way through to tasting and comparing wines from one wine region with another wine region or tasting and comparing one or more grape varieties with others . The list is endless , but always bespoke .
Whatever the theme , you will end up blind tasting some five or six wines each week . Of course blind tasting does not involve wearing a blindfold ! All the wines are individually bagged , numbered and are discussed before their true identity is revealed at the end of the session . The more you taste , particularly the more you taste blind , the more you learn . Sometimes a member of the group will bring along a bottle or two , as part of a course , to add to the ‘ teachers ’ supply . Such will also be tasted blind and will be part of the same theme .
Extra curricular activities have included day trips to the great wine shop that is D Byrne & Co in Clitheroe , always followed by lunch and wine tasting somewhere in the Trough of Bowland . They have also included trips to London for a fine wine tasting encounter or a trip to a wine tasting event somewhere closer to home . One off occasions always involve something to celebrate Christmas , the odd summer barbeque or a wine tasting hosted or arranged by a member of the wine tasting group . All such activities are entirely optional , but are planned well ahead to take into account the availability of everyone who expresses an interest in a particular event .
Working in practice The bottles are bagged and you have your glasses . Off you go ; wine by wine .
So what can you expect in your glass ? What follows is a little more detail of that which has been involved in some of the many courses that have taken place :
1 . Grapes / grape varieties – a course covering eight different grape varieties . One week perhaps five different bottles of sauvignon blanc from around the world . The next , perhaps five different bottles of shiraz or syrah from around the world . The next perhaps five different bottles of cabernet sauvignon and the next five different bottles of chenin blanc from around the world ( and so on ). All tasted blind . Try and work out the grape variety being tasted , sort out the new world wines from the old , sort out the country , the region and so on . Overall learn what different grapes taste like , that they can taste differently depending on where the wine comes from and most importantly work out what you like .
2 . Individual courses have covered specific countries such as France , Spain , Australia , USA , Argentina , New Zealand and Italy but to name a few . Take Italy as an example . Each week covered and explored one of the great wine producing regions of Italy . One week Tuscany ( so the likes of the great wines from Chianti , Montalcino , Montepulciano and the world of Super Tuscan wines ). The next week Piedmont ( which includes the great wines from Barolo and Barbaresco ). Then to Veneto ( the home of Valpolicella , Soave and Bardolino , to name but a few ); then to the great wine producing areas in the south such as Puglia and Campania ( think primitivo , aglianico , negroamaro ). Again discuss and work out the region and the grapes . Learn about them , where they come from , what they taste like and what you like .
3 . On occasions the theme has been all about comparing the wines from two great wine regions of the world , one with the other . For example , comparing the great wines of Burgundy in France ( pinot noir ) against the great wines from Piedmont in Italy ( the wonderful nebbiolo grape that you find in your bottles of Barolo or Barbaresco ); or comparing the great wines of Bordeaux ( the world of claret ) with the great wines of Tuscany ( i . e . comparing claret to the wonderful sangiovese grape and the Bordeaux blends that are often used to produce the now increasingly popular IGT or Super Tuscan wines ).
The list is almost endless when it comes to that which courses have historically covered . There is variety . The more you taste , the more you learn . You learn what you like . You learn what you don ’ t like .
Will it work for you ? If you know little , or even nothing , about wine then you will quickly learn a huge amount about it . If you have a basic understanding and knowledge of wine , then that knowledge and understanding will improve quickly . If you know a fair bit more about wine than that , you will still learn more and more . These wine tasting sessions really do have something for everybody , but above all else they are fun and provide a great release from a hard day , or even week , at work .
At the end of the day you will only find out if it really will work for you , if you try it . Anyone can join in . Anyone is welcome . If you fancy giving it a try , then contact the ‘ teacher ’. Contact Steve Byrne on 07828 629367 for more information about any of the wine tasting courses that feature in this article . Why not go along and join in the fun ! wirrallife . com 29