Unpacking the question

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One of the most significant changes I am making to my Master of Wine study plan is that instead of organizing the syllabus topics and using that as my roadmap, I have gone through past exam questions to figure out what I should be focused on. In the past, studying by syllabus topic has led me down the rabbit’s hole of more and more information, which is fascinating, but maybe not useful for my immediate goals.

The world of wine is ginormous and ever-changing, so looking more closely at how the body of knowledge for the exams is structured will help you evaluate your own study plan. Yes, the syllabus and the exams theoretically reflect the same body of knowledge, but the exams give you further clarity about what you should focus on in any given topic: the absolute must-know information you must master.

Great, but for Theory alone, there are about 27 essays to look at for each vintage (<— wine humor). And I think you should look back for at least ten years. That’s a lot of essays to consider, and there are only 340 days left until the next exam (theoretically). It’s a good thing you’re starting now, eh?

Enter unpacking the question

Before you dive in, you need to unpack the questions. This needs to be done with sufficient time and careful attention, as it will be your roadmap for the next year of your studies. Tim Wildman, MW has a brilliant video explaining this concept of unpacking the question.

Not only will unpacking the question help you find that elusive body of knowledge relevant to the Master of Wine exams, but it will also show you the relative significance of each topic. For example, in my past study schedule, I would have spent a whole week on topics like “rootstocks” and another week on “old vines.” There is a ton of information out there about each so I felt like I was accomplishing something and moving forward.

However, by unpacking the questions, I discovered that these two topics, while important and super fun, are not examined with high frequency. In the past, I have also spent a week on “wine brands” but that topic is examined nearly every year (sometimes more than once!)

So by unpacking the past essay questions, not you not only get a sense of what you should focus on in (within the topic of rootstocks), but you also see how you should be spending your time effectively. In this case, rootstocks and old vines have been folded into one topic called “The Vine” that also includes the annual lifecycle of the vine (so, the vegetative and reproductive cycles each year) and the physiology of the vine (I just feel fancy saying xylem and phloem). And that topic can be covered in one week, while wine brands will take closer to two weeks, and there are many ways to pick apart that topic.

Studying at the airport used to be my specialty.

How to unpack the question

First, you should watch Tim Wildman’s video. Next, I suggest that you take ten years’ worth of papers and carefully read each past essay question to identify the topic.

What are the most critical considerations for selecting rootstock when establishing a new vineyard?

Ok – the topic is rootstock. This essay is examining your knowledge and understanding of issues related to rootstocks. Now, what is the focus of this essay, as identifying the focus will allow you to use your time most effectively.

What are the most critical considerations for selecting rootstock when establishing a new vineyard?

How to select rootstocks, right? Not quite. I would say the focus here is on the critical considerations for selecting rootstocks. So instead of writing every consideration you can think of for selecting rootstocks (and there are many), you need to focus on the critical ones, the most important ones.

So get unpacking!

From this example, you can see that by unpacking past exam questions, I not only figured out how to allocate my time more effectively but also know where to focus my time when I do sit down to study rootstocks.

And, yes, the examiners do not always repeat questions so that the body of knowledge is finite. But as you get out there and talk to people about their rootstocks, you will discover the real-world headaches and controversies so that you are prepared for new ways of looking at rootstocks. You should be hitting the books for your base of knowledge, and then really understanding the wine world by talking to people across the industry to understand the practical realities.

Once again, I’m not a Master of Wine, so I can’t guarantee this is the best approach, but I hope this discussion was helpful to you when planning your own studies.

Godforsaken Grapes by Jason Wilson

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I have been part of several book clubs over the past two decades, but I have always wished for a wine-centric book club. Obviously, “book club” is Latin for “wine drinking” so more accurately, I have wanted to have a book club focused on reading wine-related books.

During the recent shutdown, the perfect opportunity to create such a book club presented itself.

I actually bought the Godforsaken Grapes book a while ago but never started reading it until recently. I was familiar with the Robert Parker rant that led to the book’s title, but I was guessing that this would be an equally dogmatic rant about the natural wine movement or some such. Fortunately, it was not.

Instead, the book is part travel book and part wine book as the author weaves story after story of either obscure grapes or obscure winegrowing regions. Jason Young is a very gifted storyteller making this book appropriate for wine newbies and certified cork dorks alike. Some fact-checking errors put me off a bit, but it was more than offset by the amount of research and insights that the author put into the final book.

