A Wine Experts Summer Diary plus a chance to win a bottle of Champagne!

While you lot have all been enjoying lazy, hazy Summer days, we at FineWineWorks have been flat out with all sorts of projects: from jolly wine events such as our Fun Wine 4 Women sessions; our Gourmet Dinners on the Terrace (check out my earlier Blog on “playing Cupid with Food & Wine” to see what we get up to at these events) to catering & providing wine for parties for 70+ guests such as the International Club’s “We Are the World” event (and realising just how hot a kitchen here on the Riviera can get in Summer!!!!)

We have also been hard at work with our marketing plans for our lovely Vilmart Champagne.  We have an advertising campaign (“Just Different….”) kicking off with the Riviera Times this Autumn and we will be at the Monaco Yacht Show later in September to showcase it (and drink it with anyone popping by the RT stand!).  I have been immersed in Lesson Plans & preparation for our very first WSET® Advanced Level 3 Certificate in Wines & Spirits which we’ll be running as a 5 day course later in November – this is an internationally recognised accredited qualification in Wine – more details about all the WSET® courses are on our website.   My husband, the lovely Nigel, is going to join in the course too, having passed his Intermediate Level 2 in May with Distinction (swot!) and so is studying furiously – constantly pestering me with questions about “terroir” and soil types and whether Bonnezeaux is indeed a sweet white wine from the Loire….

We are in the middle of planning a small Wine Tour to the Southern Rhône for a group of clients, for October.  This 3 Day “Grape Escape” Tour will involve taking the group to various wineries and domaines in Châteauneuf du Pape, Gigondas and other picturesque Vaucluse villages of vinous interest.  We’ll be basing ourselves at a superbly appointed gîte, The Winemaker’s House at the Domaine de Mourchon in Séguret – another previous Blog on my “Wine Not” pages covers our visit there earlier this year to taste through some amazing monster Grenaches and other Côte du Rhône wines.

If I can also add that the “Auberge de Brotherton” in Vence has had it’s busiest Summer yet with visitors: family and friends from the UK – all lovely, but a bit tricky when you work from home and your visitors can’t quite grasp that you are not actually on holiday with them….

So, in harmony with other contributors and the editors of the Riviera Woman site, I can also say “where the heck has the Summer gone”??   We are, rather naughtily, about to grab our own short holiday to the wine regions of Germany as there is far too much blood in my Riesling stream and I urgently need to quaff some delicate Kabinett’s from the Mosel.  Nigel too has never actually tried a Trockenbeerenauslese (rare sweet wines from Germany) and insists that he can’t possibly answer exam questions on them in November without having experienced them in situ!   I will no doubt be regaling you with our “Riesling Reminiscences” on a Blog when we return from staying on a Weingut near Bad Durkheim in ten days time!

Finally, I thought I would give you a chance to test whether you have completely fried your brains in the hot sun this August or whether you do indeed still have the mind, wit and knowledge to tackle my fiendish Wine Quiz – the “Bacchus Boffin Battle”!   Simply e-mail me your answers (info@finewineworks.com) to the following tough questions and you could win a bottle of our delectable Vilmart Grand Cellier Brut NV Chamapgne (worth 35€).

Bacchus Boffin Battle

Question 1
In Alsace the vines can be found on the lower east facing slopes of which mountain range?
A.    The Pyrenees
B.    The Alps
C.    The Jura
D.    The Vosges

Question 2
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc is from which country?
A.    Italy
B.    Australia
C.    United States
D.    New Zealand

Question 3
Malbec is the specialist grape of?
A.    Chile
B.    Austria
C.    Argentina
D.    England

Question 4
White Zinfandel is made from?
A.    Red Zinfandel Grapes
B.    White Zinfandel Grapes
C.    Chardonnay Grapes
D.    None of the above

Question 5
Which French wine region was under English control for 300 years?
A.    Alsace
B.    Champagne
C.    Bordeaux
D.    Loire

Question 6
Which country produces more cork than any other?
A.    Portugal
B.    Australia
C.    Brazil
D.    Madagascar

Question 7
Barbera is planted extensively in which region of Italy?
A.    Umbria
B.    Piedmont
C.    Abruzzo
D.    Tuscany

Question 8
What is a Solera?
A.    A system of fractional blending
B.    A hat worn by Spanish grape harvesters
C.    A grading system for wines from Portugal
D.    An instrument for measuring sugar levels

Question 9
What type of wine is Claret?
A.    Red wine from Bordeaux
B.    Wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon
C.    Red wine from Burgundy
D.    Vintage wine from Provence

And finally...
Question 10
Which of the following is a famous Wine Writer?
A.    Robert Wagner
B.    Robert Robinson
C.    Robert Parker
D.    Robert Redford

Just e-mail me at info@finewineworks.com with a list of the question numbers 1 to 10 and the corresponding answer you have chosen
e.g. Question 11 = B
– the highest scorer will win the delicious Grand Cellier Champagne.  If there is a tie for top score, we will simply drop the names into an ice bucket (without the ice, silly!) and pull out the winner.    

Helen Brotherton