We are Approved Programme Providers (APP) for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust - the internationally recognised source for professional qualifications.
Learn About Wine The next Learn About Wine course will begin on Wednesday 19 September 2012 and run each Wednesday for eight weeks. Cost is €280 - including a final dinner, with all wines supplied. Details on the webpage on the right hand menu.
Book now to secure a place. A deposit of €50 euro is required which is not refundable unless the course does not proceed.
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The ever popular Learn About Wine course will be offered over an eight week period from Wednesday 19th September 2012.
The course introduces participants to the world of wine, exploring all of the main wine producing regions of the world. The focus is mainly on still wine but we also cast an eye over sparking wines, fortified wines (port and sherry) as well as dessert wines.
We place a great emphasis on building your tasting skills so that you can apply the factual knowledge you amass to the practical business of wine drinking. Each night you can expect to taste 8 wines, chosen to give life to what has been discussed in class.
While the classes are well structured and designed to encourage learning, they are also designed to be fun and informal.
The final evening takes place in a local restuarant where, over a carefully considered menu, we examine in a most practical way how to match food with wine.
Book now to secure a place. You can make a provisional booking by using the contact form on this site but your place will not be confirmed until you pay a €50 deposit, either by calling into Sweeney’s in Glasnevin or giving the shop a call. The deposit is not refundable unless the course is not given.
The St. Émilion classification has been mired in legal wranglings since it was last attempted in 2006. In an attempt to clear the slate, a fresh classification is underway and will apply from the 2012 harvest. In coming to a classification, ten vintages, from 1999 to 2008 will be tasted or 15 vintages if a promoton from grand cru classé to premier grand cru classé is being considered.
The National Committee of the INAO, the French authority for wines and other protected products, met on the 16 November. They made a number of recommendations which, if implemented, will see the following.
The denominations “Haut Poitou”, “Moselle” and “Côtes d’Auvergne” will be promoted to AC status.
They approved new classification criteria for Premiers Grands Crus Classés and Grands Crus Classés for Saint-Emilion Grand cru which will come into effect for the 2012 harvest. These focus on the method of production and the quality of the finished product with an emphasis on the independence of the assessment.
They accepted the geographical delimitation for AC Crémant de Bourgogne. This extends over 391 commumes of which 95 are located in the Côte d’Or. A similar delimitation was approved for Crémant du Jura which extends over 110 communes in Jura.
Australian wine producers have been banned from using the words Champagne, Port and Sherry on their domestic labels under a major EU deal. Wine producers have a year to phase out the names of wines based on geographical locations, which are protected under the EU labelling laws. Exports to the EU have not been allowed to use these names for many years.
Other names included in the ban are Burgundy, Chablis, Graves and Sauternes, though Tokay will be allowed to appear on labels outside of the Hungarian region for another 10 years.
Wine style expressions such as Manzanilla, Amontillado and Auslese will also be protected from 1 September 2011; a year after the agreement came into force.
In return, 117 of Australia’s geographically indicated regions, including Barossa, Coonawarra and Margaret River, will be protected in Europe.
Manager of Wine Australia Ireland, John McDonnell, commented ‘Style indicators are being phased out anyway and most winemakers understand the reasoning behind the ban – it’s a growing-up phase for the Australian wine industry.’
The new president of the Alsace wine trade council has called for sweetness codes to be a feature of every bottle of Alsace wine.
Rémy Gresser, a biodynamic producer who farms 11ha (hectares) in Andlau, who is now president of the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins d’Alsace (CIVA), already uses a sweetness code for his own wines.
He plans to introduce a compulsory code to indicate a wine’s sweetness on a one-to-five scale. The CIVA already have a vouluntary code, but most producers do not use it. Those that do e.g. Domaine Zind-Humbrecht put the index in very small writing on the label.
Although Alsace producers have traditionally been allowed to mention the grape variety on the front label of their AOC wines, consumers are often unaware of their sweetness level – and in Alsace, this can vary significantly.
M. Gresser said, ‘Most industries take full advantage of their packaging. The industry needs to come to an agreement on a common system adopted by every producer. Admittedly, the system is not an absolute science, but it does give an indication of style.’
Some well-known Alsace estates have opposed sweetness codes in the past, claiming that the sweetness in their wines changes over time, thus rendering such codes useless.
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