For your book club
We went out to find wines that were related to the weekly reading assignments, which turned out to be tricky in, sadly, many cases. It’s not a perfect reflection of every last wine mentioned in the book, but it’s a start.

Since we already did the work looking up the wines, I’m sharing it with you. Feel free to use this pdf for your own book club discussion and wine-drinking pleasures.

Enjoy!

Godforsaken Grapes book club

Start with Metalearning

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Alright, so if you’ve gone after any wine credential, WSET, the Court, Wine Scholar Guild, etc., you clearly already love studying wine, and acquiring more and more knowledge about the wine world. But preparing for these higher-level exams has the additional complexity of figuring out how to study and pass these exams.

Different Kinds of Knowledge

Antony Moss, MW, has a document running around MW study groups that lays out the different levels of knowledge. I find this very helpful to review as you start to build your study plan.

Factual recall: At the very basic level of education is factual recall. Just straight-up testing basic knowledge. It’s the what. Priorat is an appellation in Spain.
Explanations: From there, you move into explanations, which is more or less, stating why things are the way that they are. Discuss the style of Priorat.
Analysis and argument: this is where most higher-level wine exams live. Here we move into the theoretical and practical (as in, real-world realities) of how the wine world could be. How can a Priorat winemaker influence the final alcohol level of their wine, and why might this be required?

I can only speak to the Master of Wine exams, but here, we’re not just doing a direct factual recall. That said, you need to remember facts like the legal limits of sulfur dioxide in different countries, or be able to cite your examples to illustrate your book knowledge accurately. But the MW exams are not based on factual recall.

And while some past essay questions do ask for explanations of processes, there will usually be some analysis and argument elements. MW candidates need to move from facts and book learning to demonstrating “applied knowledge.” You need to demonstrate that you know what it’s like in the real world.

Ten years of Examiners’ Reports weighs about four pounds.

I highly recommend printing out the past ten years of the Examiners’ Reports and study them. These reports give you the clues as to what the examiners are looking for a Master of Wine to demonstrate, both in the feedback to individual questions as well as their general comments. Many of these clues are repeated year after year, including one that emphasizes the importance of demonstrating “applied knowledge”.

“In summary, candidates looking to elevate their marks would be well advised to consider first whether they are writing with an appropriate level of depth and detail, secondly whether they are showing evidence of critical analysis. This should all be conveyed in a suitable tone, and underpinned with appropriately chosen examples.”
2019 Examiners’ Report

Start your plan with metalearning

As I mentioned last week, I’ve really been getting into the science of learning, and among my favorite books is one by Scott Young called Ultralearning. This is a guy who learned the curriculum of MIT’s four-year computer science undergrad program in one year, passing the final exams and everything. This guy knows how to design a successful study program.

He defines Ultralearning as a strategy for acquiring skills and knowledge that is both self-directed and intense. Sounds familiar? While parts of the Master of Wine journey are fun, it’s not the kind of study program you can work on when convenient for you.

His first principle of Ultralearning he calls metalearning, which means learning about learning.

My biggest study mistake in years past is that I was studying according to the syllabus. For example, the paper one syllabus mentions rootstocks. Awesome.

With rootstocks in mind, I would then read everything on rootstocks and capture my notes from that reading in a word document called Rootstocks. It was an exhausting process, and I never really got any topics finished because acquiring knowledge can go on forever!

Not only that, but when I finally got around (if ever) to writing a few outlines of past essays, I couldn’t reproduce what I learned. So I went back and studied some more, which would prompt me to go back and try to ‘learn more’ about rootstocks. It was an exhausting cycle.

I was diving into the research linked to the syllabus using resources that I had in front of me. Tim Wildman, MW of WineTutor.TV was the first one to clue me in that candidates’ research should be linked to the EXAMS via the syllabus.

By the way? That’s why I now have the Examiners’ Reports in front of me at all times.

Back to metalearning…the first step is to draw up the map of your plan to learn something. My mistake was that I just used the syllabus, a single word really, and went head-first into books.

Today, before diving into the books, I took a closer look at how these MW syllabus subjects work. I analyzed what kind of skills and information must be mastered for each topic, and thought about what methods are available for me to do this most effectively.

