It has taken a bit, but the card decks on Brainscape for the WSET Level 1 Spirits course have been updated to the latest version of the textbook. Brainscape has been working on a massive overhaul and update of their platform, so this has contributed to the delay, but I finally received the go-ahead this week to start editing the decks that I have contributed to and/or authored. This includes all of the Certified WSET Spirits courses currently on offer from Brianscape.

WSET introduced new revisions to the Spirits (as well as other courses) this past summer with the commencement of the new academic year. With this update some material was added and refined. The folks at Brainscape asked its authors to refrain from making any changes to the course decks while they were progressing through up-dates the past couple of months. Most of these up-dates involve migration of the decks to new editor software, which allows for better control and access via mobile devices. All aimed at increasing the use and functionality by the authors, but also allowing for a better user experience on the front facing / student-consumer side. Most of this migration has been completed and we are now able to review and edit the classes, once again.

As a reminder, all student to NEWA receive a three-month Pro Membership to Brainscape with class enrollment. This is a huge help when it comes to your studies, as the Brainscape platform is designed to reinforce and recirculate material that is being studied, and allows the user to control the flow of information in order to maximize study time and knowledge.

​Follow this link to enroll in the next WSET Level 1 Spirits online course with New England Wine Academy, starting in early January.

Click here to learn about Brainscape Flashcard app and how it works!

I spoke with my friend and wine industry associate Elod Adam, today. Elod and I have known each other for a number of years as he once lived in Connecticut and we worked for the same company. He now lives with his family in Romania, just a few hours from the Ukraine border. He is a wine importer, a wine judge and a MW Candidate.

A few days ago, I reached out to see how he and his family were getting on and what they were seeing with the crisis - they are very close to the war in Ukraine. The conversation very quickly turned to a number of topics related to people and organizations with connections to the wine trade. The information was so personal I felt it would be helpful to share some of this and we agreed to get on a zoom and help spread a bit of what he is experiencing. We discuss the current situation and what he is seeing with the refugee crisis, as well as how his community and some associates of his are stepping in to help as best they can. Please check out the video above with our conversation. I am also posting some additional notes and links below related to what we discussed. 

We are all feeling the pinch at the pump and watching the news with disgust, but keep in mind we are a very long way way from this disaster. There are many people in the zone and beyond who are impacted, and many, many people who are helping. As Elod says, it is heart warming to see the massive response by ordinary people across Europe to step up and step in to help those who have basically lost everything in just a few short days. It has truly been an all hands in effort to help.

The links below are just a few examples of where you can lend support. I do not think that it really needs mentioning, but anything, anything is appreciated as just about everything is needed. I am not endorsing any one in particular, just bringing these avenues to light for anyone wishing to help in their own way.

During our conversation, Elod mentions his friend and associate Zoltán Szövérdfi-Szép, who is a support person with Ceva de Spus. Below is the follow-up email that Zoltan sent to us after our conversation, yesterday - I think it is pretty clear about what he is doing...

Dear Előd,

I write this e-mail in English in case you want to forward it to your international friends/partners.
I had a zoom meeting with the representatives of people with disabilities and their families from Ukraine. The VGO Coalition (I am in contact with Yuliia Klepets) has 118 local NGO's all over the country which are active in the disability field and they are supporting around 14.000 families with children/adults with disabilities.
Also I am in contact with Danulo Kapral from Dzherelo Center for children with disabilities from Liov. They need money for medication because one of the biggest issue is the lack to access to medication. Their monthly budget is around 8-9000 eur.
We also offered to the ngo's the possibility to rescue families and accommodate them in Timisoara and assuring access to therapies for their children with disabilities, but the families don't want to leave yet. On one hand it is hard for them to move, on the other hand they are afraid that if they leave the country they won't get the disability allowance and the fees for personal assistants. So they are living in basements and bathrooms, because those are the safest places.
I have the permission to attach the document with the photos.
So basically as a first step they need money to be able to buy the very necessary things. The needs are different, medications are different, this is why the most effective way to help them is with bank transfer.
Also if they will decide to come in Romania we are happy to find solutions for them.
All the money we will receive will be sent to the disability organizations or service providers from Ukraine and, of course, for the Romanian companies we can make sponsoring contracts.

