Je t'aime, Bordeaux! WSET 3.4

I loved this week's class.

This week was all about Bordeaux - and I think Bordeaux is my very favourite wine.

Bordeaux is on the west coast of France and is split into two main regions, the left bank and the right bank.

The right bank is mostly clay soil so Merlot is the primary grape with some support from Cab Sauv and Cab Franc. There are places like Pomerol and St. Emillon that are very famous producers of this style of wine. It is excellent wine, undoubtedly, but my preference is for the other side of the Garonne River.

The left bank, ooh - la - la, is the home of the Cabernet Sauvignon focused blends which grow in more gravelly soils. There is still Cab Franc and Merlot (and, optionally, Malbec and Petit Verdot) but the driving force of these grippy, structured wines is Cabernet Sauvignon. The famous places include St. Estephe, Paulliac, St. Julien, and Margaux in the upper (Medoc) region and Pessac-Leognan, and Graves to the south. These might possibly be my favourite wines to drink in the world.

Courtesy the Wine Cellar Insider

Bordeaux wines can be pretty pricey - there are some that are thousands of dollars - but you can pick up a decent one for $40 to $60 - particularly something like a Cru Bourgeois, which chateaux have to apply for each year based on the quality of their wine. If you were to spend around $100 (definitely special occasion) you could find some exceptional wines. Only thing is, you probably would want to wait five to ten years to drink them!

The ranking system is interesting. In Medoc only, the top wines are called Grand Cru Classé. This category is divided into five 'growths' with first growth being the top wines. All of this ranking came from Napoleon III and the classification he directed in 1855. Little has changed since then. There's also Cru Bourgeois for those wineries that were too small or weren't around 150 years ago. In Graves, the better wines are just called Cru Classé - there are no growths. And in St. Emillon, they have another system with St. Emillon AOC at the bottom, then, St. Emillon Grand Cru Classé, and finally Premier Grand Cru Classé which is divided into A and B. All of these classifications had had their problems over the years.

Courtesy Wander and Wine

The other area we looked at was Alsace, a region of France bordering on Germany, which is home of mostly white wines including Riesling (dry style), Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Muscat and some other grapes (Auxerrois, Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner). It is the only French region that I am aware of that has the varietal of wine on the label. They do have some sweet wines - Vendages Tardine which is basically Late Harvest wine where the grapes have undergone passerillage (drying of grapes on the vine) and Selection de Grains Nobles where wines have undergone Noble Rot.

When buying an Alsace wine, there is the Alsace AOC (must be 100% varietal) and then the Alsace Grand Cru AOC (which must be made from one of the four Noble Grape varieties (Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Muscat). Much simpler than Bordeaux!

And now, some tasting....

We started off with wines from Alsace. We were given three and told that each was a different Noble Grape. Our group was able to easily figure out which wine was which.

The 2015 Trimbach Riesling ($60) was a bone dry Riesling with high acid, high alcohol, medium body, medium plus flavour and a medium finish. Definite tastes of apple, lemon, honey, flint and even a bit of petrol. I couldn't decide between Good and Very Good but this one could probably age a bit.

The Pinot Gris was a 2016 Domaine Mersiol ($36) from Alsace, of course. It had some nice fruit flavours including peach, apricot, nectarine and honeysuckle as well as some floral notes. Lynn, our instructor,  felt it was a Very Good wine and had ageing potential although I really like my Pinot Gris wines to be as fruity and floral as possible. I feel that way about most white wines.

The final wine of the three was a 2017 Late Harvest Gewürztraminer from Kuhlmann-Platz ($25). Although youthful, this wine had a complex array of flavours including peach, apricot, pineapple, lychees, roses and ginger. I thought it was high alcohol but Lynn, our instructor, said that it was probably because of the ginger that I was tricked into thinking it was higher than it actually was. I thought it was Outstanding but I think the consensus was Very Good as not everyone felt it had a long enough finish. It was, however, balanced, intense, and complex. A steal for $25!

