4 Week Online Course - History of Wine with Red Wine

From the comfort and safety of your own home, join us via Zoom as we taste our way around 4 of the biggest wine producing countries in the world! There is a catch on this though…Red Wines Only!

o, a little bit of history, some delicious red wine and lots of fun all via Zoom. Week 1 - 6th November – Red Wines of France We’re kicking off this 4-week course with France. French wine originated in 6th century BC with the colonization of Southern Gaul by Greek settlers or we might say the Languedoc wine region and the Rhone Valley. Of course, we’ll talk about the monks and how they found the best sites for vineyards and kept immaculate records. What the English and the Dutch did for Bordeaux. The Wines ·Villa Blanche Pinot Noir –  £8.99, ·Guigal Côtes du Rhône – £12.79 ·La Croix d'Ardit, Bordeaux – £9.99   Week 2 - 13th November – Red Wine of Australia Australia is currently the seventh largest wine manufacturer in the world, producing more than 1000 million litres of wine every year – but where did it all start? It all traces back to its settlement in 1788. Governor Arthur Phillip brought vines with him on the First Fleet, and numerous vineyards were established in the area that is now Sydney. Until the 1950s, Australia primarily produced fortified wines. In the latter part of the 60s, full-bodied reds came into vogue. Find out why these wines were so popular. The Wines ·Summer Road Old Vine Grenache - £8.49, ·Vasse Felix Filius Cabernet/Merlot (Margaret River) £12.99 ·Kilikanoon Grenache Shiraz Mataro £10.99   Week 3 - 20th November – Red Wines of Italy Heading to Italy now – what a country, diversity of climate and grapes. We must also pay homage to the Etruscans, settled in Tuscany around 700 BCE, very advanced wine making techniques still used today. Why the black cockerel always appears on Chianti Classico labels and what the Italian Government did following criticism of Italian wine quality. “If someone drinks a little much wine, the Italians don’t say he has drunk too much. They say he hasn’t eaten enough food.” The Wines ·Cecchi Sagrato Chianti Riserva -£10.79 ·Waitrose Ripasso di Valpolicella Classico Superiore, Fratelli Recchia – £13.99 ·Terre del Barolo DOCG – £19.99   Week 4 - 27th November – Red Wine of the Americas Why is Argentina famed for Malbec? The grapes originated in France and brought over by the French Huguenots planting some of the first vineyards in Florida as early as the 1560s. Settlers continued planting vines all up and down the East coast and took cuttings with them as they expanded. But Chile is a little different, dates back to the 16th century and the time of the Spanish conquest. The first vines were planted at that time from stock brought on ships from Spain. The Wines ·Bonterra Organic Merlot, Mendocino £12.99 ·Montgras Reserva Carmenere £9.49 ·Beefsteak Club Malbec £8.99   All 4 weeks - £50, individual evenings £15.