After a decade of teaching wine courses for many organizations, I have finally gotten around to digitizing much of my data for a new internet start-up. In doing so, I have been left with very little time to organize the physical wine classes I have done for Sommelier Wine Academy, Sommelier Society of America, Sherry-Lehmann, Winebow and Martin-Scott Wines. So now I am working to offer my classes virtually through the social sphere.

And so it begins here.

#vineclass grape genus = vitis, best wines are from vitis vinifera family

#vineclass vitis vinifera family tree here http://ow.ly/cee0I

#vineclass others vitis used occasionally = labrusca, riparia, rotundifolia, rupestris, aestivalis, mustangensis & hybrids

#vineclass vitis vinifera perform best in climates generally found between 30-50 longitude + or – http://ow.ly/ceiAd 

#vineclass hybrids are cross between species: vitis vinifera x vitis labrusca, historically done for heartyness in cold climes

#vineclass a famed hybrid is vidal blanc http://ow.ly/ccoaa which makes Icewine in Canada http://ow.ly/ceesc

#vineclass term Terroir = scary french term for wine meaning combo of grape & place & practices & culture http://ow.ly/ceeDX

#vineclass AOC or AVA or DOC… yadda yadda all represent some form of appellation or place definition for wine

#vineclass the TTB oversee’s AVA in US http://ow.ly/cef4i INOA for French wines & regions

#vineclass wine is produced through fermentation. Fermentation = turning sugar into alcohol and other things…

#vineclass fermentation is Sugar+Yeast=Alcohol+Carbon Dioxide or C2H12O6+yeast =2C2H5OH=2CO2+heat

#vineclass wine grapes like vineyards that are: temperate, poor soils, a bit of water, airflow, good drainage, sunlight http://ow.ly/cefYO

#vineclass brix are a unit of sugar, amount of brix in a grape help determine resulting potential alcohol.

#vineclass table wine allowed to have 8-14% alcohol, fortified wines 17-22% wine above 14% must list within 1.5% in US, 0.5% elsewhere

#vineclass winemaking process: white= destem press, juice separation, ferment, maturing, racking, fining, filtering, bottling, btl maturing

#vineclass catwalk over fermenting tank @paumanokwine http://ow.ly/ceiMd

#vineclass winemaking process: red= destem press, ferment, maturing, racking, fining, filtering, bottling, btl maturing

#vineclass red wines come from black grapes, juice is colorless, color comes from skin http://ow.ly/ceiU6

#vineclass white wine can be made from black grapes, just remove skin before fermentation: example is Blanc de Noirs Champagne

#vineclass oxygen is very important in winemaking, controlling it during fermentation and maturation will effect finished wine

#vineclass @paumanokwine Chardonnay aging reductively in steel, glass & oak http://ow.ly/ceiWV

#vineclass ask Michel Rolland or watch Mondovino to learn more about micro-oxygenation

#vineclass ask Riesling & Pinot Grigio producers about reductive winemaking (little oxygen)

#vineclass there are between 450-500 molecular components in wine, 200+ have aromas

#vineclass wine= 85-90% H20, 10-15 Ethyl Alc, .7 Glycerol, .4 Tartaric Acid, .7 Malic A., .5 Lactic A., .1 Succinic A., .4 Residual Sugar, .2 Phenolic Compounds, .2 Potassium

#vineclass sugar in wine- 1gram/liter is found in driest of wines, a minimum of 2g/l is in most dry wines.

#vineclass 10g/l is the common threshold for humans to perceive sweetness, below 10g/l most people with think dry

#vineclass tannins: think the texture of inside of a lemon rind (pith) or puckery, drying, astringent

#vineclass tannins are found in the grape skins and in the oak wine is matured in: fruit tannins vs. wood tannins

#vineclass most tannic wine grapes are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, Syrah & Tannat

#vineclass whites aren’t fermented with skins so tannins only come from any oak treatment; exception is Sauv Blanc touch of Tannin there

#vineclass wood tannins: tight grain = less; air dried staves = less, split staves = less; heavy toast = less http://ow.ly/cej34

#vineclass old oak staves used in as wall in Ernesto Catena tasting loft in Buenos Aires http://ow.ly/cei75

#vineclass most aromas from Esters: oderless acids combine w/oderless alcohols to produce aromas happens both aerobically & anaerobically

#vineclass anaerobically combined esters happen during fermentation, aerobically 1s happen during barrel & bottle ageing

#vineclass esterfication of wine is when acids combining with alcohol creates perception of less of both

#vineclass many of our most famous wine grapes are crosses of others, Cabernet Sauvignon was one of the first discovery of this

#vineclass Cabernet Sauvignon has 2 parents: Cab Franc & Sauv Blanc; Carol Meredith of UC Davis DNA research discovered http://ow.ly/ceinG