WSET’s Wine Education Week comes to Canada

RAISE A GLASS THIS MONTH TO WSET’s WINE EDUCATION WEEK!

WSET marks its 50th anniversary with its first-ever international celebration of wine education.

Whether you’re a novice or knowledgeable, mad for Merlot or puzzled by Pinot, the world of wine is one that’s ripe for discovery. Having awarded over 500,000 wine lovers one of its qualifications since it was founded in 1969, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), the largest global provider of wine and spirits qualifications, is celebrating its milestone 50th anniversary with the first-ever global Wine Education Week. The week, taking place from 9-15 September 2019, celebrates the diversity, taste, and culture of the world of wine with a program of interactive events, all of which are focused on learning about and enjoying wines from across the globe.

Wine Education Week will kick off on Monday 9th September with food and wine pairing launch events across the world at 6 pm local time in 24 countries. Starting with Auckland, New Zealand and ending with California, USA, WSET is aiming for a continuous 24-hour global food and wine tasting session. In the UK the launch event will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for wine lovers to help break a Guinness World Record – for the largest ever recorded sommelier lesson. In Canada, there will be launch events in Toronto (hosted by IWEG Drinks Academy) and Vancouver (hosted by Statera Academy).

Following the launch, Wine Education Week will continue with more than 450 fun, educational events in 46 countries to encourage consumers to learn more about wine and to drink ‘better’. With sessions ranging from ‘Deciphering Wine Labels’ to ‘Matches Made In Heaven’ – and ‘World Wine Monopoly’, the events will help attendees make wiser choices when choosing a bottle and to discover the delights of lesser-known wines they might not have tasted before. In Canada WSET course providers are organizing 15 events in five locations over Wine Education Week:

12/9/19 Calgary Finding the perfect match CO.OP Wine Spirits Beer
13/9/19 Calgary Deciphering wine Labels CO.OP Wine Spirits Beer
14/9/19 Calgary Vine to glass CO.OP Wine Spirits Beer
9/9/19 Toronto Wine Quiz IWEG Drinks Academy
11/9/19 Toronto Cabernet and red blends IWEG Drinks Academy
12/9/19 Toronto Ontario wine masterclass IWEG Drinks Academy
9/9/19 Vancouver Secrets to great food & wine pairing Statera Academy
10/9/19 Guelph, ON Finding the perfect match University of Guelph
11/9/19 Guelph, ON Vine to glass University of Guelph
12/9/19 Guelph, ON Deciphering wine labels University of Guelph
10/9/19 Burnaby, BC Finding the perfect match VinoZen
10/9/19 Burnaby, BC Deciphering wine labels VinoZen
10/9/19 Burnaby, BC Vine to glass VinoZen
10/9/19 Burnaby, BC Mastering maturation VinoZen
10/9/19 Burnaby, BC Wine trivia night VinoZen

WSET CEO Ian Harris comments: “Wine Education Week is a celebration of our mission to inspire and inform wine lovers across the world. With exciting events taking place everywhere from New Zealand to Thailand to Mexico and, of course, our home in the UK, I can’t think of a better way to mark WSET’s 50th anniversary and the progress we have made in wine education over the last half-century.”

Full details about Wine Education Week and the events taking place can be found at http://www.wineeducationweek.com .

“The Ultimate Guide To Champagne” is recommended as one of the ten best Champagne books

Megan Starr, Travel Editor, Content Editor, and Marketing/SEO Specialist, based in Frankfurt, Germany has recommended The Ultimate Guide To Champagne as one of the ten best Champagne books to read.

“Liz Palmer’s The Ultimate Guide to Champagne is one of the best books available for those looking to learn everything about the world of Champagne. A perfect accessory for a beginner, it takes you through the history and makings of Champagne, from how to shop for it to how to store it. The book’s exquisite detail and the clear in-depth knowledge possessed by the author is easily transferred from writer to reader.

Hailing from (Toronto) Canada, the author has spent plenty of time traveling throughout the region getting to know the area in great detail that you would easily believe she spent her whole life living and working there.”

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Champagne-Liz-Palmer/dp/0991894634

https://www.meganstarr.com/best-champagne-books/

European wine scientists to share expertise and knowledge with Australian Wine Research Institute

European wine scientists are set to share their expertise with the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) in Adelaide as part of a major EU funded exchange program.

A consortium of 13 members of the Oenoviti International network of grape and wine research organizations, including the AWRI, has received €874,000 in funding to allow 39 wine researchers from the EU to spend a total of 190 months at industry organizations around the world.

As part of the international exchange program, the AWRI said 11 researchers from France, Portugal and Spain were expected to spend time in Adelaide.

“The program aims to enhance collaborative networks, facilitate knowledge sharing and build personal relationships within the international grape and wine research community, resulting in enduring benefits for the people and organizations involved and for global wine producers,” said Dan Johnson, MD, AWRI.

“Our scientists look forward to sharing their knowledge and learning from the high calibre visiting researchers, he added.
Oenoviti International is a network dedicated to research excellence and education in viticulture and oenology. The network includes more than 55 partners around the world and is coordinated by the University of Bordeaux – Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin.

Program co-ordinator, professor Pierre-Louis Teissedre, said: “When grape and wine scientists from around the world work together and share their expertise and knowledge, there are positive outcomes for all wine-producing countries.”

Participating countries include: Argentina, Italy, South Africa, Chile, France, Spain, and Australia, will host the placements between 2019 and 2023.

Save the date – October 18 is Global #ChampagneDay

Champagne Day is a global online event that celebrates Champagne.
The 11th edition will take place on October 18h, 2019. On this day, champagne lovers around the world are invited to use the hashtag #ChampagneDay across all social networks while posting champagne-related content!

Champagne Day is also celebrated in the Champagne region:
in the Coteaux Vitryats in Vitry-le-François; Champagne et Vous, in the western Marne Valley and at the Maison Damien-Buffet in Sacy.

Mark your calendars for the best day of the year and celebrate with Champagne!

#champagne #champagneOfficiel #mychampagne #instachampagne #champagnelovers
#Champagneonlycomesfromfrance
@champagne_officiel

Harvest Begins in Champagne

The opening dates of the 2019 harvest in Champagne have been announced, for all the villages and departments of the appellation.

The CIVC states: “The 2019 campaign has been marked by climatic shocks, with cool and humid periods alternating with hot and sometimes hot periods. Since the buds hatched, nature and some of the vine’s enemies have drained some of the initial harvest potential. Compared to other vintages, this year the grapes have more acidity and less color to the same degree (sugar richness). Aromatic maturity will therefore probably only be reached with high potential degrees, in the order of 10.5% flight. for Chardonnays and Black Pinots and 10% vol. for Meuniers”

The harvest, which began in Champagne this week, looks to be lower than in previous years. The vines of Champagne saw everything this year, from cold and rain to drought and heat, with the previous record for sunshine hours broken in February.

Spring frosts between early April and early May destroyed the vine buds across around 1,000 ha of vineyards, equivalent to three percent of the vineyard area. The heat and drought periods that began in June did not affect the vines.

The yield available for vinification this year was limited to 10,200 kg per hectare, which is slightly lower than in 2018 (10,800 kg per hectare).

The grapes from vintage 2019 show high acidity, but balanced color and sugar. In order to achieve the aromatic ripeness desired in Champagne, the grapes require a minimum alcohol content of 10.5% by volume for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and 10.0% by volume for Meunier.

Champagne harvesting is done exclusively by hand to guarantee the integrity of the fruit for whole cluster pressing. The harvest is supported by 120,000 workers.

Source CIVC
https://www.champagne.fr/en/