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| Corporate
Wine Events |
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| Create
a unique wine tasting experience for
your clients or staff or let us tailor
your wine and food menu. Corporate
Wine Events |
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| Frequently
Asked Questions |
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This is a fancy way
of opening a bottle of
Champagne or Cap Classique.
The bottle must be chilled
and have had a second
fermentation
in the bottle.
Technique:
elbow high, have a firm
wrist, follow the line
of the bottle's join,
and using a sword - or
sabrage - follow the line
to the neck of the bottle,
which is the weakest spot.
Usually one has two "practice"
shots along the line and
follow through on the
third shot. |
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| Is
it possible to do your courses
by correspondence or distance
learning in another country? |
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Most Cape WIne Academy
Courses can be done by
correspondence and we
have students all over
the world. However, about
half of each wine course
deals with wine tasting,
and in the Certificate
Wine Course and Diploma
Wine Course, there
are wine-tasting exams.
It is important that you
set up a wine-tasting
regimen to make sure that
you cover that part of
the course. Establish
a wine-tasting group with
friends to buy and taste
the wines the same or
similar to those used
for the courses. We'll
supply you with that list.
For exams, we'll arrange
for you to do them at
an embassy, training institution
or appropriate authority. |
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| I've
done the South
African Wine Course, and
want to learn further, but I
don't want to get too serious
about studying. What other courses
can I do? |
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There are two available
in South Africa that won't
require a great deal of
work, and where you can
learn a great deal in
a n enjoyable way.
In six lectures, Wines
of the World covers
the most important wine
countries and regions
of the world. It won't
give you in-depth knowledge,
but you'll learn about
the major wine styles,
and taste them. This course
can also be done by correspondence
(and you must arrange
your own tastings).
The other course is Wine
and Food Pairing.
In one 3-hour session
you'll find out why some
wine and food combinations
work and other don't.
It includes two practical
demonstrations. If you
entertain and eat out
a lot, this course is
a must. |
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| What’s
the fastest I can get through
your Diploma
Wine Course if I haven't
done any of your courses before? |
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Two years' full attendance
if you start with Module
1.
If you do the South
African Wine Course
between January and April,
you could enroll for Certificate
in March/April and write
the exams in June. Diploma
Module 1 starts in September
with exams in January
the following year. Module
2 runs from March to June,
Module 3 from August/September
to November and Module
4 runs from March to June
the following year.
The South African Wine
Course runs continuously
throughout the year, but
there are only two Certificate
Wine Course intakes in
a year, starting March/April
and August/September,
and Diploma Wine Couse
Modules are run only once
a year, starting with
Module 1 in September.
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I
have some old bottles of South
African wine and want to know
the value.
Who do I ask? |
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Your local liquor retailer
should be able to help
if you are known there
and are a good customer.
You could also contact
the Nederburg Auction
Office, Miems Gordon at
mgordon@distell.co.za,
about some of their wines
because they have a history
of Auction prices going
back over 20 years.
Alternatively for a fee,
you could get an expert
like Dave Hughes, lorna@adept.co.za,
to help you. |
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| What
are the best wine courses to
do if I want to get a job in
the South African wine industry? |
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| Field blend refers to
the Old World practice,
brought to America by
turn-of-the-century immigrants,
of planting vineyards
that blended two or more
grape varieties in the
same field. In the same
way, wine.com brings a
blend of old and
new, tradition
and innovation, diversity
and identity, technology
and handcraft, to our
work. By naming this feature
Field Blend
we recognise and share
the ultimate goal they
strove for: providing
the best in fine wine. |
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| How
do I know when a good wine has
gone bad? |
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Here’s how to
know the difference between
a wine that just doesn’t
suit you and one that
should be poured down
the drain.
Corked
The most common flaw in
wine comes from a defective
cork that infects the
wine and turns the aroma
to a mildewed, wet-cardboard
smell and the taste to
a flattened, dried out
sensation. The wine is
called “corked”
or “corky.”
You should send it back
in a restaurant or ask
the wine merchant who
sold it to you to exchange
it for a good bottle.
Read more in “Send
a bottle back.”
Oxidized
The oxygen in air makes
a good wine go bad in
a day or two if an opened
bottle isn’t properly
looked after. An oxidized
wine smells to me like
stale bread or weak vinegar
(which it’s trying
to turn into). This is
a particular hazard with
wines by the glass at
restaurants, where half-empty
bottles are often kept
on the bar overnight.
Refrigeration helps, even
for reds. Another preventive
measure is pouring the
wine into a smaller container
like a half-bottle (375
milliliter) with a tight
lid so that it fills to
the top and excludes any
air.
Cooked
Wine can be “cooked”
if kept in hot attics
or trunks, above stoves
or in frugally minded
corporate offices where
the AC is turned off over
the weekends. It’s
a slow simmer, but the
wine gets ruined before
long. It will look brownish
around the edges of the
glass (whether red or
white) and may smell caramelized.
If you also noticed that
the cork in the bottle
was pushed up and partway
out, it’s probably
cooked.
Going
through malolactic
Winemakers put most red
wines and many whites,
especially Chardonnay,
through a mild secondary
transformation in addition
to the yeast fermentation
that turns them from grape
juice into wine. The conversion
is called malolactic.
But if a winemaker isn’t
careful, the malolactic
can happen after the wine
is bottled. The result
can vary from a mild effervescence
to a totally stinky aroma
and bizarre flavors. One
frequent sign is an unusually
cloudy or hazy appearance.
Sulfury
Sulfur dioxide is added
to virtually all wines
in very small quantities
(10 to about 100 parts
per million) to help prevent
oxidation and bacterial
growth. That’s why
you see the note on the
label that says “Contains
Sulfites.” Sulfur
is a good thing in moderation,
but if the winemaker goofs
and adds too much, then
the wine smells like matchsticks
and can prickle the inside
of your nostrils. It’s
not wise to drink it.
Another wrinkle on the
sulfur problem is when
a wine smells like rotten
eggs. This is from hydrogen
sulfide and you won’t
need me to tell you not
to drink it. |
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| Do you have
a question about wine? E-mail us at info@capewineacademy.co.za
and we'll do our best to answer you. |
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