Because understanding what you’re trying to learn will help you evaluate different study plans in order to fit your goals.

Concepts, facts, and procedures

Scott Young in Ultralearning breaks down study topics into three buckets: concepts, facts, and procedures.

This is brilliant.

Using the past exams, think about rootstocks: what are the basic concepts (what do I need to understand about rootstocks). What facts do I need to memorize (all of those examples of who does what where and why). And procedures (understanding grafting of rootstocks might be needed here).

Again, I’m going to use the past exams to guide me in answering those questions. Past exams will help you limit the scope of what you’re trying to study much more effectively than studying the open-ended word ‘rootstocks’ via the syllabus. This is what is meant by your research should be linked to past exams via the syllabus.

Take plenty of time to design your plan

That’s the framework I started to design my study plan with. I took a full three weeks going through the past exams and the Examiners’ Reports to brainstorm about how this body of knowledge is structured, and what kinds of concepts, facts, and procedures I need to master in order to be successful.

Within those three weeks, I did get a little more granular and organized the past exams into specific topics, which will be a future post.

If you’re in the program, you’re already aware that there is no ONE WAY to skin this cat. And, again, I’m not even sure that what I’m doing is ultimately going to be successful. So take all advice with a grain of salt, including mine.

Hopefully though, some of this discussion was useful in helping you design your own study program!

Metalearning (50 weeks to go)

I’m baaaaaack!

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I can’t believe it’s been over a year!

Since we last spoke, I’ve settled into married life and rejoined the Master of Wine program. Long story short, I just completed my petition to move from Stage 1 to Stage 2. The exams were canceled this year due to the flu. Still, they allowed Stage 1 candidates to submit a robust petition (including an online Theory and Practical assessment) to be judged whether we are suitable to advance to Stage 2.

The last part (the online assessment) was last week, and I took a solid 48 hours off before opening the books again.

But I swear! It will be different this year!! I’ll be so much more diligent and tenacious!!! I swear!!! Interesting how a closed-book assessment will always ignite your motivation and commitment again.

How I prepared for Stage 1 Assessment

I have been preparing this year as if I were sitting Stage 2. Or so I thought.

I have been studying topic-by-topic since June 2019.
I have started a file for just definitions.
I have been noting examples as I encounter them.
I have been tasting open-label and tasting blind.

*Vines & Vinification by Sally Easton, MW. My new favorite reference book for Papers 1 to 3.*

But when I really take a hard look at the many hours I have spent, I see that I have been falling back into my old habits: passive study. Just because an activity takes a lot of hours does not mean that it is an effective use of my time, nor does it mean that I am moving any closer to my overall goal. For instance, in the weeks leading up to the assessment, I read, cover-to-cover, my new favorite Paper 1-3 book Vines and Vinification. I made lots of notes based on that reading. True, some of the notes were re-organized into tables so I could digest it faster. Still, despite the mad scramble, I wasn’t really relating any of it directly to the syllabus, or, more importantly, I wasn’t using past essays as a guide to help me figure out what to focus on.

What is the plan now?

As I burned out towards the end of May, I started to redesign my approach to tackling the syllabus, with an eye firmly on the Stage 2 exams.

I dove into the productivity books, the books about how we learn, and the books about how the brain works.

I tore apart past exams. I studied Examiners’ Reports.

I did a brain dump of all the concepts, processes, and facts that I think a successful candidate should know before sitting the Stage 2 examination. Who knows if I have the right ideas.

But I plan to share with you my process of how I am preparing.

Mostly for my own accountability.

Every MW will tell you that there is no single path to achieving the title of Master of Wine. I believe that. But I hope to help ‘pay it forward’ to the community by sharing some of my methods and strategies here.

Watch this space

Past week: what worked, what didn’t work

What worked: I am getting much better brainstorming what I need to know, linking is to the exam via the syllabus. Then going straight to my resources to pull out precisely the information I need. I did catch myself just ‘reading a little bit more’ (also known as Going Down the Rabbit Hole) but curtailed it (for the most part).

What didn’t work: I am underestimating the amount of time it takes to finish a particular task. This probably means that I am still studying passively (see Rabbit Hole above), or worse, that I am trying to get it perfect instead of finished.

I also planned too many tastings at home. Financially as well as productivity-wise. Sometimes it is just too easy to click a few buttons and type in some numbers. I have started tracking expenses more closely…and that run-rate is not sustainable.