The next three were from Bordeaux - my faves! One was a white, one was left bank and one was right bank.

The white was a Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blend (about 80% SB) and was a 2011 Les Hauts de Smith from Pessac Leognan ($83). This wine had some great flavours but I missed a few of them so I will put what the class consensus was - grass, peach, lemon, pear, toast, mushroom, and vanilla. This was aged in barrels on the lees to give it a nice, buttery finish. This is another wine that had ageing potential and was rated Outstanding (although I had only rated it as Very Good).

The right bank wine was a 2012 Chateau Barde-Haut Grand Cru from St. Emillon ($96). There was both red and black fruit on this including cherries and plums as well as toast, leather, and wet leaves. It had less tannins than the next wine, surprising as it is two years younger, and also had a wonderful velvety mouth feel. If all Merlots tasted like this, I would drink it a LOT more often!

The left bank wine was a 2010 Chateau Capbern Gasqueton from St. Estephe ($126). I tasted black cherry, black plum, cedar, tobacco, and green pepper. It was an earthy wine that had some grippy tannins but still had great structure to it. Definitely could age and was rated Outstanding. My favourite wine of the course so far....

We had another Bordeaux and a wine from Cahors to round out the reds.

The Bordeaux wine was a 2010 Cru Bourgeois from Chateau Dasvin-Belair in Haut Medoc ($45). This was a great price and it had some interesting aromas and tastes including red cherry, green paper, pepper, black plum, toast, tobacco and cedar. Although its finish wasn't as long as the previous two, it was balanced, intense, and complex and definitely ready to drink - Very Good!

The wine from Cahors was a 2016 Gouleyant Malbec. It was OK - red berries, red currant, cranberry, and some smoke - but was a bit of a let down after the previous three. It was a Good wine and was ready to drink. 

Finally, we had a sweet wine from Sauternes. Unfortunately, this 2013 Chateau Armajan Des Ormes  ($39) at the end of the class and was a bit rushed. Suffice it to say that it was quite sweet due to noble rot and had oak and vanilla amongst its flavour profile as well as high acid.

A good wine but Bordeaux reds is where my heart is.

This weekend, our provincial liquor stores are having a release of the 2015 Bordeaux wines. I already bought a couple last week at Everything Wine but I have my eye on two or three in the special catalogue that they produced. Looking forward to some grippy, structured, wonderful wines!

Hands up! A wine class disaster ends up being sweet - WSET 3.3

My third  WSET 3 class was a bit of a disaster - at least at the beginning.

One of the things I look forward to is having a poké rice bowl before class at Pokerito. I left at 4:30, thinking I would get to BCIT in 45 minutes and, because there would be no line up that early, would have a good 30 to 40 minutes to enjoy my tasty dinner.

Unfortunately, it didn't work that way.

By the time I got to BCIT, it was after 5:30. I rushed to Pokerito and there was a line up of about six people. I finally got my bowl and then rushed back to BCIT and started gobbling down my meal. Then, Sarah, from last week, sat down across from me in the outer area and I couldn't be rude so I picked at my dinner while we chatted.

When I went into the room for the study session, things went pretty well until it was time to answer the study question. Unfortunately, I have already lost my name card so the instructor looked my way and called on 'Doug' to answer. I corrected her and then answered - problem is, the guy sitting across from me is actually named Doug and that's who she meant to call on!

Ugh!

This week's focus was on making wine - red, white, rosé and sweet. Although this is an area that I am familiar with, especially since I made wine in my basement for a few years, there are still many things such as winemaking options and the ways that specific varietals are treated that I really have to study. One thing that irked me - I took copious notes on the specific varietals and our instructor didn't go over it that much, although she alluded to the information during the tastings.

My notes that I made from the readings were pretty thorough and I used them to follow along during class. There's a lot of content, especially this past week, but I am hoping that the countries and regions, which are the focus for the next ten weeks or so, will be a bit easier to remember and give some context for what we have learned so far.