Our accounts in EUR and USD are:
Asociația Ceva de SPus
EUR: RO36 BACX 0000 0009 4543 5001
USD: RO09 BACX 0000 0009 4543 5002
For RON we are waiting for the dedicated account, but we can use our current account as well:
RO63 BACX 0000 0009 4543 5000
All the donations will be sent to the NGOs in Ukraine.

Of course I can give the contacts of the VGO Coalition and they can send the money directly to them.
On Friday I will make the first transfer and I will let you know about the situation and how is it easier.

Thank you so much for your support
Zoli

Zoltán Szövérdfi-Szép
Support person

Asociația Ceva de Spus
www.cevadespus.ro
www.facebook.com/cevadespus
0040 721 613 521

The Rovinhud wine show, scheduled for May 6-8, has been working for years to provide assistance to those in need. This year (and hopefully there is a show this year), looks to be a year with special importance and need for relief on the highest level.

If you cannot get to Romania, the event will be held in English on gotomeeting.com and will be broadcast on the facebook page as well - www.facebook.com/rovinhud.ro

The Red Cross is another organization making an impact.
Support both at home and abroad is of course well known.
​
Click here to view the red Cross page on Ukraine

And here is a link to an article I found about an 11 year-old boy that travelled 600 miles across Ukraine to Slovakia...phone number written on his hand. Not sure if it is the same as the one Elod mentions in our discussion, but why do we need more than one - actually, why do we need one of these to happen?

​​Click here to read the article on Sky News

Here is a link to the local website for the town he lives in. Attached is a short post about the crisis, but it gives you an idea of what they are working to do there. The town as well as many local people and local companies are supporting refugees by renting places for them to stay and transition through. Click on the English language link or use Google for the translation.

I have had a few requests to both give some challenging study questions or to give some examples of what might appear on the more advanced level exams as questions. There have also been a few conversations with other students regarding how I study for advanced level questions. I thought I would bundle these together in one single initial article and then continue on with a series each time I post. I will answer these questions here, but in the future I will simply post the question(s) initially and then follow up the following time with answers. This will give those who are studying a chance to answer on their own, and then we can discuss as needed. So here goes, and remember these are fairly advanced level questions...answers are on the bottom if you want to challenge yourself at first.

1 - Name three Chateaux from the Cantenac commune which were classified in 1855 and state there classification.

2 - Name four wards in the Stellenbosch district of South Africa.

3 - For which grape variety is Ull de Llebra a synonym?

4 - Name three Grand Cru villages of the Cote de Blancs.

5 - What is the maximum sugar content allowed for Brut style Champagne? (answer in grams per liter)

6 - Name 6 sub-districts of the Willamette Valley.

7 - What is the maximum permitted alcoholic strength of a distillate from the second distillation in the Cognac region?

8 - What is the main flavoring ingredient in Suze?

9 - Which house produces Quinta de Terre Feita Port?

Ok, so first a little about how I study, and how I study specifically for certain styles of questions. To begin, it is necessary to know what style of questions you will be tasked with on a certification exam. For those studying the introductory levels of WSET, the questions are in the format of multiple choice answers. One piece of advice I often give students is that they should be prepared for questions that are asked with multiple option answers (1 and 2 only, 1-2-3, all of the above). The Brits are big fans of layering the question answer options, so it is absolutely necessary to have a good understanding of the theoretical material in order to answer correctly. You cannot just guess at many of the questions. There are also a lot of questions that are asked in a double-negative or slightly twisty way. Again, the best advise is to read the whole questions and understand what is being asked. This is the same for upper level exams where the answers are in written response.