Next week’s plan

Sadly, I have a lot of loose threads from this past week (see above). I’m struggling to just let those hang (Must…Be…Perfect…). At the same time, I don’t know how to shrink my study plan even more.

But assuming I have the strength to continue to make progress and move forward, the plan is:

*I just started dipping into A Professor’s Guide to Writing Essays and I love how simple and clearly it is written.*

Theory: I’m not done with this past week (winemaking chemistry such as oxygen, pH, and sulfur dioxide), but I need to move on to QAQC.
Practical: After a whole week on just one grape (Syrah), I will focus on a handful of less-frequently appearing grapes and wine styles: Semillon, Barbera, and ice wine. I’m also tackling one big region: Chilean reds. And I am working on my vocabulary and arguments as it relates to the Practical, so this week, I am taking time to really tear apart Quality.
Other: As a product of the American educational system, I just now, in my mid-40s, learning how to write an essay. To that end, I am making my way through A Professor’s Guide to Writing Essays. It is truly no-nonsense.

Alright. Enough talk. 51 weeks to go. Time to execute.

Background and study strategy (51 weeks to go)

Fruit ripeness: old fashioned versus postmodern

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This essay was tough and I definitely didn’t have enough facts and understanding to the recommended 60 minutes. I definitely don’t understand this material and I guess I have to (**gulp**) teach it in order to understand it better. This essay is a mess.

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The author tells us a lot about “old-fashioned” methods of measuring grape ripeness, such as measuring sugar levels and acidity. And yet the “postmodern” way of assessing maturity takes many other considerations into the equation. Make a list of the old-fashioned benchmarks and another list of the postmodern benchmarks for grape maturity. After making your lists, compare and contrast the two lists as the topic for a 60-minute timed essay practice.

Measures of ripeness – Old fashioned

Sugar
Total acidity
pH
browning of seeds/softness of skin

Measure of ripeness – Postmodern

Phenolics/anthocyanins
Reductive/antioxidative strength

The old-fashioned ways of looking at ripeness were developed before sophisticated understanding of oxidative and reductive chemistry was understood.

Sugar has been historically used to measure for ripeness because it is easy to measure and there is a predictable relationship between sugar and final alcohol content of the wine. This measurement is less relevant today as, in some regions of the world, sugar can be adjusted before fermentation and in other parts of the world, sugar ripeness is achieved before phenolics and flavors have developed, so this is a less relevant measurement.

Total acidity is usually also measured historically, but different tannins impact your mouth in different ways, so a more relevant measure would be a measurement of the different types of acids (malic, acetic, etc.). Again, acidity can be adjusted before and after fermentation. While these adjustments are not ideal, ripeness measurements based on total acidity is less relevant.

Using pH as a measure of ripeness is starting to bridge the transition from old fashioned to postmodern. pH is a measure of free protons whereas total acidity measures all acidic protons (free and bound). The measure of pH is important in order to understand the effectiveness of SO2 (higher pH means more SO2 is needed and vice versa), understand color stability (less color at high pH), stability of tartrates (which can cause a haze; less stable at higher pH), and microbial stability (less stable at higher pH). Given the resources and time a winemaker has, pH is an essential measurement of ripeness, although again, this can be adjusted prior to the start of fermentation (though this is not ideal).

The last old-fashioned measurement of ripeness is to just taste the fruit! As fruit matures, the skins will soften and the seeds will brown and lignify, so while these are subjective measures, these are some of the building blocks to the ultimate texture of the wine, and is a less sophisticated way of measuring phenolics of the grapes.

The postmodern view looks at a wine’s phenolics in order to build a structure for the aromatics of a wine to reside. In the presence of oxygen, one type of phenolic, tannins, will chain together, consume the oxygen, and increase their reductive strength. They will replicate and form longer polymers. This reductive strength measures a wine’s vigor and longevity, and must be matched with the winemakers’ intended style and shelf life. Anthocyanins is a type of phenolic that will bookend the tannins polymer chains (created as the tannins consume oxygen). Shorter polymers will give a softer mouthfeel.

Measuring reductive strength, its anti-oxidative strength, is a measure of vigor and longevity to the wine. Knowing how much oxygen a wine can consume over the course of its life can tell a winemaker about the shelf life of their wine and the winemaker should match the style of wine to its reductive strength.