Onto this week's tastings....

The idea behind the tastings this week was to  try and figure out the choices made in the vineyard and by the winemaker. It was really difficult! Luckily, this isn't a focus on the tasting exam but it was good to try and be aware of the choices.

The first two wines were white wines.

Courtesy Cuvée Corner Blog

The 2015 Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc from Casablanca, Chile ($18) was a grassy almost clear wine. It had some citrus aromas and tastes such as grapefruit and lemon, was light bodied, and had high acidity. It was made without any oxygen (anaerobically) to preserve the fruitiness of the wine, has no oak, and was fermented at around 16 or 17°C. Ready to drink now, this wine was not terribly balanced, had a fairly short finish, had acceptable intensity, and was not a complex wine. This we rated as acceptable.

In contrast, the 2016 Mer Soleil Chardonnay from the Santa Lucia Highlands ($39) was much better. There were some interesting flavours and aromas including peach, nectarine, apricot, and vanilla. It was a wine that was fermented aerobically (with some oxygen). was oaked, had a bit of age on it, and was fermented at a higher temperature. It was a balanced wine with a long finish and great intensity but was not overly complex. This was rated as very good.

The next two wines were red wines.

The first was a Georges DuBoeuf Beaujolais made from Gamay ($16). I was a bit stumped on what this even was - some of my group thought pinot noir but I thought it was something else - but not merlot, cab sauv, or cab franc.  I remember drinking this for a while back before I really knew all that much about wine but near the end of my own wine making experience. It was a wine with black and red fruits as well as a candy or bubble gum taste. The main winemaking option was carbonic fermentation where the bunches of grape ferment in CO2 in a closed vat. This gives fruitiness, more colour and less tannins. Ready to drink, this wine was acceptable.

The second of this set was a 2011 Brovia Villero Barolo Nebbiolo ($124). I tasted a lot of red fruit on it which made me think it was a Pinot Noir but our instructor noted high tannins, mushrooms, violets, liquorice, and roses. This wine had gone through pre and probably post fermentation maceration (where the grape skins stay in the juice), cap management (where the grape must is punched down on a regular basis), oak, and light extraction of flavours. After Elena, our pourer, mentioned that it was an unexpected grape and gave the hint, "it's a wine that's old when it's young," I knew it was Nebbiolo! This wine was good to drink now but could spend lots more time in the cellar. This was an outstanding wine!

The next two wines were the same grape but treated (wildly) different. The grape was Zinfandel.

The first was a 2017 Gallo Family White Zinfandel ($9). This medium sweet Rosé was invented by Bob Trinchero in California and was the result of a mistake! I listened to this podcast recently on Grape Nation and actually enjoyed finding out the story behind this super sweet wine. That said, it is not my favourite wine. This acceptable wine is medium sweet with low alcohol, light body, candy red fruit and vanilla. In the winery. it was directly pressed with a short maceration and had the fermentation stopped so that not all of the sugar turned to alcohol, creating a sweet wine.

The second Zinfandel was a 2014 Ridge East Bench Zinfandel from Dry Creek, Sonoma ($63). This definitely had some oak on it as there were tastes of raspberry, cloves, liquorice, blackberry and spice. This high alcohol wine was dry, had good acid, and medium tannins - it was intense, complex and had a long length. We rated this wine as very good.  

Our final two wines were sweet wines. People often think that sweet wines (like the above White Zin) are for beginning drinkers and, if you can't feel the enamel coming off your teeth, it isn't a dry enough wine. I have since discovered, however, that there are sweet wines that are complex and wonderful and are wines for connoisseurs!