For those studying WSET Level 3 or Diploma, as well as CMS Advanced and MW candidates, almost all of the questions responses will be in written format. The best tip I ever received in this process was to make sure I read the question, understood exactly what is being asked and then only answered the question. Don't get caught in doing a brain dump of facts you think are related to the question, as this may not really answer the question. Practice writing long-form answers or mini essays is the best practice you can employ for this. Getting yourself familiar with writing, writing under pressure and timed, will be a critical asset for being successful in any of these exams. Writing a longer answer out also forces you to look at more material and a broader scope of resources, which will help build your theoretical knowledge base.

Ok, so once I know what type of questions and exam format I will be facing, it is important to study properly. As stated, I like to answer questions in long form, and this means knowing a lot of material across a spectrum of concepts and study areas. For me this helps to build a solid foundation of base knowledge, and it forces me to be able to think across topics and then pull these ideas together in a focused answer. Keep in mind, some answers may simply be a regurgitation of facts, while others will task you to pull in multiple layers of answers to get the answer.

Some of the tactics I employ in studying include the following:

• Flashcards - both physical and digital. I usually will write out physical cards as I read and study, then type them into a digital app, such as Brainscape. this allows me to open up the app and study anytime. Repetition is key and flashcards are perfect for this. Brainscape and other apps let you create your own content, as well as use their certified decks that are already built by certified authors (of which I am one - full disclosure).
• Magazines - this may be a little unorthodox, but I like to use magazines to study. Not so much for the actual content, especially facts, as these change over time and will all need to be checked for accuracy, but more for the broad range and almost random nature of the material that is involved. Wine magazines do not have a single topic for each issue. Rather, they put together a multitude of topics for articles and news points, as well as review subjects. I have yeas worth of magazines that I have collected and go back through to read and research for new questions and terms that may not appear anywhere else. I also use these for vintage notes and to stay up-to-date with trends that emerge in certain areas of the consumer or production world.
• Have a Study Plan (and stick to it!) - it doesn't matter if you are studying for a Level 1 certification or a Master level, you need a plan and you need to follow it. Figure out the time frame you have to prepare, fill in the needed topics and resources, tasting sessions and other areas, and then execute the plan. Best advice I got years ago was to "plan your work, and work your plan". Interruptions are inevitable, but getting a plan together allows you to balance your life and space out the topics needed to be covered.
• Books - I have a lot of wine and beverage books. Honestly I don't use them as much as I used to. There is this thing called the internet now, and I can pull up any topic I need in an instant and research it. I do use some books for historical or broad topic resources, but many books are outdated almost as soon as they are published, so I have become much more selective in my library acquisitions, lately. they are expensive and take up room. My iPad is a much easier place to keep a lot of books handy. It was a tough transition for me to move from physical books that you can hold, write notes in and lend out to others, but moving more of them to a digital format allows me to access any number of books easily and anywhere. This has been a game changer in a lot of ways.
• Internet - mainly YouTube and primary resource sites, as well as Podcasts. The internet is full of material. You just have to make sure what you are reading is actual facts and not just marketing nonsense or published by someone who is not accurate in their details. I tend to stick with first authority sites such as the Consortium or governing body for the region, winery sites, and topic-specific authors that really only focus on a single region or style of wine. The internet is also great for looking up and building your map and geography theory. I find it very useful to draw my own regional maps as it can really help to put places into context with each other. I will use the internet to make sure I am getting it right by looking at a multitude of resources for comparison. I will also look to follow blog sites by people who have achieved the same certification I am working on, such as an MS or MW. They write in the language I am looking to emulate and will typically be focused on the facts and notes I need to build out my theoretical knowledge. YouTube is great for quick bites of material, but be careful about the actual content. And don't get side-tracked by the latest cat video. Podcasts are awesome for filling in the time when its hard to do actual book-work, such as when you are driving or exercising. There are a multitude out there - Levi Dalton's is the best.

