Welcome to the Faire wine tasting on Airbnb Online Experiences.
We’re going to approach this like a true scientific experiment for your taste buds! I’ll be your guide, leading you through the fascinating world of wine in a way that will resonate with your data-driven minds.
This is going to be a fun and interactive session, so get ready to ask questions, share your insights, and learn from each other. There will be plenty of opportunities to unleash your inner wine scientist!
Event Details:
Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ll be exploring:
Uncorking the Data: We’ll dissect the wine tasting process, teaching you how to use your observation skills to identify aromas and flavors. Think of it as building a sensory data set!
Identifying Patterns: Just like you analyze trends in datasets, we’ll discover how grape varietals and wine regions influence the final product.
Building the Model: We’ll delve into the science of food and wine pairing, understanding how different elements create a harmonious experience – similar to building a successful machine learning model!
Choosing Your Tools (Wines): Jing, your awesome teammate, has picked some great starting points:
- Chianti: A classic Italian red with medium body, notes of cherry and plum, and a touch of acidity.
- Chardonnay: A popular white grape that can produce a wide range of styles. Both are excellent choices for beginners and offer distinct profiles for comparison.
Preparing for Your Virtual Wine Odyssey
To make the most of this experience, here are a few tips:
- Serving Temperature: Please prepare all wines at fridge temperature –Starting at low temperatures allows the wine to gradually release the aromatic reactions as temperature naturally alters.
- Set the Scene: Find a quiet, well-lit spot for your virtual vineyard adventure.
- Glassware: use your preferred glass, the ones that you feel comfortable drinking wine in. Ideally I‘d like you to have a different glass for each wine or at least two glasses. So you can perform a comparative tasting.
- Palate Prep: Have some water and crackers on hand to cleanse your palate between wines.
- Curiosity is Key! Just like in data science, come prepared to ask questions, experiment with different flavors, and form your own conclusions.
Feeling adventurous?
Feel free to bring a red and white wine that sparks your curiosity! Choose your wines and if you have a moment to spare, send me the name so I can add them to the wine list.
- Please have the wine served when we start and feel free to refill as to your liking.
- Download My Tasting Sheet: https://forms.gle/JU1EQ66dcYt31bQs8 This handy tool will help you record your observations and compare wines throughout the tasting.
Tips for Maximum Wine Tasting Fun:
Embrace the Experiment: Be open to trying new things and explore various flavor profiles. Think of it as an A/B test for your taste buds! Don’t be afraid to pair your chosen wines with different finger foods to see how the flavors interact. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Chianti: This classic Italian red pairs well with tomato-based dishes like bruschetta with fresh tomatoes and basil, or even a simple charcuterie board with cured meats and olives.
- Chardonnay: This versatile white wine complements a variety of lighter fare. Try it with creamy cheeses and grapes, or explore its citrus notes with some shrimp cocktail.
Data Sharing is Caring: Don’t be shy! Share your observations and insights with your team. Collaboration is key to both successful wine tasting and data analysis. Discuss not just the wine itself, but how the food pairings influence the overall experience.
Take Notes: Use the tasting sheet or your own method to record your impressions. This will help you remember the wines you enjoyed. Include notes on what you paired with each wine and how the flavors complemented each other.
Relax and Have Fun! This is a chance to bond with your team outside the world of spreadsheets and algorithms. Let’s raise a glass and unwind together! Feel free to get creative with your food pairings and share your culinary discoveries with the team.
Check out the Q & A tab to find answers to questions discussed during the sessions.
Q & A
Q:- What is Wine?
The basic definition of wine according to the International Code of Oenological Practices.
I.3.1 Basic definition:
Wine is the beverage resulting exclusively from the partial or complete alcoholic fermentation of fresh grapes, whether crushed or not, or of grape must. Its actual alcohol content shall not be less than 8.5% vol.
According to the International Code of Oenological Practices, wine is the alcoholic beverage made exclusively from the fermentation of fresh grapes or grape must. It must contain at least 8.5% alcohol by volume. This definition highlights the importance of quality ingredients and craftsmanship in winemaking. In essence, wine is not just a beverage but a reflection of the land, climate, and culture from which it originates. Enjoy responsibly and savor the flavors of the world’s diverse array of wines.
