Wine, Wit, and Wisdom

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Today we have a preview of a session to be presented during SWE’s 42nd Annual Conference, to be held on August 15–17, 2018 in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Our guest author is Hoke Harden, CSS, CSE, who tells us about his  upcoming session entitled The Great Big Wide Wonderful World of Garnacha/Grenache  

So…you think you know Grenache?

You might be surprised. Any variety that can range from the soft perfumed elegance of quaffable fruity delight to the magnificent brooding power of Chateauneuf-du-Pape is a force to be reckoned with.

Grenache vineyards in the Languedoc

Despite being abused, maligned, and over cropped, Grenache has maintained its presence and spread around the world from its humble origins in Spain and Southern France. Grenache is typically seen as a consummate blending variety, and yet it has always managed to catch the affection of dedicated growers and winemakers as a single variety as well. Garnacha/Grenache can make white, gris, rose’, light red, full-bodied red, sweet and rancio sec.

In this session, we will focus on the distinctive areas of Garnacha/Grenache production, their unique terroir, and the styles of wine produced using Grenache. We’ll explore Grenache from its homelands in Spain and France, then journey to some other climes–California? Australia? We’ll go where the Grenache grows. You’ll taste Grenache as table wine, as dessert wine…and even as the legendary and difficult to find Grenache Dry Rancio, one of the ultimate geek wines of the world.

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About the speaker:

An enthusiastic lover of wine and spirits, Hoke Harden left a career in academia to follow his other muse for the last 35 years, trekking around the world to the great producing regions of wine and spirits. Recently referred to as a veritable walking omnibus of wine and spirits knowledge, he has experienced every possible facet of the world of wine and spirits as a retailer, restaurateur, bartender, buyer, wholesaler, supplier, marketer, critic, writer, competition judge and an educator. He is currently with Elixir Vitae Wine & Spirits Consultants, the Taste & Compare Academy of Wine, Spirits, and Food in Portland Oregon.

Hoke holds a CSS and CSE designation from the Society of Wine Educators and is a prolific writer and blogger. In his “free” time, Hoke serves as a Wine & Spirits Instructor at Mt. Hood Community College, a B.N.I.C. Certified Cognac Educator, and Pineau des Charentes Ambassador.

Hoke’s session, The Great Big Wide Wonderful World of Garnacha/Grenache, will be offered on Friday, August 17, 2018 at 1:15 pm as part of the 42^nd Annual Conference of the Society of Wine Educators to be held in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.

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Today we have a preview of a session to be presented during SWE’s 42nd Annual Conference, to be held on August 15–17, 2018 in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. This preview is authored by Sharron McCarthy, CSW.  

Italy is a spirited, thriving, exciting land with an extraordinary history. Invading Phoenicians, Greeks, Cathaginians, as well as native Etruscans and Romans left their imprints as did the Saracens, Visigoths, Normans, Austrians, and Germans who succeeded them.  Many of these civilizations left vines, wines, and anecdotes behind that are still shared at the table today.

We are looking forward to sharing some of Italy’s most beguiling white wines and their tales.  Though the Italians say that white wines set the stage for reds, we will taste some intriguing and incredible whites that are not only historical but are backed by wacky, whimsical, and even wondrous legends that have been passed down generation from generation.

Italian wines are certainly not the easiest to understand, some take their names after grape varieties, others the town or area of production, some as a contraction of grape variety and area and still others have fantasy names of their own.

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Here is just one example: in this session, we will taste a white whose grape variety takes on three different names in three different regions—Vermentino. In Tuscany it goes by the name Vermentino, but in Liguria it is known as Pigato, and folks in Piedmont know it as Favorita. If you’d like to know why this is so, join us to find out!

During this session we’ll discover the following:

• What famous Italian white is named after an animal or another food?
• What wine was a favorite of the Popes (and the people on special occasions)?
• What wine was named for Giulietta’s kisses?
• What wine is referred to as liquid gold?
• What grape is named after a beautiful Princess?
• What grape variety likely takes its name from the fact it reminded people of a newly fermented wine?
• What grape is named after an ancient Roman town?