This is just a taste of what and how I study. It is a layered approach and is generally designed for a more advanced certification goal. But, anyone can take pieces of this and make it work for them. I study in my way, though, so what works for me is not always going to be the best for you. The single best thing for anyone though, is to make a plan and stick with it. 

ANSWERS!!!
1 - Name three Chateaux from the Cantenac commune which were classified in 1855, and state their classification.
So for this question you need to know what the 1855 Classification was, where it was, and what Cantenac is. 
The 1855 Classification was done for the Paris Exposition, and ranked the Chateau of Bordeaux's left bank and Sauternes based on their common selling price, at the time. It was assumed that the higher the market was willing to pay for a wine, the better it must be. Cantenac is part of the Margaux commune, and is often referred to as Cantenac-Margaux. Wines in the classification were sorted in a ranking of growths or "crus" from 1st to 5th.
The Chateau that could be used to answer this question are:

• Cht Brane-Cantenac (Brane in 1855) - 2nd
• Cht Kirwan (Kirwan in 1855) - 3rd
• Cht Cantenac-Brown (Boydin 1855) - 3rd
• Cht Palmer (Palmer in 1855) - 3rd
• Pouget-Lassale and Pouget, both now Château Pouget - 4th
• Cht Prieuré-Lichine (Le Prieuré in 1855) - 4th

2 - Name four wards in the Stellenbosch district of South Africa.
This answer could include the following wards of Stellenbosch: Banghoek, Bottelary, Devon Valley, Jonkershoek Valley, Papegaaiberg, Polkadraai Hills, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch and Vlottenburg 

3 - For which grape variety is Ull de Llebra a synonym?
This is one of the many names for Tempranillo, Ull de Llebre is used frequently in the Peñedes region of northeastern Spain.

4 - Name three Grand Cru villages of the Cote de Blancs.
The Côte des Blancs includes six villages classified as grand cru. One way to remember them is using "CA COOL"

• Chouilly
• Avize
• Cramant
• Oger
• Oiry
• Le Mesnil-sur-Oger

5 - What is the maximum sugar content allowed for Brut style Champagne? (answer in grams per liter)
The maximum amount allowed today is 12 grams of sugar per litre for a Champagne Brut.

6 - Name 6 sub-districts of the Willamette Valley.
There are actually 9 AVAs, currently, in the Willamette Valley, these include...

• Chehalem Mountains AVA
• Dundee Hills AVA
• Eola-Amity Hills AVA
• Laurelwood District AVA
• McMinnville AVA
• Ribbon Ridge AVA
• Tualatin Hills AVA
• Van Duzer Corridor AVA
• Yamhill-Carlton District AVA

7 - What is the maximum permitted alcoholic strength of a distillate from the second distillation in the Cognac region?
The alcoholic strength of the newly made spirit from the second distillation in Cognac, also known as the bonne chauffe, may not exceed 72.4% abv.

8 - What is the main flavoring ingredient in Suze?
The main ingredient is gentian root, specifically the species gentiana lutea (Great Yellow Gentian), which imparts the bitter, vegetal flavors the drink is known for.

9 - Which house produces Quinta de Terra Feita Port?
Taylor-Fladgate owns and produces wine from this property, which is located on the west bank of the River Pinhão.

New England Wine Academy is very pleased to announce a new partnership with Julia Menn, as an associate educator. Julia will be guiding students through Levels 1 and 2 Wine Awards, with class set-up and delivered as hybrid sessions. What is a Hybrid session? Glad you asked...

Hybrid sessions are classes that are offered with the delivery being done online via a webinar format. The real difference here is that during the class sessions you will have facetime with a real instructor. The WSET Online model is a great format, but the only small drawback is that you are not in a live session with an instructor. And while the instructors are great at getting back to students with answers to questions, and tasting note feedback, there is really nothing like having a person answer your questions and give you all the information needed, right then and there.
 