The first one, which I guessed correctly, was an ice wine. It was a 2015 Arrowleaf Vidal Ice Wine ($56 for a half bottle). This had some complex flavours including peach, nectarine, honey, fig, raisin and vanilla. Its sweetness was kept in check by its high acidity.The winemaking process included no oak, pure flavour and some pear drop flavours which would indicate lower temperature fermentation. I'm not a huge fan of ice wine but this one was pretty darn good.

The final wine was a lusciously sweet recioto - a 2014 Ben Ryé Donnafugata Passito di Pantelleria from Italy ($54 for half a bottle). With Recioto wines, the grapes are picked, then laid out in the sun and they become raisins, concentrating their sugars. This is called Passito style. When it is fermented, the fermentation is stopped early (unlike Amarone, another Passito style) so it is very sweet - but also highly acidic. This wine, made from Muscat, is definitely oxidized in the winemaking process (the colour was actually amber) and had considerable oak. The flavours including orange peel zest, raisin, fig, and marmalade. It was very tasty! This is my first Recioto but will definitely not be my last! Bonus - it supposedly pairs really well with chocolate!

And I Would Walk 500 More - Naramata Wine Walk Pt. 2

Waiting to order a fabulous dinner at  Poplar Grove in Penticton

By the time we left Bench 1775, we were more than halfway through of our walk. That was a good thing because time was marching on and most of the wineries closed by five.

Continuing on our somewhat epic wine walk from Naramata, we left the Bench 1775 winery and continued to head south on Naramata Road. As it was now the afternoon, it was starting to get a bit hotter. Luckily the wineries weren't quite as far apart. Even more luckily, there were some wineries that were very close to the actual road, rather than up or down a humungous hill.

As we rounded the curve on the road, we came upon Black Widow Winery. I had never heard of this winery before and was intrigued by its name, thinking that it was probably more flash than substance. Happily, I was wrong. The wines were all very good, as attested by the John Schreiner poster that was subtly tacked on the wall of the wine shop.

Our host's name was James and he had a good knowledge of the different wines. Black Widow is a very small winery that has limited production and is only open form noon until 4pm.

First up was their 2017 Sparkling Web ($24), a frizzante style bubbly (which means gentle bubbles) that had a nice citrusy taste to it.  It is made from two white grapes, Gewürztraminer and Muscat Ottonel. Great patio bubbles.

Next was the 2017 Muscat Ottonel ($25) - because if it's good in the bubbles, it's gotta be good on its own! I was a bit surprised that my wife liked it so much as it was a touch sweet but it had some nice acidity that kept everything in check. Another good patio wine which would also go with something with a bit of spice.

Finally, the favourite wine for me was the 2016 Phobia ($29). This blend of Syrah and Merlot was a little softer than your typical Syrah but spicier than your average Merlot. There were some tannins in the wine but I think it would be a good one to have in the next year or so. This was a very dark wine but tasted mostly of red fruit.

We continued up the hill - and ended up at Hillside Winery. Our host at this winery was Barbara and she was wonderful. I put "very nice tasting" and later "really good tasting" in my notes so I was obviously impressed by how she welcomed us, took the time to showcase the wines, and was very knowledgable about the wines.

The 2016 Reserve Viognier ($24) was our first wine and I really liked it. Viognier is a bit of a different taste from other whites but I love the peachy flavour and the slightly thicker feel to the liquid. This would be great with duck, pork, and many other grilled meats. It would also be good with some Upper Bench brie!

I do like a fragrant Gerwurz and the 2017 Gerwurztraminer ($20) was not a disappointment. This was a bit off dry and won gold at the all Canadian wine competition. I really think the Okanagan is doing a fabulous job with Gewurz right now and this is proof positive.

Finally, from Hillside, the 2015 Syrah ($26), This one had definite white pepper on the palate with medium tannins and a rich, long finish. This one might go into the cellar for a year or two.

It seemed a bit more of a walk as we made our way to the next winery. There was a hint of moisture in the air and, for a moment, we were worried that we might get rained on. However, the threat passed and we continued on our way. We came to three wineries that were cheek to jowl and decided to visit two of them.

