The document summarizes a wine course covering the wines of France. It discusses French wine regions, classifications, grape varieties and styles. Specific sections cover Champagne production, Burgundy, Bordeaux classifications and estates, and the dessert wine Sauternes. Tasting notes are provided for 7 French wines covering regions like Champagne, Pouilly-Fumé, Beaujolais, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, St Julien, and Sauternes. The summary concludes with exercises asking students to identify a wine based on aroma and determine the best value selection.

1. Foundation Wine Course: II 30 March 2011 The Wines of France Copyright © Brian Jamieson

2. Revision 1: Winemaking White Red

7. Revision 2: What is wine? Water 85% Alcohol Ethyl alcohol 12% Glycerol 1% Everything else 1 – 1.5%

8. Revision 3: Range and diversity Grape variety Environment; French Terroir Climate Soil Husbandry – pruning, training, spraying Harvest – timing and weather Winemaking processes Storing/ageing

9. Revision 4: Tasting Eyes Nose Mouth Front Sides Back

10. Aroma Exercise 1 Grapefruit 2 Pear 10 Liquorice 36

11. Aroma Exercise 2 Aroma 29 Violet Aroma 15 Blackcurrant Aroma 50 Hazelnut

12. 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

13. France Overview I Wine producing areas

14. France Overview II AOC quality wines

15. Burgundy monoculture

16. Sparkling wine Getting the CO2 in! Natural sparkle (petillance) La pompebicyclette (carbonated) Cuvée close or Tank method (2ary fermentation in tank) - Prosecco MéthodeChampenoise (2ary fermentation in bottle) MéthodeTraditionelle (outside Champagne) Cava, Cap Classique, Sekt, Limoux, Spumante

17. 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%

20. 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

21. Visit a Champagne House

23. 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

24. 2: Les Cascadelles, Pouilly-FuméAOC 2007 Sauvignon blanc 100% Compare with New World Sauvignon blanc Acidity? Fruit? Mineral/Vegetal/Fruit on palate? Predominant aroma?

27. The Wines of France Some necessary, but possibly boring, stuff!

28. 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.

29. 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

31. National Quality Classification Appellation d’Origine Contrôllé470 (59%) Grape variety Viticulture Harvest and yield Min. alcohol level Vinification Tasting (nominal) Restricting, discourages innovation VDQS33 (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

33. 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 ComtéTolosan SW France Vin de Pays du ComtésRhodaniens Rhone Vin de Pays de Méditerranée Provence/Corsica

34. 2008 Reforms Reduce regulation Simplify main categories In line with EU regulation Make more competitive internationally Encourage grape variety on label

35. New categories New Vignobles de France (Wines of France) Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP) Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP) Replacing Vin de Table Vin de Pays Appellation d’OrigineContrôllé (AOC)

36. 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

37. Beaujolais10 Crus Beaujolais Villages Beaujolais Beaujolais Nouveau

38. Jancis Robinson ‘Grapes and Gas’ Champagne production Protection of the name Moet & Chandon’s diversification in Spain, USA & Australia 28 minutes

39. 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. Burgundianvinification in wood Light-fruity wine, that lacks the earthiness of Red Burgundy. cf New World. Characteristic aroma? .

41. 6. Domaine Lucien Barrot et Fils, Chateauneuf-du-Pape , AOC, 2007 Small, but famous, appellation in SthRhone 13 grape varieties permitted 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah and 10% Cinsault/Mourvedre. A big wine! Complex, herby nose and palate. Predominant aroma?

44. Bordeaux wines Reds are blends of: Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Cabernet Franc Petit verdot Whites largely: Sauvignon blanc, with additions of Semillon and Muscadelle

45. St Emilion Pomerol Bourg Blaye Medoc Graves Margaux Sauternes Entre-deux-Mers

47. 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%+)

48. Gironde 1855 Classification (Red) Premiers Crus Ch. Lafite Ch. Margaux Ch. Latour Ch. Haut-Brion Ch. Mouton-Rothschild (1973) DeuxièmesCrus Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou Ch. Léoville-Lascase Etc TroisièmesCrus Ch Lagrange Ch. Palmer etc QuatrièmesCrus Ch. Talbot Ch. Cantenac Etc CinquièmesCrus Ch. Batailley Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste etc Crus Bourgeois (2000) Exceptionels 9 Supérieurs 87 Bourgeois 151

49. 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

51. 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)

52. 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.

53. 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!

54. Botrytis mould ‘Noble rot’

55. Summing-up Three groups of French wine makers: In favoured areas unchanged traditional production of quality wines - Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone & Loire. Mixture of excellent, good and complacent. Expensive products. All AOC. 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.

56. Today’s wines Champagne Jacquart, Tradition, NVBrut £18.00 * Pouilly-Fume, Les Cascadelles, 2009 AOC £10.99 * The Society’s Exhibition Morgon, 2005 AOC £8.00 WS Domaine de Valmoissine, Pinot Noir, Louis Latour, Vin de Pays des Coteaux du Verdon 2009 £8.99 * Domaine Lucien Barrot et Fils, Chateauneuf-du-Pape , AOC 2007 £22.00 * Chateau Gloria, St Julien, 2001, AOC £10.00 L The Society’s Exhibition Sauternes, 2007 AOC £20.00 WS * Majestic WS Wine Society L Laytons

57. Aroma test Which of today’s wines is this? Think of characteristic aromas!

58. Best value Which of today’s range offers best value?

59. Next session Wednesday 13 April 2011 at 2.30pm Wines of Iberia, Italy, etc