Julia has earned her Level 3 in Wine, works in the wine industry, and even teaches classes on her own. You can read her bio by clicking here.

We are pleased to offer two WSET wine levels, initially, starting in February and March, with Julia as your guide and instructor. Click on the buttons below for full details, and do not be afraid to ask us questions. Cheers

My brother Adam and I got into a conversation about a wine he was drinking, why he bought it, and was it something I would ever buy. Plus we discuss a little about the appellation system in the US and a few other things. Don't mind his Ali G outfit - he drops it shortly in the video.
​
His wine was the Cooper & Thief Pinot Noir (California)
My wine was Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon (Chile)

One of my tasting associates sent a picture this week of a bottle she was enjoying at home - it was Colpetrone Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG, which is a deep rich, tannic red wine from Umbria; vintage 2011. The remarks came back about how good it was and how it was just settling down with respect to the tannin level and the intensity of the wine. Underlying this though was an elevated level of acidity and ripe fruit - even at 9 years of age. This is what I would expect from this wine, though.

Sagrantino is a grape that is in all likelihood indigenous to Umbria, or at least central Italy. For many years it was used to produce grapes that were dried to produce rich, sweet wines of the recioto style. For the past 25-30 years though, much more attention has been on this great grape for dry wines, mainly due to a few producers elevating it to a style that competes with some of the best Italy has to offer. From Umbria, this grape produces wines with extraordinary tannin AND acid - not a typical combination. The tannins in the grape are so high that few other grapes can match it - think antioxidant powers. Early budding, early flowering, and late harvest all equate to a grape with intense color, aromas and flavors - and long aging potential. All of this makes for beautiful wines that have lasting power, often only beginning to show their best at 10 years or more.

Intrigued, I knew I had a bottle of Colpetrone in the cellar, but mine was of the Montefalco Rosso DOC, 2014 (now known as Rosso di Montefalco).

What is interesting is that Colpetrone put a Diam 3 cork in this bottling. Even with a year of aging in barrels, that still means this wine is four years at the time of drinking, so it seems weird that a 3 year estimated cork life would be used(?) My wine was in perfect shape though and the cork was not an issue.

The Rosso is built around Sangiovese and Merlot, as well as Sagrantino. This seems to be a fair and generous combination, as the wine is balanced with ripe red fruit aromatics that carry to the palate. The tannins are firm-ish - a little tight, but well on the way to be resolved with the other components. Beautiful red fruit dominates all the way through the wine. Acidity provides a great counter to the tannin and fruit making this a wine to have with food. We enjoyed with roasted root veggies in broth over polenta - YUM!

 Umbria is a region that is landlocked. In fact, it is the only region of Italy that does not touch the sea in some way. This means that the climate is slightly more continental, with colder winters and hotter, dryer summers. Some think this is why the Sagrantino grape is perfectly suited to the region, as it does best when left to ripen over a very long season, allowing for super thick skin development that results in high tannins and deep color/flavor components.

Being in close proximity to Rome, Umbria has been both a get-away and resource since antiquity. Lakes and rivers in the mountains provide refuge from "city life", while ample rolling hills and valleys provide places for a diverse range of grape and other agriculture produce that was able to get to the Roman market fairly quickly. I visited the region in 2007, and was enchanted by the rolling hills, quite countryside and tranquility of the region, despite being just and hour or two form Rome. Orvieto is a beautiful Etruscan city with just enough rusticity left to make you feel like you are a few years behind the rest of the world.

Umbria is one of the regions of Italy, at least from a wine perspective, that does not always get a lot of worldwide attention, but makes solid wines. There are a number of key, classic regions and styles to be aware of, and the Sagrantino wines are certainly part of that list. Salute!