The first of the two was Red Rooster, a likeable name with likeable wines.  Stephanie was the person who did our tasting and did a super job, as did almost everyone on this wine tour. I was very impressed by the enthusiasm and expertise of the people doing the tastings.

Our first wine that we bought was a 2016 Riesling ($17). I'll be honest; I used to think that Synchromesh was the only excellent Riesling in the Okanagan. This trip has shown me something else. This was a very nice off dry wine that would be great for just sipping - and that's important in summer!

Next was the 2017 Rosé ($25). This is made from nine different varietals, predominantly Pinot Blanc and  Malbec. A very interesting blend and a taste to match! Definitely fruity but with a nice soft finish.

Finally, we had the 2015 Meritage ($35) which was a wonderful blend of Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. This was a wonderful, powerful, exciting wine and I will probably cellar it for a couple of years.

Practically next door was Little Engine Wines. I have to give a big shout out to the tasting room associate, Solana. Here it was, 5 minutes before closing time, and two sweaty travellers stumble through the door for yet another tasting. Instead of trying to get it over with, she took her time with us and was wonderful; friendly, helpful and enthusiastic. She brought the whole experience up a notch.

When we actually started the tastings, we had some very nice wines. The first wine that we really liked was the 2017 Caboose Rosé ($25).  It's made from Merlot and Pinot Noir and was a very nice, rich Rosé with a deep rich colour.

They say that Pinot Noir is a grape that the Okanagan should specialize in - and we really enjoyed the Silver Pinot Noir ($35). This was a smooth, red fruit wine that is supposedly good until 2023! Not sure if I will risk that as I am a little gun shy about aging Pinot Noir wine after my Tinhorn Creek disaster!

By the time we were finished doing our tasting at Little Engine, it was past five and the time for tastings was over. That left only one option - dinner!

We headed back down the road and walked for another 30 minutes until we arrived at our last stop, Poplar Grove.  Of course, we didn't have a reservation, not knowing when we would arrive. The host at the front said that it would be an hour wait but I told him (with just a hint of a catch in my voice) our saga of walking from Naramata and that this was our destination - our Valhalla! After checking with the manager, happily, he was able to seat us on the gorgeous patio of the Vanilla Pod restaurant.

When we were at Little Engine, Solana told us to be sure to have the potato cakes for an appetizer if we had dinner at Poplar Grove. That's exactly what we did and they were unbelievably good! I envisioned little crab cakes made with potatoes but, instead, we were served a riot of shredded potatoes, salsa and avocado. For dinner, my wife had their pasta special while I had the duck breast - it must have been a pretty big duck...  Both entrees were amazing! Highly recommended.

We accompanied our delicious meal with a bottle of Poplar Grove 2017 Blanc de Noirs Rosé ($22). We loved the Rosé so much that we bought a couple more bottles to take home- it was light and crisp and is the perfect food friendly Rosé.

My wife commented that the restaurant had French service - there was no hurry to get the food out and we really enjoyed the slower pace. We find that, far too often, a dinner out goes way too fast and we are in and out in an hour or so. This time we spent well over two hours enjoying the food, the wine, the excellent service, and the amazing view.

After splitting a vanilla gelato, we paid our bill (a little pricey, but well worth it after our trip) and took a taxi back to our motel in Naramata.

I checked my phone - we had walked over 20km in our wine touring and had visited eight wineries - a wonderful wine walk!

Any Port in the storm - really! WSET Class #8 - Part 2

After my dismal Sherry tasting - dismal because I really did not enjoy it - we had a break and then went on to try Port.

Before this class, I really didn't know the difference between Sherry and Port. It all seemed the same to me. But after this week's class, I have a better idea of the differences between these two fortified beverages. More importantly, I now know which one I like...

Port is usually made with black grapes and is alway fortified during the fermentation. Why is that important? The fortification interrupts the fermentation so there is always residual sugar left over. That means that Port is always sweet. And, it can also be really, really good!