While the old-fashioned methods are still being taught and are essential in a winery without the equipment or means to accurately measure elements like phenolics, winemakers are just starting to better understand the role of phenolics and oxygen in determining the wine’s longevity, and these postmodern tools may become just as common as the old fashioned measurements in the future.

What is wine structure?

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The author (Clark Smith of Postmodern Winemaking) has a very technical definition of wine’s structure that might be different than the one you are used to. What is your “go-to” definition of wine’s structure, such as you might use when introducing the topic to a group of wine newbies?

20 minute essay
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Wines generally have two features: their aromas/flavors and their structure. Within the structure, there are several elements to notice, and it is by identifying these structural elements (along with signature aromas) that wine professionals can judge the quality (via balance and typicity) of a wine. The major structural elements to pay attention to includes body, acid, tannins and sweetness/bitterness.

The body of a wine is its perception of weight in the mouth, the classic example is the ‘weight’ of skim milk versus cream. The body of a wine can give tasters clues as to the climate the grapes were grown in (lighter-bodied wines tend to be from cooler climates and fuller-bodied wines from warmer), but there are also wines whose structure is mainly defined by its body, as in Gewurztraminer, which tend to be fuller bodied at the expense of acid.

Acidity is among the easiest structural elements a taster can understand. The amount of acidity in a wine corresponds to the amount of saliva the mouth produces. Certain grapes, like Barbera, are known for their high acidity, and while this wine can often be confused for another red cherry aroma Italian wine like Sangiovese, Barbera leads with its acidity, whereas Sangiovese can show both bright acidity and dusty tannins as well.

Tannins are perceived as a drying sensation in the mouth and can be generated from oak ageing as well as from the grape itself. Grapes like Mouvedre or Tannat will have a structure that is defined more by its tannin profile.

Finally, sweetness is part of a wine’s structure, although this can also be altered by the winemaking process. A classic example of sweetness is in a Mosel Riesling where the deliberate residual sugar is used to balance the very high levels of acidity (high acidity being a signature of the Riesling grape). In other parts of the world (as in Australia), Riesling will be finished dry but still showing high acidity because the fuller body of these wines are balanced with the higher acidity creating a balanced wine. Bitterness can also be present in wines, particularly white wines with thicker skins. Wines like Albarino and Gruner Veltliner will show moderate to elevated acidity, respectively, but the signature bitterness of these wines will help create a more firm structure typical of these wines.

Along with learning a wine’s signature aromatics, identifying and understanding the different structural elements of a wine will allow a wine drinker to identify and enjoy (and successfully pair) wines better in the future.

What knowledge are we in danger of forgetting?

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“Modern innovations in electricity, microbiology, and chemical engineering have facilitated powerful and profitable changes in winemaking, but as the demands of sustainability loom large, we may regret our failure to preserve old knowledge.” As it relates to wine, what types of knowledge do you think we are in danger of forgetting (or have we already forgotten)?

60 minute essay.

From Pasteur’s discovery of yeast in the 1880s through the post-World War II upgrades of stainless steel, widespread electricity, sterile filtration and even today’s marvels of GPS-driven cultivation, advances in the wine industry have allowed for a greater volume of delicious, fault-free wine all around the world. While no one would suggest turning back the clock, these labor-saving and monitoring improvements may come at the expense of leaving what was one ‘common wisdom’ behind. As these modern marvels take time for students to learn, we risk losing touch with common wisdom in the areas of farming, winemaking, marketing, and consumer enjoyment.

Much attention has been paid to getting back to the farming of yesteryear. Although tractors, chemical fertilizers and pesticides have only been around since post-World War II, many farmers have recognized the dangers and have started to return to old knowledge. Tractors will still be used, but there is a recognition of the dangers of soil compaction (helping with aeration and drainage). Sprays are still used, but turning back to naturally-derived (not lab-derived) solutions is becoming more commonplace.

Common sense site selection is also at risk. We have the power and technology now to GPS map an area, have tractors to clear the land, level it, and even lay down irrigation/drainage. The risk is that we forget the appropriateness of planting another vineyard. Biodiversity is an important part of any farming system and once a virgin forest has been cleared, it will take decades to centuries to reestablish that natural habitat.