Monday April 6th is the last day to register for the April 13th start date for Level 3 Wine Award. Those wishing to participate in this hybrid class should click here for full details and to register for the class. The April 13 start date runs through June 14, and as of now will have an expected exam date of August 1.

The Level 3 Award in Wine is a comprehensive class that looks to devote about 90 hours of study time, and involves the review of wines from around the world.

For a complete list of class dates and description of class details, please click the link to the CLASSES page. For any questions related to this or other offerings, please email bmitchell@newenglandwineacademy.com.

I was conducting a staff training with a group of servers, and I asked them to join in a roll-playing exercise where a manger pretended to be a guest who was looking for help in making a choice of which wine to order.

The "guest" asked the server to make a recommendation on wine pairing for the dish he was panning to order - he wanted something "classic" to have with his selection, and he had the wine list open in front of him. The server thought for a second, leaned over the guest, ran her finger down the page of the wine list and stopped at a certain wine. She then declared that "she-anty" would be a great choice to have with his meal.

What is the problem here? Well. to begin with, this was a server that had worked at that restaurant for nearly 10 years, and over the course of those 10 years, she had not learned the wine list. Had not learned the format of the list, the pricing schemes, and more importantly the selections on the list. There was also a lack of knowledge when it came to wine basics - in this case how to say Chianti, correctly - but also of main grapes, regions, and food and wine basics.

Some of this is of course on the restaurant and their lack of focus on training efforts, but the server had also never really taken any time to learn what was on the menu; there had been a lack of commitment on her part to be fully invested in the job. This had probably worked for her and because regular guests often simply order their regular food and drinks, and she didn't have to do much other than take orders, for the most part.

This only gets you so far, though, and when pressed she had no idea how to make a suggestion that made sense. The guest can read the list can probably read the list as well as she can - and certainly doesn't need a server leaning over them to read the list. And the fact that she could not pronounce a wine's name from the list shows her lack of professionalism.

Here are a few quick Survival Tips to Service for understanding and mastering the wine list in your location:

1. Read the Wine List - this may sound like a given, but I know hundreds of servers that do not regularly look at the wine list. Newer servers have to look at to go through training, but I know that once through all that - they often are not bothering to read the list. My recommendation - read the list out loud to yourself. If you cannot pronounce a word or name on the list, or you feel like you do not know how to say it correctly - ask for help. A manager, supplier, or even another server will be able to help you.
2. Look at how the list is organized. Knowing the way the list is set-up can go a long way to making good recommendations. Is the list organized by grape, region, style, price?
3. Have Go-To wines that you know inside and out. I always suggest having have mastered at least 3-4 whites and reds that you know really well, can describe them without hesitation, and know the broad food pairings that work well with them from the menu. Then add some sparkling, sweet, pink or other types of wines to your wheel-house. Build more from there as you learn.
4. Taste all of the wines offered by the glass. These will be a significant portion of sales, and knowing these wines will pay dividends over time.
5. Taste other wines whenever possible - at pre-meal meetings, monthly staff trainings, vendor tastings, or even on your own at a wine shop or at home.
6. Build your wine vocabulary. Think when you taste and learn the aromas, flavors and texture of the wines. Do these things remind you of the foods on your restaurant's menu? and why?
7. Work on your own education. If you have a wine on your list that is unfamiliar to you, look it up on the web. Look up the producer, the region and the grapes. Start with the winery website as this will probably have a basic description of the wine and other key info you can build from. Then move to other sites, such as regional sites, sommelier blogs or other places that might mention the wine or similar styles.
8. Once a month, READ THE WINE LIST AGAIN. Stay up-dated on changes to vintages, styles, additions/subtractions from the selections.

This may seem like a lot, and there are certainly some service personnel that will not get this involved, but in my experience the best service staff take the time to learn the menus and understand what their restaurant has to offer. Knowing the full spectrum of options to guide a guest decision will go a long way to enhancing your ability to bring a top-level guest experience, which will translate to better gratuities.