Our first Port was a Tawny Port. Tawny Ports are a mix of red and wine Ports and are aged 10, 20, 30 or 40 years - so they are ready to drink when you buy them. The one we tried was a Ramos Pinto 10 year old Port that cost $39 (already, you can see the price differential between Sherry and Port). It was medium tawny in colour - which is sort of a red-brown colour - the older the port, the lighter the colour. It had medium intensity and had chocolate, cherry and prune aromas on the nose. On the palate there was, in addition, plum, jam and cloves. It was off dry with medium acidity, medium body and a medium finish. I didn't write down the overall rating so, from what I remember, I would give it a Good rating.

The Sherries we tasted before the break all were given a Very Good rating by Dave but I did not like any of them. I am not a sweet wine lover but this first Port was pretty good! I quite enjoyed it and like it much more than any of the Sherries.

The second Port was even better! It was a LBV (Late Bottle Vintage) Port The Port is made from wine from the same year (in this case, 2011), and is aged 4 to 6 years in casks. It is ready to drink when you open it and sometimes has sediment so may have to be decanted. After it is opened, you should drink it like wine, because it is only good for a couple of days.

We tried a Fonseca Port which was unfiltered (so had to be decanted). This $33 bottle had 20% alcohol - which is the same for all Ports - had medium minus intensity on the nose and had aromas of cherry, pepper and a medicinal smell. On the palate, there was black cherry, liquorice, and other black fruit. It had medium acidity, medium tannins and was off dry. I would rate this one as Good as well. A great pairing with cheese and chocolate.

The final Port was a Vintage Port - these must be decanted and are the best of the Ports. They are made from the best grapes and are only made in the best years. The one we had was a W. and J. Graham's 2011 Vintage Port. It was deep ruby and had medium plus intensity on the nose. There were many different black fruits on the nose including black currants and black berry. On the palate there was raisin, kirsch, and a wonderful jamminess along with spices. There was a lot going on there but it was hard to pick out some of the tastes because it was rather complex. It had medium tannins and medium plus acidity and was an off dry wine with a long finish. This wine was $109 and was Very Good - maybe even Outstanding.

I never thought of myself as a Port drinker but this changed my mind. It was an amazing wine. One of my group, Rajen, said that it was either his favourite or second favourite wine that we had tasted in the course! The only problem I see is that you have to consume it in a day - that's right - a Vintage Port should be decanted for a couple of hours and then consumed on the day you open it!

We finished off with two Sweet Fortified Muscats. The first was a Vin Doux Naturel from France (naturally).

The first was a 2015 Domaine de la Pigeade Muscat de Beaumes de Venise worth $35 for a half bottle and was pale, gold and clear. It had medium intensity on the nose with perfumed aromas of apple, pear and stone fruit. On the palate, there was additionally lychee, pineapple and vanilla. It was a sweet wine with medium plus acidity, medium body and a medium finish. Dave said that this one was near the end of its life as Muscat de Beaumes de Venise should be consumed when young.

The second was a Rutherglen Muscat (from Australia this time) and was the second sweetest wine there is, the first being PX Sherry.

Campbell's Rutherglen was $27 for a half bottle and was 17.5% alcohol. It was clear and medium amber in colour. It had medium intensity on the nose with aromas of stone fruit and tropical fruit.. On the palate, I tasted syrup - plain and simple. Being lusciously sweet, it was difficult enough to figure out what the tastes were besides syrup and sugar but this wine was über luscious! It was rated Good but I did not enjoy how syrupy sweet it was. It made my teeth hurt!

So, looking back on the class, I found that I didn't like Sherry at all, actually like Port - and loved Vintage Port, and didn't like sweet fortified Muscats all that much because they were so sweet. I know that Port is sweet, but not overly sweet and Port is sweet enough to counter the alcohol taste.

Now, back to studying - I have an exam to write next time!

