This blog began as a record of taking the WSET Diploma, during which I studied and explored wines and spirits made all around the world. Having passed the Diploma and become a WSET Certified Educator, the blog has become much more: a continual outlet for my passion for the culture of wine, spirits, and beer.
I aim to educate in an informal, enlightening, and engaging manner. As well as maintaining this blog to track my latest enthusiasms, I provide educational tastings for restaurants and for private groups. Details can be found on the website, and collaborations are welcome.
Wine is my primary interest and area of expertise and this blog aims to immerse the reader in the history of wine, to understand why wine tastes like it does, and to explore all the latest news. At the same time, beer and spirits will never be ignored.
For the drinker, whether casual or professional, today is a good time to be alive.
All tagged terroir
“Can we talk about terroir in the context of sparkling wine?” For those who want to dismiss the concept of terroir, sparkling wine is a convenient weapon because production method is so important. But the quality and style of sparkling wine changes from region to region and within regions. Why? Because of terroir.
Clay Mauritson’s family have been in California’s Dry Creek Valley for 150 years and their history parallels that of the California wine industry. Clay makes wine from the small Rockpile AVA which is heavily influenced by Lake Sonoma, the creation of which devastated the Mauritson family’s way of living fifty years ago. Without Lake Sonoma, not only would Clay’s wine taste completely differently, they might not exist at all…
How do soils affect the taste of wine? And can we taste soil in wine? Just a couple of questions that my review of geologist Alex Maltman’s book explores.
Terroir usually refers to where the grapes are grown and how the land and the climate affect the style of wine. That's true in sherry, but the terroir is also about where and how the wines are aged. No other wine quite reflects the subtle variants in how it's been made.
