2011 Foundation Wine Course 2: The Wines of France
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Transcript of 2011 Foundation Wine Course 2: The Wines of France
Foundation Wine Course: II30 March 2011
The Wines of FranceCopyright © Brian Jamieson
Revision 1: Winemaking
White Red
Revision 2: What is wine? Water 85% Alcohol
Ethyl alcohol 12% Glycerol 1%
Everything else 1 – 1.5%
Revision 3: Range and diversity
Grape variety Environment; French Terroir
Climate Soil Husbandry – pruning, training, spraying Harvest – timing and weather
Winemaking processes Storing/ageing
Revision 4: Tasting Eyes Nose Mouth
Front Sides Back
Aroma Exercise 1 Grapefruit
2
Pear 10
Liquorice 36
Aroma Exercise 2
Aroma 29 Violet
Aroma 15 Blackcurrant
Aroma 50 Hazelnut
World wine production 1 Italy 4,609,554 2 France 4,198,632 3 Spain 3,591,300 4 United States 2,250,000 5 China 1,500,000 6 Argentina 1,467,764 7 Australia 1,244,780 8 South Africa 1,026,100 9 Germany 1,000,100 10 Chile 824,642
Tonnes (2008)
11 Portugal 562,000
12 Romania 554,182
13 Russia 503,483
14 Greece 400,409
15 Brazil 368,300
16 Hungary 325,000
17 Austria 299,372
18 Bulgaria 230,046
19 Ukraine 210,500
20 New Zealand 205,200
21 Serbia 154,224
22 Moldova 138,522
23 Uruguay 109,001
24 Macedonia 108,100
25 Switzerland 107,447
FranceOverview IWine producing areas
FranceOverview IIAOC quality wines
Burgundy monoculture
Sparkling wineGetting the CO2 in!
1. Natural sparkle (petillance)2. La pompe bicyclette (carbonated)3. Cuvée close or Tank method (2ary
fermentation in tank) - Prosecco4. Méthode Champenoise (2ary fermentation in
bottle)5. Méthode Traditionelle (outside Champagne)
Cava, Cap Classique, Sekt, Limoux, Spumante
Champagne Vineyards on chalk Nth French Climate marginal for
winemaking Makes poor still wine (highly acidic),
but good champagne Blend of three permitted grapes
Chardonnay (Blanc de Blancs); Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier
Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier often exceed 70%
1. Champagne tasting
Jacquart , Brut Tradition, NV Traditional Champagne blend of
Chardonnay, (30%) Pinot Noir (45%) & Pinot Meunier (25%)
Appearance Nose Mousse – size and length Taste
Visit a Champagne House
Some (useless?) Champagne facts 12,500 separate brands! 19,000 small growers own 88% of
vineyards, but sell only 29% of champagne.
Champagne houses own 12% of vineyards but produce 71% of wine.
250 million bubbles in a bottle Who counted?
Same Chalk as in North & South Downs of SE England
2: Les Cascadelles, Pouilly-Fumé AOC 2007
Sauvignon blanc 100% Compare with New World Sauvignon
blanc Acidity? Fruit? Mineral/Vegetal/Fruit on palate?
Predominant aroma?
The Wines of France
Some necessary, but possibly boring, stuff!
French wine making Greek/Roman Origins: first vineyards near Aix -en-
Provence in the South. Highly regulated industry. A mixed blessing as it:
ensures minimum quality standards, but discourages experimentation, innovation and
development.
At lowest level, grapes treated as just another agricultural commodity, producing basic table wine.
Production Now world’s second largest wine
producer Big fall in home consumption, esp. cheaper
wines 20 % fall in production in last ten years 10% increase in exports during same period
UK and Germany are biggest customers But, UK now imports more Australian wine
than French Historic classifications and reputations
still ensure stratospheric prices for the best wines
National Quality Classification
Appellation d’Origine Contrôllé 470 (59%)
Grape variety Viticulture Harvest and yield Min. alcohol level Vinification Tasting (nominal) Restricting, discourages
innovation
VDQS 33 (1%) Second division Staging post
Vin de Pays 153 ( 31%)
Since 1973 Superior table wines Less regulation
Grape variety Vinification
Fewer rules encourages innovation
Some of the best modern wines
Vin de table (10%) The lowest rung Domestic consumption
Vin de Pays: Regional groupings
Vin de Pays d’Oc Roussillon/Langedoc
Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France Loire
Vin de Pays de Comté Tolosan SW France
Vin de Pays du Comtés Rhodaniens Rhone
Vin de Pays de Méditerranée Provence/Corsica
2008 Reforms Reduce regulation Simplify main categories
In line with EU regulation Make more competitive
internationally Encourage grape variety on label
New categoriesNew
Vignobles de France (Wines of France)
Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP)
Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP)
Replacing
Vin de Table
Vin de Pays
Appellation d’Origine Contrôllé (AOC)
3. The Society’s Exhibition Morgon, 2005 AOC Morgon: one of 10 Beaujolais Crus –
quality wines. Gamay grape producing light fruity
wines. Carbonic maceration initiates
fermentation. Aroma? Palate
Beaujolais
10 CrusBeaujolais VillagesBeaujolais Beaujolais Nouveau
Jancis Robinson
‘Grapes and Gas’
Champagne production Protection of the name Moet & Chandon’s diversification in
Spain, USA & Australia
28 minutes
4. Domaine de Valmoissine, Pinot Noir, Louis Latour,Vin de Pays des Coteaux du Verdon 2009
Maison Louis Latour: Producers in Burgundy since 17th Century
In 1989 pioneered the production of the Pinot Noir grape in Provence by buying 30 ha (75 acres) of land in the Verdon. In mountains (500m) 70 km N of St Tropez.
