As we discussed last night in class, the Burgundy wine region, as another of France’s great wine regions, is often compared to Bordeaux. In fact, our instructor Mary Ewing-Mulligan, CWE, MW, recalled an instance when she looked up the word bordeaux (in terms of its use as a color) in the dictionary and found "burgundy" as its definition. However, they are quite different.

Whereas the Bordeaux wines are blends of several grape varieties, the wines of Burgundy are mono-varietal. There are four major grapes grown in this region — Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gamay and Aligote. The latter two are of lesser importance, while the first two are responsible for some of the world’s greatest wines.

Why are they so great? Viticulture began in Burgundy centuries ago, giving the region plenty of time to truly understand which grapes thrive best with the given set of conditions. Specifically, up north in Chablis, the soils are particularly rich in marine fossils. The best vineyards are planted here on this soil known as Kimmeridgian. Lesser rated vineyards, but also well regarded, are planted on Portlandian clay in an area known as Petit Chablis.

Further south, within the two districts that make up the Cote d’Or (Cote de Nuits & Cote de Beaune), the soils are primarily limestone mixed with clay and marl. Where limestone predominates (more frequently in the Cote de Beaune), Chardonnay is planted. Conversely, soils with more clay and marl (often in the Cote de Nuits) are planted with Pinot Noir. These vineyards were rated around the same time as Bordeaux’s classification, with delineations for Grand Cru (the best), Premier Cru and Village level wines.

The climate is continental, with spring and autumn frosts as potential hazards, along with summer hail. Some of this is overcome by planting midway down on east or south-east facing slopes, catching the most sun. Unlike Bordeaux, it is much drier, so rot doesn’t pose a problem.

Winemaking practices in the region vary with respect to the use of oak, both in length of time as well as how much oak is used. The better producers are judicious in their use of oak, not wanting it to overpower the lovely red fruit flavors of Pinot Noir, nor the apple and mineral notes of Chardonnay. Pinot Noir is barrel aged for 16-18 months, while the Chardonnay receives 6-9 months in oak.

Less prestigious are the districts of Cote Chalonnaise and Macon, which lie south of the Cote d’Or. Wines from Cote Chalonnaise are similar to those made in the Cote d’Or, but they generally have less ageing potential. The villages of Mercurey and Givry are most admired and will be expensive, but much less so than the Grand Crus and Premier Crus of their northern neighbors.

Macon wines primarily center around Chardonnay, with somewhat richer and riper flavors due to their more southernly location. The appellation of Pouilly-Fuisse is highly regarded.

As with many things, some producers are better than others, taking more care in the vineyard and in the cellar to craft their wines. Many producers are also negociants, buying grapes from many different vineyards and producing wines on the various levels. Among the most respected negociants are Louis Jadot and Joseph Drouhin. 

With Burgundy’s marginal climate, vintage variation also matters. The 2002 vintage is hailed as a particularly good one, while 2005 is garnering tremendous praise as one of the best vintages in history. Not surprisingly, you can expect to find rising prices on these wines.

Lest anyone think I am plagerizing as I begin to craft summaries on my study topics and post them to the blog, I wish to make my sources known.

My study materials will include a combination of texts, notably the Oxford Companion to Wine, Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia, the WSET’s text for Advanced Certificate and the WSET Unit 3 Study Guides. In addition, I will be consulting various websites, with particular emphasis on official sites such as Le Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux  (Bordeaux.com). Finally, I will be meeting with a study group, which will be sharing information with one another, further adding to my knowledge.

A recent blog post from Eric Asimov discussed the world of wine and wine education. Asimov was making the point that people seem to be apologetic for their lack of wine knowledge in ways that they are not apologetic about their lack of other knowledge, i.e. car mechanics, medicine, etc. He felt that the elitism and mystery surrounding wine had made people feel inadequate and deficient if they were ignorant regarding wine, which he regarded as a problem. Instead, he wanted people to simply enjoy wine and to rely on a good local wine merchant for assistance. He is not wrong. Certainly, knowing about wine is nice, but not necessary, for its enjoyment.

However, for those of us in the trade, especially educators, it is essential that we are extremely knowledgeable and up-to-date on the world of wine. To that end, I undertook the WSET’s Diploma of Wine & Spirits in January 2006. Now, a year later, I am ensconced in Unit 3 — Light Wines of the World. Essentially, ALL wines (other than sparkling and fortified). This is a massive undertaking as I grapple with the sheer volume of material, along with the depth of understanding the examiners expect.

Having just received my scores for the exams (Sparkling Wines of the World and Spirits of the World) taken in November, I know I have a long road ahead of me, if I wish to succeed. I achieved Pass with Merit on both exams, which is less than I had hoped for, having received Pass with Distinction on all previous WSET examinations.

Moreover, I have been remiss at posting to this blog for some time, given my studies, the launch of our business and life in general.

Accordingly, I plan to write summaries of my study materials and post them to the blog, essentially killing two birds with the same stone. Thus, while in-depth wine knowledge is not essential to the average wine consumer, those of you seeking to learn more will, I hope, find these postings helpful. I hope, I too, will find them helpful come June 12 when I find myself sitting in the full-day exam.

The wines and spirits used for the Diploma exams held on Wednesday were posted to the WSET’s website. So, I went to check my answers against the actual samples.

