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Nevada City Varietal Classes - Single Session - Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot -05-14-10 x 1
Euro 1 - Menlo Park - Winter 2010 x 1
Nevada City Varietal Classes, 2009 - 2010 x 1
Nevada City Varietal Classes - Single Session - Chardonnay -04-09-10 x 1
The Art & Science of Fine Wine - Piedmont - Oct, 2010 x 1
$200 Gift Certificate
Euro II - San Francisco - Nov 2010 x 1
The Art & Science of Fine Wine - San Francisco - April, 2010 x 1
Europe vs. New World Weekender - October 29, 30 & 31, 2010 x 1
$2,140.00
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Wine Info

“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

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Euro II – Spain, Italy, Rhône Valley, Champagne

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

This three-session seminar is the more light-hearted side of Europe’s classic wine story. Champagne, of course, is synonymous with celebration, and Southern Europe has a completely separate cuisine, lifestyle, and set of values from their colder, more austere cousins in the North. Warmer climate means olive oil instead of butter, vegetables all year long, and hearty, extractive red wines. Spain and Italy have cultivated vines for more than 5,000 years, but residents there tend to think of wine as a staple in their diet; not as an expensive art form. Of course extraordinary examples do exist, but they are islands in a sea of everyday wines intended for the supper table. We’ll separate the sheep from the goats, point out a few bargains, and taste many shining superstars.
Click below to enroll now, space is limited.


Class 1: CHAMPAGNE
Important location on roads from Paris to the Rhine, and Flanders to Switzerland ensured prosperity and many battles (cf: expulsion of Attila in 455 at Chalon-sur-Marne). Cathedral at Rheims was where French kings were crowned since 987. Access via the Marne to the Seine conferred ease of transport. Dom Perignon at the Abbey of Hautvillers began the sparkling wine era at the end of the 1600's, in no small part through his employment of corks and strong English bottles. Until the 1800's only a few thousand bottles were made each year, and half of those would break. Madame (Veuve = widow) Clicquot greatly improved the system of remuage with scientific contributions from Jean-Antoine Chaptal and André François relative to controlling the pressure. Meanwhile German merchants from the Rhineland (Krug, Bollinger, Roederer) came to dominate the marketplace. Champagne today only accounts for 8% of worldwide sparkling wine production. U.S. tax structure makes sparkling wine more expensive than it would otherwise be (70¢ per bottle federal excise tax). Recognizing quality vs. house style. Price of grapes. Utility of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Meunier.

Class 2: RHÔNE VALLEY
Grape Varieties - Syrah, Grenache, Mouvèdre, Cinsault, Counoise, Tannat,Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne, Ugni Blanc, Muscat Blanc, Durif, Carignan. Grapes grown near Vienne in 600 BC. No export market until 1305 when papal court moved to Avignon. Rhône wines had to traverse the Saône River through Burgundy. Burgundians stopped that in 1446. Rhône wines not sold in Paris until the 17th century. Bordeaux brokers used Rhône wines for ‘elevation’ of Claret. River comes out of the Alps at Geneva. Soils are eroded granite with potato-sized round stones (called galets) common in the south. Cold wind, called the Mistral, flows down the river from the Alps. North quite different from south, Two-thirds of Rhône wine production is Côtes-du-Rhône or Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. Red wine makes up 95% of the total Rhône production. Use of guyot system for training vines. Winery hygiene issues. Use of old barrels. Difference between Mediterranean diet and that of northern Europe.

Class 3: SPAIN & ITALY
Hundreds of pockets of indigenous grapes not found anywhere else. When Hannibal arrived in the 3rd Century BC, vines were already growing throughout both peninsulas. Interest in wine quality and export developed around Rome in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. After the fall of Rome wine, bread, and olive oil continued to be the staples of Mediterranean diet, but the market for expensive wine disappeared. It returned, along with the peninsula's reputation as a crossroads for luxury goods in the 13th Century, and for the next 400 years wine was Italy's most profitable cash crop. Consumption was over a gallon per week per person, largely due to the hygienic effect. Moors arrived in 711, but made no attempt to eradicate the vineyards. Wines continued to be exported and taxed with various emirs and caliphs involved in the trade. Sherry became important at the English Court, much as Port had after Britain lost control of Bordeaux to the French in the mid-1400's. Rioja experienced a major step forward in quality in the late 1800's as phylloxera devastated France and many french winemakers came over the Pyrenees to work, bringing their expertise with them. Italy has more land under vines than any country except Spain.Vine-pulling scheme of mid 1990’s. Dominant soil types in Italy are calcareous and volcanic. Denominazione di Origine Controllata vs. DOCG vs. IGT. Significant difference between north and south. Specialty of the Veneto is the recioto technique using half-dried grapes. Many DOC regulations require several years in oak in order to use the name 'riserva' on the label. Styles: low pH, high acid wines can drive tannins forward in youth. Italian districts and varieties. Local foods. 11,000 ft mountains on Spain's eastern coast with a plateau in the middle. Very arid in Spain where 3.5 million acres of vines (50% more than either France or Italy) yield only 925 million gallons (about 380 million cases). Vineyard irrigation was only legalized in Spain in 1996. Rough crushing and pressing of reds in Spain with long aging in large casks. Spanish districts.

Schedule

Spring Semester - Lucie Stern Community Center, Palo Alto
~ $279 per person; $529 per couple.
For the couples price for the May 2010 class in Palo Alto,
enter coupon code EUIImay10PA in the checkout window
Fall Semester - Fort Mason, San Francisco
~ $279 per person; $529 per couple.
For the couples price for the November 2010 class in San Francisco,
enter coupon code EUIInov10SF in the checkout window