WineMasters Class

Chile is considered a 'New World' wine country, but it has a long winemaking history, the very first grapevines date back to the 1500s. Later, French grapes were introduced which now produce some of the greatest wines in the world. The unique geographical situation of Chile creates ideal microclimates for grape growing. In our experiment we discuss different types of bottle closures.

Sherry is one of the most historic wines in the world. As sherry comes in so many styles, which we'll all discuss from light and dry to rich and sticky sweet, there is always a suitable sherry wine to pair with your dish, whatever it is. We'll demonstrate the famous and unique ageing system, called Solera, in our experiment.

Italy is home to a huge number of indigenous grape varieties, estimated between 400-2000. We're going to take you from the north Trentino-Alto Adige, to the midlands of Umbria, Marche and Abruzzo and ending in the heel of Italy: Puglia, to discuss the wines made from some of the better and also less known native grape varieties. And in our experiment, we'll explain the wine term extraction.

Along the Mosel and the Rhine, we find Germany's most celebrated grape variety: Riesling. Riesling is an aromatic grape with naturally high acidity that can produce very different styles of wine. We'll explain the German Wine Law and classifications, plus other wine terms to help you reading and understanding wine labels. In our experiment it's about the balance of sugar and acidity in wine.

The Bordeaux Left Bank lies close to the Atlantic Ocean and along Gironde river. Vineyards receive more rainfall and soils are gravellier than the Right Bank. Cabernet Sauvignon is dominant as it benefits from the warm gravels and drainage to ripen fully. The finest wines were listed in the classification of 1855 which we'll discuss, and in our experiment, we'll talk about ageing ability.

We'll be diving into the world's most famous sparkling wine: Champagne, made from Chardonnay and/or Pinot Noir and Meunier. The magic of Champagne - its bubbles - was originally considered an undesirable fault. But it's the result of natural fermentation - or re-fermentation, as yeasts transform grape sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which we'll demonstrate in our experiment.