We all know Prosecco, Italy’s most popular sparkler but do you really know where it originated?  If you love Italy’s spumanti have you tasted a Sparkling Pinot Grigio or even a Sparkling Soave, we will present two tantalizing examples.

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We hope to captivate you with some of Italy’s wacky, whimsical and wondrous white wines from sparkling to still, dry to sweet…to further titillate your taste buds, we will enjoy these wines with a few palate teasers! The session, “Wacky, Whimsical, Wondrous Whites of Italy” will be presented by Sharron McCarthy, CSW on Friday, August 15, 2018 at 4:45 pm as part of the Society of Wine Educator’s 42^nd Annual Conference, to be held in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.

About the speaker: Sharron is a past president of the Society of Wine Educators. Affectionately known as “America’s First Lady of Wine Education,” she has introduced Americans from all walks of life to a finer, more nuanced appreciated for the fruit of the vine. From Fortune 500 companies to hospitality and grad students at America’s premier centers of learning, to staff at wine stores and restaurants, Sharron is in constant demand as one of the wine industry’s most effective speakers. A native of Long Island, Sharron McCarthy’s wine business career began in 1978 at Banfi Vintners – a leading name in imported fine wines. In 1986, she formed her own consulting agency. Her partnership with the Italian Trade Commission is widely credited with helping to propel Italy to its current status as America’s leading source of imported wines. She returned to Banfi Vintners in the mid 1990’s and currently serves as their Vice President of Wine Education.

SB and Auckland, NZ

Today we have a preview of a session to be presented during SWE’s 42nd Annual Conference, to be held on August 15–17, 2018 in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Our guest author is Christine Dalton, CSW, who tells us about her upcoming session entitled Cat Pee By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet: Understanding Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

Pick a wine-world underdog, wine that has found success under seemingly insurmountable odds. Perhaps you think of Ribiera Sacra’s delicate Mencías, made from vineyards that were left for dead during the country’s political turmoil and resurrected, only to be re-planted on vertigo-inducing slopes. Maybe your mind goes to the Canary Islands, where vines huddle for shelter amongst powerful winds and Sharpie-colored volcanic earth. Or perhaps you give a nod to the vineyards of Salta, sitting closer to the heavens than us oenophiles on Earth. Though all feats of viticultural wizardry, my choice is perhaps less obvious, purely because it is so obvious. This wine takes up large plots of real estate on grocery store shelves and has earned a reserved parking space on most by the glass lists. Yet even with this success, I consider Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, in all its turquoise- and green-labeled glory, as a most fascinating, yet unlikely champion of the hearts and taste buds of wine lovers the world over.

New Zealand’s Coromandel Peninsula

Consider its origin story. New Zealand is very much a New World wine country. Vines were first planted in the early 1800s, even before it was founded as a British colony in 1853, but New Zealand didn’t find its wine footing for over a century. If we zero in on Marlborough specifically, the first Sauvignon Blanc vines that brought the region oenological fame were not planted until 1975. (To put that in context, California, another infant in the long history of winemaking, was already winning international recognition at the Judgment of Paris around the same time.) Before Montana (now Brancott Estate) planted these original vines, the consensus was that grapes could not ripen on the chilly South Island. How wrong that wisdom was, as we’ve all seen in the expeditious rise of this little experiment.

We must also consider the terroir. New Zealand sits alone in an isolated corner of the Pacific Ocean. Its closest neighbor is Australia, which lies approximately 2,000 miles away, and it is consistently pummeled by the maritime breezes bounding off the icy Tasman sea. The islands receive intense bouts of sun laced with some of the highest ultraviolet rays in the world. To intensify the extreme natural circumstances further, the country rests squarely on the boundary between the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, which creates both geologically diverse soils and up to fifteen thousand earthquakes per year.