Sweet Barrel-O-Wine! WSET class #7 - Part 2

Hmm - it seems that Class #7 has a Neil Diamond focus; first it was Cracklin' Rose (well, Cracklin' Champagne ) and then Sweet Barrel-O-Wine (rhymes with Sweet Caroline?).

The second half of the class looked at sweet wines - not my favourite, but important, all the same.

First, the lesson. There are a few ways that you can make wines sweet.

Interrupting the fermentation is the first one we looked at. This can be done by removing the yeast, fortifying the wine (like adding sulphur dioxide or alcohol) which is what they do to Port and to fortified muscats like Muscat de Beams de Venise.

The second way to sweeten wine is to add a sweet component to the blend. One way is to add unfermented grape juice (süssreserve), like in a German liebfraumilch, but the juice has to be made of the same type of grape as the wine. The second way is to add sweet wine. One famous one to add is called PX with stands for Pedro Ximenez which is a super sweet, almost honey-like wine that is used for sweet Sherry.

The last way to sweeten wine is to concentrate the sugars in the grapes. This is done by using dry grapes, either on the vine, like late harvest wines (e.g. spätlese) or letting the grapes dry on racks, etc., until they are like raisins which concentrates the flavours in wines such as Recioto (made form Corvina grape) or PX - the sweetest wine of the world. Another way to do this is by using noble rot  where grapes are in a damp area and develop a specific type of mould. The mould attack the grape and causes it to shrivel. This has to be done with grapes that are highly acidic and thinned skin.  The final way to concentrate sugars is freezing the grapes to make Ice Wine!

Our first wine was from Pantelleria which is an island that is south of Sicily. This wine (I believe it was a Recioto) was deep amber in colour and had medium plus intensity with aromas of raisin, fig, prune and a bit of floral. On the palate, it was nutty, raisin, vanilla, sultanas, and a jammy hint. It was sweet (almost lucsious) had medium plus acidity, full body, and a medium plus finish. This wine was rated as Very Good and was a Passito di Pantelleria made by Donna Fugato ($40 for 375 ml).

The second was a Noble Rot wine. It was from Vouvray (which is in the Loire region) and was made with Chenin Blanc.The colour was medium gold and it had a medium plus intensity on the nose, with aromas of raisin, earth, and lots of stone fruit. On the palate, there was jam, plum, fig, fresh fruit and, again, an earthiness. It was a sweet wine with high acidity, medium plus body and a medium plus finish. This 2005 wine from Nectar Moncontour was also rated as Very Good and cost $72 for 500 ml.

Next up was a Tokaji wine - our instructor's favourite wine! It was medium gold in colour and had medium intensity on the nose with aromas of marmalade, peach, apricot and tropical fruits like mango. On the palate, it had flavours of tech, pineapple and apricot jam with an earth flavour. It was a sweet wine with high acidity, medium body and a long finish. Tokaji wines are rated on sweetness by puttanyos which range from 3 to 6 - this one had 5 puttonyos. This 2009 Tokaji from Chateau Dereszla had 11.5% alcohol,  cost $50, and pairs well with veal and chicken.

The final wine was soooo sweet. If you like sweet wines, this is the one. It was medium gold in colour, and had a medium plus intensity on the nose with aromas of raisin, lychee and pineapple. It was a lusciously sweet wine (the level above sweet is officially called 'luscious') and had tastes of pineapple, raisin and apricot. There was high acidity, full body, and a long finish with 7.5% alcohol. This was a Mission Hill Reseve Riesling Icewine from 2014. It pairs well with cheese and costs $56 for 375 ml.

I definitely learned a lot about both sparkling and sweet wines during this class of my WSET. I was able to pinpoint the tastes that makes sparkling Champagne so desirable and I have an understanding of how sweet wines can really vary.

Our next class deals with Port and Sherry - two wines that I am not all that familiar with. Time for some more learning!