Understanding the evolution of fruit could be lost. Measuring for brix, total acidity and pH are important guides to determine harvest, but tasting the fruit can measure the things these tools do not capture. And despite being labor intensive, pruning and harvesting by hand will give farmers a deeper understanding of land and the vines that he is growing.

The ability to measure and monitor a fermentation has been one of the most significant advances as it relates to today’s reality of fault-free wines. The risk is that students no longer learn how to use and trust their palate. With thousands of components, many of which have not been identified or are able to be measured, the ability of a winemaker to be guided by both metrics and her palate in a glass of wine is at risk of being lost. Especially in the less-understood areas of tannins, following the evolution of the texture on one’s palate might be the only tool still available, but without the wisdom, there is no confidence in its application.

There is a risk of forgetting how to physically work the wine. The fresh, fruity nature of wines fermented in stainless steel is a popular style, but this comes at the expense of confidently working with oxygen. Understanding, again, through smelling and tasting, when a wine could benefit from oxygen exposure and when to protect it may be lost in the use of stainless steel and inert gas. Electric pumps are a wonderfully labor-saving device, but the ancient art of fermentation, maturation and clarification in the same vessel (never racking the wine) is not widely embraced today and this knowledge is at risk of being lost.

In a hyper-competitive world where everyone is connected and everyone is shouting, we may forget that wine exists for enjoyment. Marketing departments continue to put wine on a pedestal and drive the association of lifestyle, as if selling cars. Finding more uses, including the growing popularity of wine mixology, to drive consumption comes at the risk of forgetting that wine is something essential on a table like salt or bread. Consumers searching authorities or social media to take the risk out of buying wine is understandable, but it this had become more necessary because the industry has made wine more special that the rotten grape juice that it actually is. The perfect social media life risks consumer losing their own sense of discovery when it comes to wine.

We risk losing diversity on the shelves too. Ironically, the advances in the wine industry of the last 150 years has caused more well-made wines to reach the market, causing the lack of diversity. Consumers, being overwhelmed by choice, and having lost the sense of discovery, gravitate to large brand wines that they recognize, and so, these are the wines that satisfy their needs of no surprises under the cork.

There are advances, such as cleaning for TCA-taint on corks, that are ultimately excellent for the industry, though use of renewable sugarcane to create corks is also an excellent advancement for everyone (including the planet). But holding on to some of common wisdom of yesteryear, and actually teaching these practices of farming, winemaking, maturation, marketing and consumption, will help us become better farmers, winemakers and consumers.

Don’t be afraid to look at things from a new perspective…

What is the best wine made in Burgundy?

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Ok, so I finished this 30 minute essay on time, but looking back on it, I don’t know if I actually answered the question. I sort of did… When discussing the “best” wine in Burgundy, I believe that you MUST incorporate the producer as must as the specific terroir.

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In your opinion, what is the best wine made in Burgundy? If you were talking to a wine novice, how would you explain what is so special (or outstanding, or memorable) about that one particular wine?

Burgundy is an area of such nuance, that it can be completely overwhelming and an exhilarating hunt at the same time. With only two principal grapes, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and a long history of bottling single, small plots, it is overwhelming how different two wines grown next to each other can taste. But once you discover that those two wines do taste different, there is a lot to explore in the region.

To say what is the “best” depends on your budget and circumstances. There can be best value or best experience. The Burgundian terroir can be either wonderfully translated or completely obscured by the winemaker, so part of the hunt in Burgundy involves producers as well as the specific vineyard site. Therefore, there can also be a “best” Burgundy to choose when you don’t recognize the producer.

Some of the best values in Burgundy are outside of the famed Côte d’Or in the Côte Chalonnaise. This subregion is situated right below the Côte d’Or and while it does not benefit from the limestone escarpment of its famous neighbor to the north, there is enough limestone and different expositions that wonderful Pinot Noirs can be found here as well. One wonderful value is from Dureuil-Janthial, especially their Rully Rouge at about $35 per bottle, is a wonderful expression of Burgundian Pinot Noir. The wine is elegantly balanced between fruit and earthiness that you would expect in Burgundy.

If money is not an issue, look for any of the wines from Mugneret-Gibourg for a completely transcendent experience. The wines that these sisters produce quietly strike an emotional cord for their finesse, length of pure Pinot Noir fruits and spicy complexity with a silky texture that is the ultimate expression of Burgundy. While they don’t produce wines that sell for under $125 per bottle, these are also wines that have tremendous ageability and will evolve to include more of a truffled earth expression in time. Their Vosne-Romanée would be an exceptional wine to track down and try to understand why this is one of the best wines in the region.

