Bordeaux for 200 years through the marriage of Eleanor of Aquintaine to Henry II. In the 1500's and 1600's Dutch traders built diked pastures. Samuel Pepys wrote about Ch. Haut Brion. Brokers developed on the docks to ‘elevate’ wines, and then sell them abroad. In 1855 these brokers created a hierarchy of 61 major estates to help market the wines. Soil differences throughout Bordeaux. District signatures in the Medoc. Summer rain. Dense planting. Field blends. Extended maceration. Concentrating techniques. New wood and chateau barriques. Fining. Assemblage and the growth of second labels. Quality levels and winery size. Comparing vintages.

Schedule

Winter Semester - Burgess Park Recreation Center, Menlo Park
~ $279 per person; $529 per couple.

For the couples price for the November 2010 class in Menlo Park,
enter coupon code EUInov10MP in the checkout window

• Session 1: GERMANY, ALSACE, AUSTRIA - Nov 30, 2010
• Session 2: BURGUNDY - Dec 7, 2010
• Session 3: BORDEAUX - Dec 14, 2010

Enroll Now »