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Q:- What is an Appellation?
A:- In short it’s a combination of the Region, Geographical Indication and Designation of production of a wine. A well known appellation is Champagne in France while the word’s oldest wine with a designated origin, still in production, is Commandaria wine from Cyprus
A wine’s origin is a key part of its identity, as it implies something about its style and likely quality. Many thousands of official placenames are used as wine names on the world’s wine labels. Some of these indicate only the wine’s origin, while others combine origin, style and quality all into one.
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Q:- What do the tail-terms ‘Classico’ in Italian wine and ‘Village’ in French wine mean?
A:- These terms refer to a smaller designated area within another appellation (e.g. Chianti Classico DOCG / Cote du Rhone Village AOC). Wines classified as ‘Classico’ / ‘Village’ must meet higher standards than those of the generic appellation title. They are from vineyards in areas that show potential to produce distinctive wines of good quality.
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Q:- What does Reserva mean?
A:- While outside of Italy the word “reserve” can mean many different things depending on where the wine is made. Italian wine law stipulates that Riserva wines are aged for a longer period of time than wines that are not labeled riserva. Riserva wines also tend to use higher quality grapes.
Some common standards for some of Italy’s most popular Riserva wines:
Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva: Aged for at least 4 years
Barbaresco Riserva: Aged for at least 4 years
Barolo Riserva: Aged for at least 5 years
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva: Aged for at least 5 years
Chianti Classico Riserva: Aged for at least 27 months
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano: Aged for at least 3 years
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Q:- What’s an easy way to learn some basics about wine tasting?
A:- WineMasters Class is a complete wine course for all sort of wine scholars, professionals and food & wine enthusiasts.
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Use the search box to find wines near your location on WineSearcher.com
The Faire Wine List
Josh cellars Chardonnay
crafted with care to ensure that no single flavor overpowers another, creating a delicate, bright glass filled with subtle sweetness and a hint of oak.
Tesoro Della Regina, Chianti Classico
Expect a generous forward plum and berry fruit bouquet with hints of tobacco and vanilla from oak use. In the mouth, the chocolate cherry flavors typical of Merlot should stand out with the fresh-herb peppery spice of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Bishop Pine Vineyards, Chardonnay
Selected grapes from vineyards across the state’s growing regions that best exemplify classic California Chardonnay varietal grape flavors. The result is a crisp yet buttery rich, complex Chardonnay. APPELLATIONS: Lodi, Arroyo Seco, Monterey
Tenuta Castiglioni, Chianti DOCG
Thanks to favorable soil and climate conditions, Chianti Castiglioni reflects the characteristics of the territory it represents and is a smooth, pleasantly fruity wine with a strong, well-delineated character.
The Wine Styles
Let’s sniff out the details about your favorite wine style. The more you know, the better the wine. Click through your collection of wine profiles to sip them in.
This style is all about full-bodied fruit and spice, with the ability to age. From bold Australian Chardonnay to aged Vouvray, these wines are complex, honeyed and delicious. Wanna know a secret? Overt vanilla aromas usually come from barrel fermentation and new wood. But gentle oxidation and aging in older barrels can also add flavor.
Malolactic fermentation also plays a big role in creating buttery characters. Such wines come from regions where white grapes achieve high levels of ripeness, and/or feature grape varieties with high sugar levels. This means ripe fruit aromas balance the oak characters, and the higher alcohol adds a silkiness that allies perfectly with the buttery aromas. Bottom line?
If you’re into vanilla, butterscotch, cream, coconut, buttered toast, woodspice, stewed fruit, peaches, apricot, tropical notes, and almond – this wine is for you!
Chianti Blend is a classic combination of wine grapes that’s been around for ages. It’s basically Tuscany’s favorite grape variety – Sangiovese – with a bunch of other grapes thrown in.