As previously discussed (and evidence above), knowing the producer is also an important part of understanding Burgundy and when in a situation where you do not recognize producers (on a wine list or in an unfamiliar wine shop), Chablis AOC can usually provide you with the “best” Burgundy. The grape here is 100% Chablis and at the regional level, there is usually no new oak or heavy lees allowing you to experience the bright and flinty character that is so typical of this area.

Understanding Burgundy is not something that can be accomplished in a weekend and it can be a maddening experience once you start to explore. Starting here with the best of what this region has to offer should help you decide if this area is as special as all the wine geeks say.

What makes grower Champagne great?

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This was a 60 minute timed essay that I gave up on after about 40 mins. I am disappointed that, despite working with these wines and drinking these wines for much of my wine career, that I couldn’t articulate the arguments about why they are so wonderful.

I guess that’s why I do these essays. Find my blind spots.

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Describe how you would teach a class on the following subject: What’s so great about grower Champagne? Your target audience is introductory wine students. Include a definition of grower Champagne, the styles of wine expected in the category, and identify at least three specific wines that you would use for tasting.

The Champagne region is one of the most northerly winegrowing regions and has been subject to tremendous vintage variation given the marginal climate. Due to this, the business structure of the region has developed whereby there are many small growers of grapes and larger négociant houses buy these grapes, make the blends and market the wine. More attention has been paid recently to the growers who make their own wines, usually called Farmer Fizz or Grower Champagne. There are several reasons why more gatekeepers and consumers are paying attention to this category of Champagne including the transparency of terroir and vintages, and tremendous value proposition.

In terms of styles, grower Champagne are made in all the expected styles including a non-vintage house style (which may change more frequently from year to year given the more limited ability to blend), rosé, blanc de blancs, blanc de noirs, and prestige cuvées. Growers will, like négociants, use both stainless steel and barrel fermentation (new and used). Again, due to the limited vineyard sources, some cuvées may not be made every year and certainly total quantities overall will be much lower than the négociant houses.

Because grower Champagne is made only from grapes owned by the grower, the grower has less ability to blend from a larger pool of wines and ‘smooth out’ differences in terroir, and this is one of the most interesting aspects of grower Champagne. This transparency of terroir can be on the grapes: wines like Egly-Ouriet will put a magnifying glass on the the power of Pinot Noir as the house is based in Ambonnay, in one of the most respected terroirs for this grape. Transparency can also be of the area: Fleury, based in the southern-most Champagne area of the Aube will show a more accessible and round style of Champagne that accurately reflects this warmer area.

This is not grower Champagne.

Grower Champagne domaines generally have less storage capacity for reserve wines compared to négociants, and therefore, less ability to smooth out vintage variations. As a result, many grower non-vintage styles may include only three to four years’ back of reserve wine whereas négociants routinely blend back up to ten years+ of reserve wines for greater depth and complexity. Instead, less reserve wines will bring vintage variations more into focus.

While not the rule across the board, there is a trend for grower Champagnes to have a lower dosage (final sweetening adjustment immediately after disgorgement) enhancing this transparency to the terroir and the vintage.

Grower Champagnes also have a fascination because of their relative scarcity. On the other hand, there can be more value in a bottle of grower Champagne simply because these Champagnes do not have to support large marketing budgets that are necessary at the négociant houses to maintain the luxury and lifestyle aspirations associated with those wines all over the globe. Gaston-Chiquet’s non-vintage “Tradition” is a classic grower Champagne that exemplifies this value proposition. At around $45 retail, this wine is also 1er Cru and shows the complexity expected of such a high-quality wine, and is a steal compared to the more familiar entry-level Veuve Cliquot at about $60+. One gets the sense that they are paying more for the marketing budget of the latter, though that familiar ‘orange label’ will lower the risk of purchase for wine drinkers who do not spend a lot of time studying Champagne.

Transparency of terroir (grapes and/or area) and transparency of vintages coupled with the value proposition offered by the grower Champagnes makes this category of wine fascinating to gatekeepers and consumers. As Champagne is positioned as the ultimate wine of celebration, and because of the smaller volumes of grower Champagnes, both categories are important to keep up with worldwide demand, and both categories should be appreciated for their respective benefits.

