ressie

I’m  just finishing up my first semester of my B. Wine Science through CSU.

An aside: No, I am not doing Viticulture. Every time I tell someone I’m doing Wine Science they say “Oh, viticulture …” No. The first half of the courses are the same, but after that we mostly do completely different subjects.

Back to topic. As I’m a Distance Ed student, I get to come to Wagga nearly every semester to cover the practical aspects of the subject(s), and sit a few exams, in an intensive Residential School. I flew in to Wagga on Monday morning for a three day Grape and Wine Science ressie, backing up now for a five day Botany stint.

The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre:

We had a pretty fascinating lecture from Prof. Jim Hardie, who now heads up the NWGIC, on the last day of this ressie. Really interesting; looking at where the wine industry in Australia is heading, where it should head, and where it could head.

I think these vines may be Muscat Frontignac; we were told, but I’m not 100% sure

CSU has a commercial winery just down the hill and to the right of this picture. We went for a tour on Wednesday afternoon. Fascinating. We also stopped in at the Cellar Door for some tasting, and I do think the wines CSU produces represent rather excellent “bang for buck” as it were. I’m bringing home the ‘08 Chardonnay (Orange), the ‘09 Cellar Reserve Pinot Noir Rosé (Tumbarumba), the ‘07 Shiraz (Orange), as well as the ‘06 Bordeaux-styled Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc/Petit Verdot blend.

Wine tasting:

This was actually Bracket #3. Bracket #1 was the usual sweet/salty/sour etc., first in water, and then in a white table wine. Bracket #2 was different sugars (sucrose, glucose, glycerol etc), and different acids (malic, lactic, succinic tartaric etc).

Bracket #3 was all about wine sensory analysis, as well as understanding varietal charcteristics of white and red table wines. There was an interesting mix of wines in the line up; the stand out was possibly the third from the right, a 1986 The College Late Harvest Rhine Riesling; some of the samples were corked, but the non-spoiled glasses were honeyed and honeysuckle florals with a rather attractive mustiness. I’m not the hugest fan of the sweeter wines but the complexity and elegance won me over. The reds were also a mixed bunch; the 2007 CSU Shiraz is chockers with clovey spicy notes, and the 1984 Leo Buring Cabernet Sauvignon had aged rather gracefully, though was probably a little past it’s best.

Bracket #4 was sparkling wines and fortifieds. This was rather interesting for me, unfamiliar territory. Sparklings were a bit tricky, not having flutes, and having glasses that were not the cleanest. Fortifieds, however, were fascinating. Seppeltsfield Flora Fino. Woah! Never tasted anything like it. Actually I’ve never tried anything like the Amontillado (aftertaste of pumpkin seeds) or Oloroso either, but the Fino was definitely a “wow” moment. There was also an All Saints Rutherglen Muscat that was simply spectacular, but that is no surprise to me.

The Botany ressie has not been quite as interesting; for me, dissecting flowers and studying up on plant hormones and photosynthesis and whatnot is just not as palatable I am rather homesick also, I miss my family enormously. I am also stinging for a good spro. Though, I did remember to bring a few things with me to keep me sufficiently caffeinated: