THE FIRST WINE BOOK FOR THE YACHTING INDUSTRY The Yacht Cru WiNe GU DE by Master of Wine Louise SYDBECK THE YACHT CRU WINE GUIDE CRU THE YACHT Summary Wine regions of The bases the world How to Taste Wine 5 6 a crash course 85 Food and Wine Pairing 11 France How to Open and Serve a Bottle Champagne 86 of Wine 16 Bordeaux 87 Decanting Wine 20 Burgundy 88 Temperature 22 Rhône Valley 90 Loire Valley 91 How to Build and Manage 3 a Wine List 25 Provence 92 Alsace 93 Wine Storage on Yachts 31 Italy 94 The Importance of Glassware 34 Spain 97 Wine Preservation 37 Austria and Germany 99 Reading a Wine Label 39 South America 101 Faulty Wines 46 Australia, New Zealand Oak and Wine 49 and South Africa 104 The Importance of Vintage 52 USA 110 Closures 54 Fortified Wines 112 Wine making Key categories Champagne & Sparkling Wine59 in yachting Production 60 117 White Wine Production 63 Champagne 118 Rosé Wine Production 66 Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé 123 Red Wine Production 68 The Development of Sweet Wine Production 72 Ultra-Premium Rosé in Provence 125 Super Tuscans for Super Yachts 128 Introduction to the Key grape varieties Communes of Bordeaux 131 Understanding Burgundy 138 Black Grape Varieties 7576 White Grape Varieties 81 WSET Wine Courses 143 Copyright© Riviera Wine 2017 - Photos © Shutterstock, Riviera Wine. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical by photo copying, or by any other retrieval system without permission from Riviera Wine in writing.Text written by Louise Sydbeck MW, assistant writer Charlie Geoghegan. Hello dear reader, The aim of this book is to make you more confident dealing with wine in your daily job on board. It’s not a wine book for wine connoisseurs nor is it a book filled with statistics or technical information. I have tried to write it in a clear informative manner mainly focusing on themes and wines most relevant to the 5 yachting industry whilst still allowing for a broader more general overview of the world of wine. Some of the topics will not be of relevance to senior crew members but can be helpful when you start out in the industry so apologies for sometimes stating the obvious. After having supplied fine wine to yachts for over 15 years and having taught WSET wine courses to over 400 crew members, it never ceases to surprise me how much knowledge and experience is required to run the interior of a yacht. On top of all the yachting related skills, senior interior crew is also expected to have a good grasp of wine. Quite challenging really! So with this in mind, and of course the fact that I LOVE wine, I though a wine book for the yachting industry seemed like a grand idea. I hope you will find it helpful! In conjunction with this book there is also an educational website where you can find more information, articles and video teaching sessions: www.theyachtcruwineguide.com Louise Sydbeck, MW 6 How to Taste Wine earning how to properly Wine tasting is no longer the reserve of taste wine, as opposed to sommeliers or wine buffs - It’s a useful skill L simply enjoying it, is the for anybody involved in the wine industry. only way to learn about wine and is As a Steward or Stewardess, you are likely therefore also the most logical start to to be working with some of the most this book. To the average wine consumer, exclusive wines in the world, which is the quirks associated with professional quite a privilege. You will taste wines that wine tasting may seem unnecessary, if not most wine lovers can only dream of, so downright silly. Assessing legs, shade and learning to taste like a professional is a rim, aroma, structure, length, sniffing and great opportunity to accurately assess spitting can all, understandably, seem and appreciate these special bottles. frivolous. However, wine tasting is a When drinking wine from now on, make fascinating art. It helps wine lovers and a habit of properly tasting by following professionals alike to correctly judge the these four steps. While writing tasting maturity, style, quality, and even origin of notes for every wine you drink may feel a given wine. It also forces the taster to excessive, becoming familiar with these put words to sensations, which is hugely steps and considering this approach will helpful in remembering wines, and when be of tremendous benefit and vastly describing wine to a client or a friend. It improve your wine knowledge! will also improve your food and wine pairing skills, as you will get a better understanding of the structural elements of the wine. HOW TO TASTE WINE TASTE HOW TO THE YACHT CRU WINE GUIDE CRU THE YACHT 1. Appearance shift