The rules say that Chianti has to have at least 70% Sangiovese and the percentage goes up for fancier versions. 80% for Chianti Classico. Other Tuscan grapes like Canaiolo, Colorino, Ciliegiolo and Mammolo can also be added. The wine made from this blend usually smells like red fruits, violets, herbs, and bitter cherries.
The Wines
Chianti wines have distinct Sangiovese notes that are unmistakable. The most common Chianti notes include vibrant red fruits, like sour cherry and raspberry. However, the wines’ most charismatic notes include dried herbs, balsamic reduction, pepper, smoke, and game meat. With aging, the wines offer coffee, cured meat, leather, and tobacco notes.
These wines are unmistakable, and with the premium Chianti wines, the wines are robust, intense, and best to be served with red meat dishes.
The Regions
We are going on a journey tonight! We have a good mixture of wine producing regions. That will help us get an overall feeling of the diversity of wines produced in different parts of the world.
AVA = American Viticulture Area
California is the largest and most important wine region in the USA. It produces 90 percent of American-made wine. It also supplies more than 60 percent of all wine consumed in the country. With mountains, valleys, plains and plateaux, California’s topography is as complex as its climate, offering winegrowers a bewildering choice of terroir. Even though a wide range of traditional European vines is also cultivated, the principal varieties grown in California are Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
Shopping Tip:- Generally, the cooler regions closer to the coast are better suited to cool climate grape varieties such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Further inland – where the climate is much hotter – some of California’s most famous red wine is made from Cabernet Sauvignon. Zinfandel produces some outstanding examples throughout the state.
Sonoma County is one of the best places for wine in the US. Vines have been around here since the 1850s, except for during the Prohibition era. Sonoma Valley, Northern Sonoma, and Sonoma Coast are the three main areas for wine here, each with their own AVA title and sub-AVAs.
Sonoma Valley has a cool climate thanks to cooling fog which produces bright, flavorful wines. Northern Sonoma has 10 AVAs, including the famous Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley. Sonoma Coast is more scattered and is used to navigate wine labeling laws. Cabernet Sauvignon dominates the red wine varieties, while Chardonnay and Pinot Noir thrive in cooler climates.
Chianti, situated in the region of Tuscany in central Italy, is home to probably the best-known of all Italian wine districts, closely associated with red wines based on the Sangiovese grape. Chianti’s solid table wine is tart, with juicy, red fruit flavors, and each subregion has its own spin on Sangiovese.
The Subzones
Seven subregions form the area from which Chianti wines are produced.: Chianti Classico, Chianti Colline Pisane, Chianti Montalbo, Chianti Montespertoli, Chianti Colli Fiorentini, Chianti Rufina, Chianti Colli Aretini, and Chianti Colli Senesi.
The Classification & Ageing
Different classifications within the Chianti distinguish different quality levels and different periods of aging when it comes to the different Chianti wines.
- Chianti wines are aged for a minimum of four months. These wines are considered the most easy-drinking, fresh, and straightforward.
- Chianti Superiore wines have to be aged for at least 10 months. These wines are slightly more serious, bolder, and is less tart than Chianti.
- Chianti Riserva wines make up the more serious, robust styles of Chianti wines. These wines have to be aged for a minimum of 24 months.
- Chianti Gran Selezione wines have to be aged for 30 months and are considered the best of the best.
The wines are characterized by red and black cherry characters, along with savory notes, wild herbs and spice, supported by racy acidity and well-structured tannins.
The most renowned subzone, from which the best Chiantis are made, is Chianti Classico. Chianti Classico DOCG is the heartland of the Chianti wine region – its traditional and longest-established viticultural area.
The addition of the classification “Classico” refers to the original area that Chianti was planted and produced. Along with this classification, the quality of Classico wines is considered the best of the best.
The Classification & Ageing
The Chianti Classico hierarchy has three tiers:
- Annata: the “standard” wines – the term is rarely used on labels
- Riserva: must be aged for 24 months before commercial release
- Gran Selezione: must be made from a single estate and have been aged for a full 30 months.
The typical Chianti Classico wine is a ruby-red, Sangiovese-based wine with aromas of violets and cherries and a hint of earthy spice.
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