Vineyards in Marlborough

Then we arrive at the wine itself. Let us jump in our time machines, travel back a few hundred years and pour a goblet of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to the most esteemed winemakers of the Loire Valley. Would they recognize it as the grape born of their region? Or would they cast it off as a bastardized version of their time-tested style? The wine’s unique aroma and flavor profile is another enigma of its success. The novice wine drinker may not clamor for flavors of grass and bell pepper, though I doubt she would be horrified by reading these notes on the back of a label. But sweaty, stalky and punctuated by cat pee? It is difficult to imagine the success of a wine marked by these traits, yet here we are, transfixed by this wine from the Land of the Long White Cloud.

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is an oxymoron. It transfixes me in its unconventional conventionality. It is born of a grape known across continents, climates and time, yet is entirely idiosyncratic. It is a 20^th century “invention” nudged on by a risk-taking winery, but primarily by Mother Nature herself. There were no crossings, no hybrids, no labs; there was just a revelatory eruption of pure New Zealand flavor.

What gives our lovable underdog its edge? What allows the Sauvignon Blanc grape to thrive at the end of the earth? What creates the complexity and concentration of its unique feline flavors? Scientists have a few ideas.

Queenstown, New Zealand

Winemakers and researchers have been working to unwrap its riddles since the early 2000s. The aptly titled New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Programme is a collaboration between The Universities of Auckland and Lincoln, NZ Winegrowers and local winery partners. They have delved into the science of Sauvignon Blanc and have gained a better understanding of the chemical compounds that make up the sensory attributes of this wine. They have looked at how the unique Marlborough terroir—the cool breezes, the intense sunlight, the native yeasts and soils—creates a Sauvignon Blanc expression different than anywhere else in the world.

Their research has also revealed how much more Marlborough has to offer. To those who peg the region and its wines as one-trick-ponies, taste the differences within. Marlborough’s diversity lies in the baseball-sized river rocks of the northern Wairau Valley. These rocks absorb the sun’s powerful rays and ripen grapes that are rife with ruby red grapefruit and exotic passionfruit. Or try an intensely herbaceous expression from the windblown Awatere, which yields wines with crunchy capsicum and tomato leaves. For a revelatory treat, try an age-worthy example, like Brancott Estate’s Chosen Rows. It would be hard to imagine the Sauvignon Blanc experts of the Old World turning up their noses at a wine vibrating with so much energy and finesse.

Punakaiki,New Zealand

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is an underdog that has already proven its success in its few decades of existence, though the region is just beginning to reveal all it has to offer. At this years’ Society of Wine Educators Conference, my mission is to inject a renewed fascination in Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc into the palates and imaginations of all who attend my seminar, Cat Pee By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet: Understanding Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. We will explore the findings of the research program to better understand the wine’s unique aromas and flavors, delve into the differences between its varying subregions and taste the fine examples that have resulted from this heightened understanding of Marlborough and its beloved Sauvignon Blanc.

Christine Dalton, CSW

Christine Dalton is a member of Pernod Ricard Winemakers’ International Graduate Wine Ambassador Program, based in Southern California. As representative of the Pernod Ricard wine portfolio, she has spent time learning and working vintage in Rioja, Spain, Sonoma, California, the Barossa Valley, Australia and Marlborough, New Zealand. Originally from the Washington D.C. metro area, she previously wrote for Wine Spectator magazine as an Assistant Editor, and volunteered at the Astor Center at Astor Wines & Spirits in New York City.

She began formal wine training with an introductory wine course at Cornell University while working toward a dual degree in Government and American Studies. She is a Certified Specialist of Wine with the SWE and also holds a WSET Advanced with Distinction certification.

Christine’s session, Cat Pee By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet: Understanding Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, will be offered on Wednesday, August 15, 2018 at 10:30 am as part of the 42^nd Annual Conference of the Society of Wine Educators to be held in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.

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Today we have a preview of a session to be presented during SWE’s 42nd Annual Conference, to be held on August 15–17, 2018 in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. This preview is authored by Don Kinnan, CSS, CWE. 

There is perhaps no vinous rivalry more intense and long-standing in Burgundy than that between Nuits-Saint-Georges and Beaune.  Both villages serve as namesakes for their prominent wine districts, Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune.  Both are major wine producing villages with highly rated vineyards in the respected Burgundy wine classification hierarchy.  Within Burgundy’s hallowed Côte d’Or, no other villages can match the number of premier cru vineyard climats of Nuits (41) and Beaune (42).