Burgundian vinification in wood Light-fruity wine, that lacks the earthiness of Red
Burgundy. cf New World. Characteristic aroma?
.
6. Domaine Lucien Barrot et Fils, Chateauneuf-du-Pape , AOC, 2007
Small, but famous, appellation in Sth Rhone 13 grape varieties permitted 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah and 10%
Cinsault/Mourvedre. A big wine! Complex, herby nose and palate. Predominant aroma?
Bordeaux wines Reds are blends of:
Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Cabernet Franc Petit verdot
Whites largely: Sauvignon blanc, with additions of
Semillon and Muscadelle
MedocGravesMargauxSauternes
St EmilionPomerolBourg Blaye
Entre-deux-Mers
Libournais St Emilion
2 Premier Grand Cru Classeé A 11 Premier Grand Cru Classeé B 84 Grand Cru Classeé
Pomerol Ch. Petrus
Merlot dominant (60%+)
Gironde 1855 Classification (Red)
Premiers Crus Ch. Lafite Ch. Margaux Ch. Latour Ch. Haut-Brion Ch. Mouton-Rothschild (1973)
Deuxièmes Crus Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou Ch. Léoville-Lascase Etc
Troisièmes Crus Ch Lagrange Ch. Palmer etc
Quatrièmes Crus Ch. Talbot Ch. Cantenac Etc
Cinquièmes Crus Ch. Batailley Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste etc
Crus Bourgeois (2000) Exceptionels 9 Supérieurs 87 Bourgeois 151
5: Chateau Gloria 2001 St Julien AOC
AOC St Julien in the Medoc Cru bourgeois Cabernet Sauvignon (65%) Merlot (25%), with
5% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot Colour Predominant aroma Palate
Tannin Fruit
Wine Critic (May 2004)Chateau Gloria (St Julien) 2001:
Closed on the nose. Full, sweet, less impact than the 2000. Doesn't have the same texture. Plenty of tannin though. Showing very little on this tasting but has potential. Needs six years. 15+/20 (May 2004)
Wine Society: 30 March 2011
2001: A delicious vintage to enjoy now!
Overshadowed by the much-lauded millennium vintage which preceded it, 2001 proved to be a great year for merlot and the right bank, and, although slightly more challenging on the left bank, it has turned out to be a lovely Claret vintage, and the wines are already delicious.
7. The Society’s Exhibition Sauternes, 2007 AOC A distinctive appellation 40km SE of Bordeaux. Semillon 80%, Sauvignon Blanc 15%, &
Muscadelle. Autumns characterised by misty mornings and
sunny days, encouraging Botrytis mould, or Noble rot, which concentrates juice.
Elegant, sweet, honeyed, full-bodied with a long life-expectancy.
Complex fruity and floral nose and palate. Low yields, labour intensive harvest = expensive
wine! Chateau d’Yquem: £500 a bottle for recent vintages!
Botrytis mould
‘Noble rot’
Summing-up Three groups of French wine makers:
1. In favoured areas unchanged traditional production of quality wines - Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone & Loire. Mixture of excellent, good and complacent. Expensive products. All AOC.
2. Outside favoured (AOC) areas: Traditional (peasant) production – little or no
innovation. Moderate-poor quality. A dying race. Vin de Table or distillery. Grants for grubbing-up vines.
But also enterprising producers elsewhere; experimenting unconventional varieties, modern vinification, imported technology and know-how; flying winemakers. Best Vin de Pays wines.
Today’s wines
1. Champagne Jacquart, Tradition, NV Brut£18.00 *
2. Pouilly-Fume, Les Cascadelles, 2009 AOC £10.99 *3. The Society’s Exhibition Morgon, 2005 AOC
£8.00 WS 4. Domaine de Valmoissine, Pinot Noir, Louis Latour, Vin de Pays des Coteaux du Verdon 2009 £8.99
* 5. Domaine Lucien Barrot et Fils, Chateauneuf-du-Pape ,
AOC 2007 £22.00 *
6. Chateau Gloria, St Julien, 2001, AOC £10.00 L
7. The Society’s Exhibition Sauternes, 2007 AOC £20.00 WS
* Majestic WS Wine Society L Laytons
Aroma test Which of today’s wines is this?
Think of characteristic aromas!
Best value Which of today’s range offers best
value?
Next session
Wednesday 13 April 2011at 2.30pm
Wines of Iberia, Italy, etc