This week's class basically marked the half-way point of the course. I might not be too bad off...

The class started with Lynn returning our marked Mock wine tasting and exam. We had four questions on the exam and I nailed three of them. The fourth was pure guess work (Bandol is in what region and produces what kind of wine?) and I only got the region (Provence).  The wine tasting was OK - I was off a bit on some things like sweetness and alcohol as well as my overall assessment but I was mostly pleased with my first stab at a marked blind tasting.

We started off the class looking at German wines. There is some good Pinot Noir (Spätburgunder) and a few other grapes but the king - or the kaiser - is Riesling. There are several levels but the best for dry is Qualitatsweine which has a GG (for Grosses Gewachs - basically Grand Cru) on the label. For wines that have some residual  sugar, there is the Pradikatsweine system which ranges from Kabinett (fully ripe) to Spatlese (late harvest) to Auslese (select harvest) to Beerenauslese (select harvest of berries) to Trockenbeerenauslese (select harvest of dried berries. The last two are really sweet due to both late harvest and noble rot, and don't come along all that often.

The main areas that we have to know are the Mosel (light Riesling), Nahe (between Mosel and the others in terms of the body of the Riesling), Rheingau (medium to full body Riesling - best sweet wines), Rheinhessen (good wines but also crappier Rieslings like I used to drink in high school like Blue Nun), and Pfalz (a lot like Alsace).

I used to dislike sweet wines but the sweet Rieslings are amazing. We tried two.

The first was a 2016 Robert Weil Kabinett Riesling ($47) from the Rheingau region. This wine was almost clear and had aromas of apple, pear, honeysuckle, wet stone and an overall minerality. On the palate it was elegant, light and delicate - and had an almost cheesiness to the flavour, according to one of my table mates. It was a medium dry wine with high acidity and a medium plus finish. This wine was rated as Very Good and had ageing potential (as do most Rieslings).


The second was also form Rheingau and was a 2007 August Kessler Spatlese Riesling ($92). As with a lot of aged Rieslings, the petrol smell almost knocked me off my seat. There was a lot of complexity including peach, apricot, honey, and, again, minerality. The sweet wine had long length and was an intense wine so I gave it an Outstanding rating. Great to drink now (11 years in) but also has super potential to age.

We then looked at Austria. Although Riesling is important here, Gruner Veltliner and Welschriesling (not related to Riesling) are also important whites. The reds that are popular are Zweigelt (purple flesh as well as skins so makes really deep colour wines), Blaufrankisch (really great wines) and St. Laurent (similar to Pinot Noir).

Austria has a similar classification system to Germany, especially with their Pradikat system. All of the wine regions are in the east part of the country as the west is full of the Alps.

We tried a red and a white from Austria.


The white was a 2016 Gruner Veltliner from Domaine Wachau ($36). This wine was a Smaragd wine which mean it had higher alcohol. I smelled and tasted nectarine, apple, peach, pepper, and it had an overall steely flavour. It was a Good wine in my opinion. It had some complexity and intensity but the length and body were just OK.


The red from Austria was 2014 Moric Blaufrankisch Reserve ($59) from Burgenland.  I've never had a Blaufrankisch before but I will certainly have one again! It had intense aromas of black currant, black cherry, fig, and clove. On the palate was also black plum, tobacco and cedar. This wine had high acid, medium alcohol, high tannins and a long finish. Ready for ageing and Outstanding!

Greece has been making wine for a long time. A really long time. Of the 200 varieties, we looked at three - two reds - Xinomavro (from Macedonia) and Agiorgtko (north of the Peloponnese) - and a white - Assyrtiko (from Santorini Island). We had the opportunity to try all three!


The first was a 2015 Boutari Agiorgtko ($28). It had some interesting aromas including red fruit, raisin, and sweet spices. Overall, it was a dry wine with high acid, medium tannins and medium body. Although balanced and fairly complex, it was not that intense and didn't have a long finish. Drink now - rated Good.


The second was the white - a 2015 Alpha Estate Assyrtiko ($38). This was a bit better wine with lots of stone fruits as well as lemon and wet stones. It did have a bit of a short finish but had nice ageing potential. It was rated as Very Good.

The area of Hungary that we looked at was that Tokaj region. Although they make some dry wines, the area is most famous for its wonderful sweet wines. When we were in Las Vegas earlier this year, I had a Tokaji with Foie Gras and I thought that I'd died and gone to heaven!


We tried just one Tokaji - a 2009 Chateau Derezsla ($56) made from Furmint and Harslevlu grapes. It had a 5 Puttonyos sweetness rating which is quite sweet. It is an amazing wine with peach, apricot, cloves, lychee and honey on the nose and passion fruit, marmalade, honey and pineapple on the palate. This wine is Outstanding. You could tell by the fact that, instead of the usual spitting of wines, everyone in the class seemed to be slowly sipping and savouring this fantastic wine!