For the sparkling wines, I was grateful to see that the first wine was indeed Prosecco, which is what I had changed my tasting note to reflect. I was not correct with the other two, misidentifying the Champagne with a Cremant de Loire and an Australian sparkler with Champagne. Oh well, I should receive partial credit on my notes and, fingers crossed, it will be sufficient for a pass. Maybe not a high pass, but a pass is a pass and I shouldn’t be greedy.

For the spirits, I seem to have gotten confused. The first was a flavored (bison grass) vodka from Poland, which I incorrectly identified as Rum. The next sample actually was a white Jamaican rum, which I thought was vodka. It’s sort of funny in one way, not so in another. Anyway, I really nailed the last one, not only correctly noting that it was a anise-flavored neutral spirit, but also identifying it as Pernod.

We have been advised that our scores will be sent to our program provider on January 17, which will then send them out to each candidate. Only then will I truly know how well or poorly I did.

I have been remiss in posting because I have been focused on studying for my exams, which were held yesterday. At 12:00 PM, I took the exam for Unit 5 of the Diploma of Wine & Spirits (Sparkling Wines of the World). I had thought this would be the easier of the two, the second being Unit 4 (Spirits of the World). However, I thought wrong.

Each exam followed the same format, which included a tasting of three blind samples and the completion of a comprehensive essay or three-part essay, for which each candidate was given a total of an hour to use as they wanted between the two tasks.

With the sparkle in sparkling wines having a certain transience, I began with the tasting portion first. As the samples had been decanted from the original bottles into a neutral wine bottle, some of their fizz had faded already, adding to the challenge. Upon nosing the first wine, I thought I detected a wet wool note, which would be a tip off for a Loire Valley sparkling wine made from Chenin Blanc. I wrote my tasting note with that in mind.

However, when I reached for the second glass, I found an aroma in it, which was different from the first, but also recalled wet wool. Now I was confused. I went back to smell the first glass and found it to be much fruitier and floral than I had found initially. Perhaps I had picked up the wet wool note from the second glass and attributed it to the first? I’m not sure, but I went back and revised my first tasting note, now thinking that it was Prosecco.

I then completed the second tasting note and had just started nosing the third wine when the half-way mark was called out by the proctor. I knew I was spending too much time on the tasting and would need to move quickly in order to have sufficient time to write the essay. Fortunately, I write quickly.

With the tasting behind me, I moved on to the essay, reading the question. In relation to sparkling wines, we were to comment on each of the three items listed. The first asked about a particular type of sparkling wine, the second about grapes used in another sparkling wine and the third about a region. I confidently wrote my answers to all three and hoped I would earn enough points on the written portion to make up for points I was sure I had lost on the tasting portion.

As I had had a conflict on the date on which the Fortified Wines course was given, I was spared having to take this exam at 2:00 PM, but the majority of my classmates soldiered on. I headed out into the rain to find lunch and waste time before the 4:00 PM Spirits exam. I was determined not to study anymore, with the belief that anything I didn’t already know, I wasn’t going to learn in the hour prior to the exam. I found a new book store and wandered around looking at various books and eventually purchasing a "gift" for myself — a book that wasn’t about wine or spirits!

Returning to exam headquarters, or more precisely, the International Wine Center, I found my seat and waited for the exam to start. Recalling my difficulty with time on the previous exam, I took a different strategy with this one. I decided to nose all the wines first before trying to guess what each one was. I also took a small, undiluted taste of each, to better experience the spirit. Additionally, I glanced at the essay question at the start and jotted down some notes on each topic. Again, it was a three-part essay question.

My nose, which had failed me earlier, seemed to be functioning much better this time. I also found it easier to identify aromas and flavors, whereas on the other, I felt a bit like a deer in the headlights struggling to name the things I was smelling or tasting. For whatever the reason, I felt much more confident in my spirit tasting, even if I may have mis-identified them. Fortunately, the identification is only a small percent of the total points awarded.

I dashed off answers to the spirits’ short-answer essay, trying to recall as much detail on each topic as I could. I probably threw in a few extraneous ones as well, but all in all, I felt that I was strong in each answer. Having paced myself much more wisely, I actually finished with five minutes to spare, providing me with time to review my work.

The exams will be sent to the WSET’s main office in London, where they will be graded along with all of the exams taken by Diploma candidates around the world yesterday. Thus, it will probably be a few months before I get my results, so I will put it all out of my mind until then. Meanwhile, I can spend the "down time" writing the second of my four papers and preparing for the grueling Unit 3 (Light Wines of the World).

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to present a seminar at the NY Wine & Food Expo in Tarrytown, NY.

While previous classes had been relatively small (5-15), I was advised to expect between 20-100 people. I was not adverse to teaching to a large crowd, but the wide variance in attendance made it difficult to plan for handouts, without needlessly killing trees and/or breaking the bank. We compromised with black & white, fewer slides and ~60 copies. In the end, we had between 45-50 people attend.

I presented our From Vine to Wine class, which usually runs 1.5-2.0 hours, but was required to edit it back to 45 minutes. We kept our usual tasting of five wines, but I omitted some of the more technical aspects of viticulture and vinification and spoke extremely quickly. I also had to alter my pedagogical style from a more interactive one to a lecture.

Despite the whirlwind of information thrown at them, the participants seemed to enjoy the class and a few people came up to me afterwards to pay me compliments. Accordingly, I am now looking forward to future opportunities in which I can present to large groups.