from a cooler pink to a more orange hue with age. White wines will go from In assessing a wine’s appearance, there are pale lemon colour to more golden and, three aspects to consider: clarity, colour eventually, amber if completely oxidised. intensity, and shade. A white wine showing hints of brown is very likely to be oxidised. There are of course some deliberately oxidised wines, where this colour and associated aromas are simply part of the wine’s character. One final consideration with appearance is the wine’s legs or tears. These are the droplets that run down slowly on the inside of the glass after swirling. Wines with more legs tend to have high © Julien Michel viscosity, a result of either high alcohol, sweetness, or both. Regarding clarity, most wines should be 7 clear, that is, without any haze or 2. Nose sediment. Some wines appear slightly cloudy because the winemaker has A very pleasurable part of wine tasting is decided not to fine or filter them, as simply to smell the wine. To get the most these processes can remove some of the out of the wine, it’s important to swirl it wine’s complexity and flavour. around so that oxygen can assist in The intensity of the colour can hint releasing the aroma. Complex wine can towards the grape variety. Darker wines reveal a world of different aromas that tend to be made from thick-skinned continue to develop in the glass. This varieties and tend to be fuller in body, complexity is also a critical factor when such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. judging wine quality. Simpler wines tend A paler wine will usually be lighter in to be rather one-dimensional, with a body, with Pinot Noir being the classic limited aroma profile. A more complex example. wine, on the other hand, may offer The shade of the wine will give an indication as to its maturity. All red wine start its life with an almost purple shade and will eventually evolve to a tawny colour. Depending on the type of wine, the journey from purple to tawny can take just a few years, such as with a simple Beaujolais Nouveau, or several decades for top wines such as Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux. Purple hues in a wine are a sign of youth, while tawny shades suggest maturity. For rosé wines, the shade will Menu © Jérôme aromas like tar, roses, leather, truffles and 3. Palate smoke, all at the same time. Smelling wine can cause difficulty for We may think that we can detect flavours many new tasters, as searching for aromas with our tongue, but it’s not that simple. can feel unfamiliar. “It just smells like The tongue can only detect a relatively wine!” is a common remark. With small range of tastes, namely: salt, acidity, practice, it becomes evident that there is sweetness, bitterness and umami - a much more to find. When starting out, I savoury substance related to recommend splitting aromas into one of monosodium glutamate (MSG). The two categories: The first covers fruity, actual flavours we feel on the palate are floral and fresh aromas, while the second in fact thanks to our nose. shows more earthy notes, like mushrooms, leather and smoke. Once you have decided on a category – remembering that some wines will have both – then you can begin to drill down 8 and assess whether what you are detecting is citrus fruit, stone fruit, red fruit or whatever else. White wines tend to be described in terms of white fruits, and red wines with red fruits. The second category of more earthy aromas is mostly relevant for more mature wines. © Jérôme Menu Menu © Jérôme Use this simplified system to get used to identifying some aromas. When you are To get a full impression of a wine, take a comfortable, you can then take things a sip and roll it around all parts of your little further. Wine tasters tend to divide mouth. Next, comes the tricky part: Draw aromas into three categories: some air through the wine to aerate it while still in your mouth. This will release ■ Primary aromas, which come from the more flavours, and, despite its inelegance, grapes and include fruity, herbal and is the only way to taste a wine properly. floral notes; More important on the palate than the ■ Secondary aromas, which come from actual flavour perceptions are the wine’s winemaking methods including oak and structure and balance. The main malolactic fermentation, and include structural elements to consider are things like toast, toffee, almonds, vanilla, tannin, acidity, alcohol and sweetness – or cloves, butter, brioche and more; lack thereof. ■ Tertiary aromas, which come from the Tannin is only found in red wine and ageing in bottle, oak, or both.