YOUR WINE COURSE WITH PAUL BALKE
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN
Many of you are often in a situation of tasting wine, talking about wine and or sometimes you have to select the wine. How do you read a wine list without knowing what’s in the bottle? Wine is produced in many countries, there are thousands of grape varieties. How to find your way in this complex world? My main goal is to make you more familiar with wine, to make wine more accessible, less complicated. I want to help you to learn to treat wine, to serve, age, and to read the wine list in a restaurant.
The tasting and appreciating of wine is essential and it is my intention to bring you some knowledge about grapes, wine types, denominations, etcetera, a lot of things that are part of this complex wine world, but that maybe are very complicated for you. I cannot make it less complicated but I can give you guidelines with which you can develop your taste and your preferences.
This course is not for professionals but for private consumers who wish to learn.
ABOUT WINE
Wine is a very complex product. It is not possible to become a wine expert in six evenings! This is a process of years. But it is possible to learn to select some wines with some more knowledge and when eating out you may make your choice a bit easier. And it is very important to learn to develop your skills of tasting. My students often say that they have started to develop their taste.
It is my intention that every participant of this course will be able to talk more easy about wine, to develop his/her taste and interest. It is important to get some insight, some basic knowledge of wine. And.. you will learn.. taste is personal!! And it will always remain personal. My intention is to provide you with a basic knowledge on which you will be able to start your discovery and to extend your knowledge of wine.
WINES AND WINE REGIONS
There will be given a short overview of the most important wine regions in the world. And, much attention to Italian wines. Italy and it’s wines deserve special attention. Italy is in a phase of important developments in the wine sector and there is a lot to learn. Besides France and Italy also some completely unknown wines will be tasted, which makes this course interesting.
HOW MANY TIME TO DEDICATE?
This course takes six evenings, because a longer and more intensive time schedule would not fit into the agenda of many. The proposal is to start at 19.30 and finish around 22.30. It is possible to adapt the times in agreement with the group. The first evening has a more theoretical character.
MATERIALS:
Everyone will have three glasses at his/her disposal. Some champagne coolers will be available as ‘spitting boxes’. It is important that the participants will learn how to spit, otherwise someone will not be able to safely drive a car when driving back home later. There will be some pieces of bread. To be able to taste as neutral possible there will be no other food available during the tastings.
The course will be given with a beamer and photos and maps will be shown.
Interested? Send me a mail: paulbalkewine@gmail.com
MY BOOKS ABOUT WINE:
I am the author of a general instruction book about wine (‘Basiskennis over wijn’ – in Dutch language).
– 1. His first book, “Basiskennis over Wijn” (general knowledge about wine) was published in Dutch language in 2003.
– 2. “Piemonte, Wine and Travel Atlas“, published in 2009.
– 3. “North Adriatic” appeared recently.
OTHER BOOKS:
I will recommend several books, that might be useful to you in order to get a more profound knowledge.
In short: the wine course is a combination of pleasure and learning. A fantastic way to learn about wine and develop your tasting skills!
Paul Balke
CONTENT OF THE WINE COURSE:
1st evening: THE FIRST EVENING HAS A MORE THEORETICAL CHARACTER:
1. Introduction: aim of the course
2. History of viticulture
3. The plant: the vine
4. Conditions for viticulture
5. The vinification process: traditionnal and other processes
6. The wine grapes
7. Composition of wine
8. Wine and health
9. Labels
10. Tasting of wine
11. The wine market
12. Wine and gastronomy
13. Conservation of wine
14. Wine serving
15. Other aspects: corks, glasses, etiquette
16. The wine laws in France and other countries
2d evening: FRANCE:
1. Southwest 2.Bordeaux 3. Cognac 4. Loire 5. Champagne 6. Alsace
7. Savoie and Jura
3d evening: FRANCE:
8. Burgundy 9. Rhône 10. Languedoc-Roussillon and Southern France 11.Provence
12. Corsica 13. Vins de Pays en Vins de table
4th evening: PORTUGAL:
1.Port 2.Douro 3.Dão 4.Bairrada 5.Carcavelos 6.Alentejo
7. Madeira 8. Other regions
ITALY:
1. Northwest: Valle d’Aosta, Piemonte, Liguria, and Lombardy
2. Northeast: Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli VG
3. Central Italy: Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Umbria
4. South Italy: Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Sardinia and Sicily
5th evening: GERMANY:
1. German wine laws. 2.Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 3.Rheingau 4.Rheinpfalz
5.Franken 6.Rheinhessen 7.Baden 8. Sachsen-Saale Unstrut
SWITZERLAND & AUSTRIA
A short overview.
SPAIN:
1.Rioja 2.Ribera del Duero 3.Navarra 4.Penedes 5.Rias Baixas 6.Yecla 7. Rueda
8.Costers del Segre 9.Conca de Barbera 10.Toro 11.Alella 12.Jumilla 13.Jerez
CENTRAL – EASTERN EUROPE:
1. Slovenia 2. Croatia 3. Serbia 4. Hungary 5. Macedonia 6. Montenegro
7. Bosnia-Hercegovina 8.Albania 9.Bulgaria 10. Romania 11. Moldavia
12.Czechia 13. Slowakia 14. Ukraine
OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES:
1. Netherlands 2. Belgium 3. Luxemburg 4. England and Whales 5. Denmark 6. Poland
6th evening: WINES FROM THE NEW WORLD:
Australia, New-Zealand
UNITED STATES:
California, Washington State, Texas, the Northeast
and others
SOUTH-AFRICA, CHILI, ARGENTINA
JAPAN, CHINA, INDIA, OTHER COUNTRIES
RUSSIA, GEORGIA, ARMENIA, TURKEY, CYPRUS, SYRIA,
MOROCCO, ALGERIA, TUNESIA
LEBANON and ISRAEL
ABOUT PAUL BALKE
Paul Balke was born in the Netherlands. He has a big international experience as a wine expert, professor of wine courses, author of books about wine, and he sat at various international wine juries. In 1995 he started with a small company for wine imports in the Netherlands (Château Ostade) with which he organized many events, banquets, and tastings. In Italy he organized many Educational trips in various regions with the international press.
He is not only fascinated by the wines but also by Italy’s great cultural richness, the huge diversity of its wines and the conditions which are important to produce those wines. He knows Italy and its wines very well, and also spezializes in wines from Central and Eastern Europe. He has a huge international network and possesses abundant knowledge about wine, grape varieties, regions and all aspects of the wine world. He did important research on many aspects of wine.
Due to his great knowledge he is able to enthuse big audiences with his knowledge and also his passion for wine. He always tries to combine all aspects which make the wine world so interesting. He speaks seven languages and is also an accomplished pianist.
Paul Balke has received much recognition for his presentations and his books. His first book was “Basiskennis over Wijn“. His second book “Piemonte, Wine and Travel Atlas“, was published in 2009 and his third opus, “North Adriatic” appeared recently. Recently he collaborated with a new wine publication about the Balkans for which he wrote the wine chapter. New books are in preparation.
Recently he has started to produce his brand with wines from Piemonte, Friuli, Slovenia, Irpinia, and Puglia. More you can discover on his Blog and on social media.
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