What makes a wine great?

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This is where you can find a lot of great wines.

Another timed practice essay (60 minutes). I love Karen MacNeil’s writing and keep The Wine Bible within arm’s reach. Her opening chapter in this 900+ page book is picking apart what makes a wine great. A refreshing move and the perfect way to set the tone of this book.

I have been schooled to judge a wine’s quality by the typical FA-BLIC-IT standard whereas The Wine Bible goes into more poetic terms and teases apart some aspects that I think need to show up together in order to judge a wine as truly great. In addition to my combination of distinctiveness and terroir below, I also think that any wine that shows non-fruit aromas are inherently also complex. If there any way to show complexity without showing non-fruit flavors?

This was a fun topic to tear apart, though I had trouble naming all of The Wine Bible’s nine attributes of greatness, but I’m pretty such they are all covered by FA-BLIC-IT. Though maybe this opens the discussion comparing the differences of a quality wine and a great wine…

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In your opinion, what are the three most important aspects of “wine greatness” and why?

While it is easy and automatic to decide if a wine is to your liking, to really appreciate a great wine, a taster needs to put aside their subjective opinions and judge a wine on its inherent merits. Greatness in a wine can be defined in several ways and generally incorporates finesse, ageability, balance, length, intensity, complexity, integration and typicity. The Wine Bible defines nine attributes of a great wine that are captured in the list above. The most important of these aspects of wine greatness are non-fruit aromas (part of complexity), precision (part of integration) and the combination of a wine being distinct though still reflecting the terroir of an area (typicity).

Complexity of a wine is defined by the number of discrete aromas and flavors a wine can hold, and a great wine will hold many non-fruit flavors as well as fruit flavors. For example, Beaujolais Nouveau typically shows juicy strawberry and banana flavors. Beautiful flavors on their own, but these wines are typically not regarded as complex. Another Gamay wine from the AOC of Morgon would typically show aromas and flavors of red fruits (cherries, strawberries), dark fruits (blackberry) as well as mineral notes and earth notes of forest floor or mushroom. The wine from Morgon AOC is showing more ‘categories’ of aromas and flavors (fruits, minerality and earth) compared to the Beaujolais Nouveau (just fruits), and this complexity, especially via non-fruit descriptors, is one of the most important aspects of wine greatness.

Off vintage? Yea, not when you are a great wine…

Precision separates good wine from great wine. When a wine can show each of its complex aromas and flavors in defined layers, it should be considered a great wine. A vivid example of this kind of greatness can be found in many parts of the world, including California. There are Napa Cabernet Sauvignons that exhibit all of the power and complexity associated with this region, but, usually a little further up price category, other Napa Cabernet Sauvignons have a precision in delivering blackberry fruit as vividly as vanilla oak notes and as distinctively as showing its smoky notes. Both of these examples are of a balanced wine, but in the latter example, there is not a muddling or a general ‘wash’ of flavors but rather each flavor is vividly etched out across your palate. Even in an off-vintage, a wine like 2004 Château Angelus from St-Emilion in Bordeaux is still exhibiting a precision in flavors which confirms its status as a great wine.

The last aspect is a combination of terroir and distinctiveness. The Wine Bible separates distinctiveness and ability to showcase terroir, but truly great wines will show these together. A distinct wine is to say that it does not show sameness, which is a very important trait to consider when judging a wine’s greatness. However, a wine like Château Beaucastel in Châteauneuf du Pâpe shows a distinction for being only Château Beaucastel. By being atypical for what is expected in this area, this wine is certainly distinct, but falls short of great because its style obscures any sense of terroir. Combining distinctiveness and terroir is one of the most critical aspects of great wines.

A delicious white wine made from Cabernet Franc. Distinct? Yes. Shows terroir? No. Could have been from any cool-climate old world appellation.

While there are many attributes of great wines including distinction, balance, complexity, non-fruit flavors, precision, terroir, length, shape, and ability to evoke an emotion, the most important of these are complexity, precision and that combination of distinctives while still showing where the wine is from. Fortunately for wine drinkers, many wines on the market will exhibit some of these attributes (especially balance and length), but the more of these ‘categories’ of greatness a wine can check off, the more the wine can be considered as one of the world’s great wines.