Wine School

Tonight is the second night of the wine class I am taking in Newport Beach. I decided that with some exposure to the science behind wine perhaps I could figure out where I might belong in the industry because I clearly don't belong where I am at. The instructor is young but knowledgeable and I have already learned quite a lot. She is also very personable and I am glad she is teaching the class.

The math of fermentation is Sugar + Yeast = Alcohol + CO2 + Heat.
The sugar comes from the pulp, the yeast & color comes from the skin.

The alcohol content is based on the amount of sugar (partially based on when the grapes are harvested) and the amount of time that the grapes are left to ferment. Fruity/Sweet wines are generally lower in alcohol content than Dry/Tannic / Full body wines as not all the sugar ferments to alcohol. One exception to this is Port because brandy is added to the wine that kicks up it's alcohol content. Sugar left in the wine after the fermentation process is complete is referred to as Residual Sugar. Sulfites are added to both red & white wine as a preservative but organic wines have no preservatives.

This is just some of the goodness I have learned and the primary focus of the first class was learning the method of evaluating wine based on its visual, nose, and taste aspects.

My nose and taste buds have a lot to learn.

It's quite difficult for me to identify the minute elements in a wine and when challenged I cannot tell you whether I smell flowers or fruit or earth. However I can tell you by taste and smell whether I am drinking a Pinot, Merlot, Zin, or Cabernet. Hopefully I will learn better to identify the various essences as we go along.

We had some great wines and the class went a hour over it's set schedule. NICE!

I am looking forward to Class #2