During the SWE Conference in August, 2018, a courtroom format will be used to present the two villages’ cases for supremacy.  Some of that evidence is included below just to stimulate your unquenchable thirst for knowledge.  However, during the live presentation in August, be prepared for some surprises as certain facts may be challenged, objections will be made and ruled upon, and the jury (the audience) will give its verdict.

Map of the Côte de Nuits via www.bourgogne-wines.com

Nuits-Saint-Georges

Nuits-Saint-Georges sits at the southern end of the famous Côte de Nuits, Burgundy’s most acclaimed red wine producing district.  The reputation of the Côte de Nuits’ wine quality is firmly based upon its superlative “terroirs”.  Complex Middle Jurassic limestone-infused marls have been shuffled like cards in a deck of cards to create indelible stamps of individuality and potential greatness in Côte de Nuits red wines. The hand of the winemaker is sparingly and gently applied, so as not to disturb the subtle “terroir” signature of the wine’s growing site.

Nuits-Saint-Georges is blessed with tremendous diversity and wealth within its Middle Jurassic soil packages as attested to by its award of 41 premiers crus under Burgundy’s classification system.  With a vineyard area that stretches nearly 4 miles, longer than any other Côte d’Or village, Nuits has 3 major “terroir” packages within its boundaries.

The vineyard area north of the village proper, sometimes referred to as Côte Vosne (because of its proximity to Vosne-Romanée), tends to produce wines of greater elegance and finesse than Nuits’ other sectors.

The middle section of vineyards, just south of the town, is considered the best part of the commune.  Here one finds the very esteemed premiers crus, Les Saint-Georges, Les Cailles, and Les Vaucrains, all candidates for Grand Cru status.

Finally, further south, in the village of Premeaux, lies Nuits’ third vineyard sector.  Here, the soil is shallower, the slope steeper, and the Jurassic layers beginning to transition to those most commonly found in the Côte de Beaune.  As a result, the normally richer, sturdier style of Nuits wine becomes more austere, a little rough around the edges, and maybe with a touch of the maverick.

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The wines of Nuits have a long history of fame and royal patronage.  Most notable is King Louis XIV’s conversion to Nuits wine at the recommendation of his personal physician, Monsieur Guy-Crescent Fagon in 1698 AD.  After taking his doctor’s advice, the king, who had been ill, returned to good health.  More recently, in 1971, the wine of Nuits-Saint-Georges became enshrined on Earth’s moon when the Apollo 15 astronauts named the crater at their landing site, “St-George” in honor of Nuits-Saint-Georges wine.  Later that year, the Apollo 15 astronauts visited the town of Nuits and were made honorary citizens.

Like Beaune, Nuits is a commercial center, as well as, a wine village.  Population-wise, Nuits, with approximately 5,500 residents, is about one fourth the size of Beaune.  It does sit astride the major autoroute from Paris and serves as a center for wine shippers, brokers, negociants, cooperages, crémant producers, liqueur makers, and other service industries.  Just as Beaune has its Hospices de Beaune, Nuits has its Hospices de Nuits, a charitable organization founded in 1692 AD and devoted to the support of local hospitals.

The ultimate test of wine supremacy, especially in Burgundy, rests with the demonstrated excellence of the growing sites or “terroirs”.  In the hands of respectful “caretakers”, wine produced from these sites will translate into original and universally admired wine, vintage after vintage.  Nuits-Saint-Georges has clearly demonstrated this trait ever since the monks began to produce wine from their Clos St-Georges vineyard in 1093 AD.

However, you be the judge.  Come to the SWE Conference in 2018, attend this session, and taste the wines for yourself.  Then decide who is supreme—Nuits-Saint-Georges or Beaune.

