Don't wine about your homework!!

I have mixed feelings about homework.

As a kid, I did not like it and would procrastinate and complain and wheedle to avoid having to do it....

....except when it was a project I really enjoyed. I remember when I was in Grade 5 or 6 and I did a project on the history of Vancouver. This was long before the time of the internet and I had to work really hard to find old photos and find information of how the city began and grew.  I spent hours writing in my best handwriting, cutting and pasting photos, and drawing my own versions of maps and pictures. It was a labour of love.

Now that I am a teacher, I still have mixed feelings. On one hand it teaches students independence and study skills. On the other hand, it has little research to validate the practice and can be an endless battle of compliance. But, every so often, a student gets so into a project that they are happy to do hours of extra work at home.

Our homework this week in wine class for the WSET Level 2 course was another absolutely enjoyable one. We were supposed to drink a wine from a warm climate and a wine from a cool climate.

Today we were at my father-in-law's to help him sort through his collection of family heirlooms.  He encouraged me to select some wine for dinner so I chose a red and a white that I hoped would go with pulled pork sandwiches. I also hoped to fulfill my homework requirements!

 

The first was a Beaujolais from Georges DuBoef ($13.99). I had chilled the wine earlier, hoping to get it near the optimal temperature of 13°C. I used to think that Beaujolais was a grape varietal, even when I made wine in my basement, but more recently found out that the Gamay Noir grape is the varietal for Beaujolais. It was my hot climate wine but I later found out that Beaujolais is more of a moderate climate wine.

The colour was ruby and was pale.

The nose was medium to pronounced - so I guess I'd have to settle on medium. It was fairly complex for a Beaujolais as I tasted red cherry, plum, cranberry (sort of like craisins), raisin and strawberry jam.

I tasted similar flavours on the palate with light tannins, medium acidity, and light body. The wine had a rather short finish which was a bit disappointing.

Looking at the BLICE rating - it was balanced, not long, not that intense, somewhat complex and probably expressive for the region. I would rate it as Good or even Very Good.

The second was a cool climate wine - even though it comes from the Okanagan! I consider the Okanagan a hot place in the summer but, thanks to its cool nights and plentiful lakes, I think it is actually considered cool. Possibly I really screwed up and ended up picking two moderate wines....

The wine was an Ancient Hill  Gerwurztraminer from 2011 (not sure of its value but a 2014 goes for $16.50). It was a clean wine, lemon in colour, that was pale.

On the nose was green apple, lemon and floral notes.

On the palate, apple, caramel, and buttery flavour, and flowers. The body was medium body and had a medium finish.

According to BLICE, it was balanced well, had OK length, was not terribly intense, was not overly complex and was pretty expressive for its region.

I would rate this one as Good.

Ah, Homework!