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Private Notes
Discover everything you need to know to understand—and savor—a wine that is exceedingly French and enjoyed on both celebratory and everyday occasions: Champagne. You’ll learn how to open a bottle of Champagne like an expert, how it compares to Prosecco and other sparkling wines from around the world, how the landscape of the Champagne region affects the character of the wine itself, which foods pair best with sweet and dry Champagnes, and more.
Muscadet. Sancerre. Chinon. Alsace Riesling. Sample these and other elegant reds and whites from the Loire and Alsace regions of France. As you taste your way through these treasures, you’ll explore what experts mean when they say wine is “past its peak,” why acidic wine pairs so well with seafood dishes, why a German wine is grown in France, and why a particular form of fungus on grapes can actually be a great thing.
Ms. Simonetti-Bryan takes you on a virtual tour of the tastes and sights of her most favorite wine region: Burgundy. What makes this landscape so important is that it’s the benchmark for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir around the world. You’ll get a chance to find out for yourself why it’s the gold standard through interactive tastings and comparisons of a range of wines, including a Bourgogne Blanc, a Chablis, a Meursault, and a Beaujolais.
Become more familiar with wines from France’s most iconic wine region: Bordeaux. As you taste your way through a variety of unique wines, you’ll also see how winemaking in France compares with winemaking in California (where technological innovations are looked on more favorably) and take a peek at how a wine ages over time. You’ll finish the lecture with a luxurious sampling of a Sauterne, one of the world’s best-known dessert wines.
Explore the great wines of the northern and southern Rhône Valley, which display a side that’s more flavorful, spicy, and savory. As you use the five S’s of tasting wine to make your way through a red and a white Côtes du Rhone, a Condrieu, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and more, you’ll train yourself to easily pick out the ways in which the landscape of this region shapes how its wines look, smell, and taste.
Go to the southern coast of France (and other outlying regions) for a look at the rest of the wines this country has to offer: a Vin de Pays d’Oc Chardonnay, a Chablis, a Provence Rosé, a Corbières, a Cahors, and a Madiran. You’ll also learn the pros and cons of screw-capped wine, see how rosés are crafted, and have fun with a final quiz (modeled on a French game) that tests your newfound knowledge of French wines.