Map of the Côte de Beaune via www.bourgogne-wines.com

Beaune

Beaune is the historic center of Burgundy’s wine trade.  Many of the major wine merchant houses are headquartered there, such as, Louis Jadot, Louis Latour, Bouchard Pere et Fils, Champy, and Joseph Drouhin.  Most of these firms have cellars under the streets of this ancient walled town.   Beaune’s origin goes back to 40 A. D. when it was a Roman settlement lying astride the main access roads into the heart of Gaul.  Today, with a population of 23,000, it is Burgundy’s largest commercial center and annually hosts the famous wine auction of the Hospices de Beaune.

The vineyards of Beaune appear as majestic as the town itself.  Most of the vineyards are arrayed on a looming slope just to the west of the town.  This is where the 42 premier cru sites are found.  Beaune has more premiers crus than any other village appellation in the Côte d’Or, a true testimony to its superb “terroir”.  The slope is fairly contiguous and is generally southeast facing as it extends in a north-south direction.  The relative uniformity of the slope, along with its exposure and geology, result in a similarity of wine style among the various premiers crus.  However, though sometimes more discreet, distinctions and differences are there.

The premier cru slope is normally discussed by dividing it into 3 sections, the north, the center, and the south.  Soils are thinner in the north, possessing more gravel in the center, and with more limestone mixed with sand in the south.  Mid-slope sites in the south become very stony, but lower down there is more clay and less gravel.  There are also pockets of whitish marls which accommodate white grapes , especially in the Clos Des Mouches and Les Grèves premiers crus.

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Beaune is the Côte d’Or’s second largest producing red wine village, just behind Gevrey-Chambertin.  The wines of Beaune are internationally recognized for their approachability and value.  They consistently display lovely perfumes and lively red fruits, with a finely-knitted gentle structure.  Of course, there are many examples of more intense wine with substantial complexity and depth. We invite you to attend the SWE session at this year’s conference to discover the beauty and diversity of this wonderful appellation.

The session—Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Nuits vs Beaune—will be held on Thursday, August 17, 2018 at 1:15 pm as part of the 42nd Annual Conference of the Society of Wine Educators to be held in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. The presenters will be Don Kinnan CSS, CWE; Nicholas Poletto CSS, CSW, DipWSET; and Missi Holle CSS, CWE, WSET III

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Today we have a preview of a session to be presented during SWE’s 42nd Annual Conference, to be held on August 15–17, 2018 in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. 

Unexpected Napa Valley 

What do you think you know about Napa Valley wines?

What are your perceptions about one of America’s most recognized grape growing regions?

Well, you should leave poplar notions at the door and begin an exploration of the unexpected Napa Valley. You might discover it is not about just one grape, one style or one price tag! Napa Valley may be America’s most well-known wine region, famous for big Cabernet Sauvignon and full-

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bodied Chardonnay—but there is more than that to Napa Valley, including wines made from old vines, from almost unheard-of varieties, and classics made in a range of enjoyable styles.

This seminar will cover wines and styles that might challenge conventional wisdom with some classic grapes seeking a renaissance and other wines expressing the diversity of the Napa Valley soils. Come taste with an open mind and expand your horizons!

The speaker for this session is John Skupny. John began in the wine trade in 1975 working as a buyer and Wine Steward [sommelier] for restaurants in Kansas City. In 1980, a move to California launched a 38-year career working for some of California’s finest wine producers. Since 1984 he has lived in the Napa Valley; working in sales & marketing for Caymus Vineyards, Clos Du Val Wine Company and then as General Manager of the Niebaum-Coppola Estate (Inglenook). Inspired by the charms of the Cabernet Franc grape, John Skupny and his wife, Tracey, launched Lang & Reed Wine Company in 1996.

John operates a consulting practice, Vineyard Avenue Marketing, providing strategic planning for wineries. John is a past Chairman of the Napa Valley Vintners Board of Directors (‘96), Chair of Premiere Napa Valley Barrel Auction (‘06). President of the Stags Leap District Winegrowers (’90) and founding Vice-President of the Rutherford Dust Society [‘93/94].

The Unexpected Napa Valley seminar will be presented on Friday, August 18, 2018 at 1:15 pm as part of the 42^nd Annual Conference of the Society of Wine Educators to be held in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.