This is a rebellious effort against the standardized and homogenized grape varieties known as Chardonnay and Cabernet. The recent American wine boom has caused wine to become a product of mass marketing, stripping it of its agricultural roots or regional identity. The “ABC Category” is an effort to bring a diversity of flavors and textures back to the more adventurous wine lover. It has dramatically expanded over the years exposing consumers to a wide variety of grapes and growing regions often over looked or misunderstood by the mainstream wine critics. Close your eyes and open your palate to a wide variety of obscure grapes and lesser-known wine regions.
Learning how to blind taste is like playing detective. Every well-made wine displays clues to the senses in the form sight, smell, taste and feel. By adding up the clues every taster can identify a wines grape variety and place of origin. Master Sommelier, Matthew Citriglia, will explain the technique used by all students of the Master Sommelier program and help the class identify several wines blind.
Being a Master Sommelier certainly has its perks, but rarely does it include indulging in the beverages that turn them on. Usually customers dictate what Master Sommeliers open and server, but tonight Matthew Citriglia MS will open the wines that are most likely to be found in his refrigerator or destined to be tucked away in his cellar. Matthew will speak about how his passion for wine is driven by grape diversity and the impact of Mother Nature. He will also discuss how his personal bias plays a roll in the enjoyment of wine and what it takes for a wine to earn the title of “GREAT.”
In America, no matter how perfect a white wine is made, it will never garner the same points or rating as a less than perfect red wine. American wine critics and connoisseurs alike are guilty of grape bias! Help put an end to this tragic practice and discover that the world’s greatest wine is WHITE — not red. I will explain why people begin to drink red wine; what brought me out of the white wine closet; and what it takes to make great wine without color.
There are few things more satisfying to the senses than the perfect marriage of wine and food. Weather you are you looking for hedonistic gratification or simply an understanding of why food and wine taste so good together, this class will show you some basic chemical reactions that transpire when saliva breaks down food. It may not be very romantic, but it is the basis of which all-great food and wine matches are derived. The practical application will involve several small plates that are theoretically matched with 2 different wines so you can taste how different components of wine and food react together. By the end of class you will understand that the best wine for that steak may be a WHITE wine!
Over the years popularity of Italian Culture has exposed consumers to many grapes and growing regions of Italy. Many consumers are at least familiar with the growing regions of Chianti or Valpolicella, and some are even familiar with some of Italy’s most popular grapes such as Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese, or Barbera. But this is only a microscopic percentage of what Italy has to offer. In fact the diversity that Italy has to offer can quickly overwhelm so called “wine coinsures.” Come and explore the ancient grapes of Southern Italy with Master Sommelier, Matthew Citriglia.
At this tasting we will dispel many myths about what make a wine great. It will begin with a blind tasting to help you become more familiar with your own sense of sight, smell, taste and touch and address what attributes create a wines identity. We will then taste a variety of fragrant aromatic white grapes and discus what makes them unique as well as identify where they grow throughout the world. Master Sommelier, Matthew Citriglia, will lead your palate through a bouquet of flavors.
