Summary: The 'Beyond the Textbook' series seeks to get under the skin of specific varieties and regions from around the world. Here Justin tastes 3 amazing, but very different style from Viré-Clessé. It's Chardonnay, but not as you know it... Details of all three wines can be found in the attached pdf About the Speaker: Justin Martindale is the Wine Scholar Guild Membership Manager and one of our in-house Masters of Wine. Justin passed the

Summary: What is a 'natural wine' anyway? In the latest in our series of blind tasting videos, Justin is once again joined by Chris Martin MW, to discuss all things natural. They taste three outstanding low-intervention wines and talk about how you might recognise the signatures of naturalness, how to assess quality and finding the line between funk and faulty. We'd love to hear your thoughts about natural wine, so please start a discussion in the comments! Details

A BIT OF WINE CHEMISTRY: Lessons from Champagne Day one of the Champagne study trip initiated a discussion which continued throughout the week of factors impacting aromas and flavors in champagne. Broadly, aromas can be categorized into the impacts of grape variety, terroir, vinification, and post-production events (influencing individual bottles versus entire “batches”). This article will focus upon the biochemistry of sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and sugars in an acidic environment (esters arising from acidification of alcohol); the intent is not intended to be comprehensive. For purposes of this essay, the use of the word aroma will include the complex notes of aging characterized as “bouquet.” “Although many efforts have been made to characterize the quality and flavor of the compounds in wine… tasting remains the single universal test used… This is because the taste of a molecule, or blend of molecules, is constructed within the brain of a taster.” F. Brochet and D. Dubourdieu, 2001

The grape varieties of Veneto Veneto’s grape varieties are almost equally divided between white and red. More than 60% of the cultivated varieties are native or Italian grapes. Among them, the indigenous Glera, Garganega and Corvina Veronese account for almost half of Veneto’s total plantings.

Summary: Chardonnay is a blank canvas, yet consumers and professionals like tend to think of it in one form: a still-dry, oaked wine. From bubbles to still wines to blended wines to late harvest and even ice wines, Chardonnay is incredibly malleable. Winemakers can make dozens of choices along the road in order to determine the final style of the wine.