Perfect time to lock down your wine education

While it isn’t business as usual, I’ve been making the most of courses, webinars and wine chats that have been available online.

That has given me the chance to “attend” seminars that I wouldn’t normally be able to get to.

Doing what I do, you never stop learning, as there is often an emerging region or rediscovered grape to get to know.

I don’t think twice about tasting wine at 11 in the morning if I’m at a tasting, but it doesn’t seem appropriate when I’m learning via a screen in my home study.

I mean, what would the neighbours think?

So these webinars have been “dry” apart from a cup of tea, but that hasn’t detracted from the wealth of information that has been imparted.

My educator friend, Wink Lorch, who spends part of her time in the French Alps and the Jura region, was the focus of a recent excellent webinar.

It’s a region that I haven’t yet had the chance to visit, but it is firmly on my wish list.

Firstly Wink busted a few Jura myths.

Jura and Savoie are often linked when talking about French regions but they are a three-hour drive apart, whereas the Burgundy wine town of Beaune and Arbois in Jura are only one hour apart.

Vineyards aren’t as high as you might think, most lie between 250450 metres.

While there are some unusual grapes such as the white Savagnin and thin-skinned red Poulsard, Chardonnay accounts for around 42% of plantings, and with its typical versatility, appears in sparkling Cremant du Jura and “ouille” or “topped up” wines which spend time ageing in small oak barrels that are filled right to the top to prevent oxidation.

It is usual wine-making practice to fill barrels to the top, but the Jura region is probably best known for Vin Jaune even though the style accounts for only 5% of all white wine production.

A Vin Jaune is always made from the Savagnin grape which is genetically the same as Traminer.

After fermentation, a wine destined to be a Vin Jaune is transferred to barrel and usually not filled to the top. The barrels are stored in ventilated cellars which can be at ground level and as you have a gap, a veil of yeast forms on top of the wine as it does with Fino Sherry production giving a distinctive style of wine that is bottled a minimum of six years and three months after harvest.

If you would like to learn more about Jura Wines, as well as food and travel in the region, Wink’s book, Jura Wine, is a must.

Her recent release, Wines of the French Alps, covers areas such as Savoie and Bugey and was the subject of another great webinar.

Both books are self-published and available from winetravelmedia. com/shop/

Unfortunately, Jura wines aren’t widely available in the UK. Try www.thewinesociety.com, Cave de Pyrene, or in Scotland, Edinburgh-based Raeburn Fine Wines and Aldi for Cremant de Jura.

Georgia is another “off the beaten track” wine destination, but is actually thought to be where winemaking began some 8,000 years ago.

The country is about the size of mainland Scotland and its topography is dominated by the Caucasus Mountains and the many sub mountain ranges.

There is a massive diversity when it comes to micro-climates from the moderating influence of the Black Sea, to continental, sub-tropical and Alpine producing everything from tea to apricots, apples and hazelnuts, and that diversity also stretches to wine.

Master of Wine, Sarah Abbot, led this webinar and is obviously captivated by the country and its wines, and by the end of her presentation, she had me wanting to reach for my passport and visit – and that was without even tasting any wine.

There are more than 500 indigenous grapes in Georgia with around 45 used commercially, which is exciting enough, and the Georgian government is assisting with the tracing, revival and reintroduction of old and obscure varieties.

There are nine regions, with around three quarters of production coming from the gently undulating vineyards of Kakheti.

To begin your Georgian wine journey, check out white varieties such as the versatile Rkatsiteli which can make crisp, fresh and fleshy citrus and apple inspired dry whites and traditional skin contact, qvevri aged complex amber (orange) wines; more about those in a moment.

The white Mtsvane is more aromatic and can feature in a range of styles. For red wines, look out for Saperavi.

Unusually, it’s one of only a few black grapes with a pink flesh. Stylistically, it combines structured tannins and fresh acidity with the character of either red berries or darker fruit depending on where it is grown and can be made into dry red, rose, sweet or fortified.

A qvevri is a clay vessel which is dug into the soil inside the cellar (marani).

This provides a natural temperature regulation with smaller qvevri often used for white wine and larger for reds. It’s low-intervention winemaking with a very long history, and many producers make a qvevri wine alongside their other wines.

M&S, Waitrose and thewinesociety.com list a handful of Georgian wines and www.georgianwines.com not only helped my pronunciation of grapes but has a wealth of information and a list of both online and independent stockists.

Finally, if you are looking to fill your time with some online wine studies (glass of wine in hand optional) there is some great free online content available: www.champagnecampus.com/

An initial four-question quiz will guide you to a range of programmes from Champagne Novice to Lover to Enthusiast, you can complete all of them. www.wosa.co.za/applications/wine-course/LoginRegister.aspx I spent a couple of days working through this course from Wines of South Africa.

It’s great if you are new to South African Wine or are looking to refresh and expand your knowledge of the country. riojawineacademy.com/en/home

Back in 2017, I was lucky enough to be accepted on to and complete the programme to become a Rioja Wine Certified Educator.

Rioja Wine has now launched the Rioja Wine Academy with online courses suitable for both wine lovers and the trade. www.wineaustralia.com/education

The Australian Wine Discovered programme has recently been updated and expanded and now covers 25 topics from regions to grape varieties to topical themes.

It’s an excellent resource.

• Carol Brown DipWSET

www.wineuncorkededucation.co.uk/site/home