How to learn more about the wines of Burgundy - for free

So you would like to know more about the stunning wines of Burgundy?

The web series The Tasting Tips (Les Astuces Dégust in French) is back!

The Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) is pursuing its mission to make the world of wine more accessible, with six new episodes in English launching October 8 across social media platforms.

Leading sommelier Maxime Dubois, an official Bourgogne Wine Ambassador, hosts the new season.

Filmed in both French and English, it aims to speak to a curious, connected generation eager to discover Bourgogne wines "in a fresh, engaging way".

The goal is to talk about wine without pretension, naturally, passionately, and with a touch of lightness.

The six episodes are designed to appeal to younger audiences, but hope to offer something for everyone to enjoy and learn along the way.

The series will look at the region’s four signature grape varieties: pinot noir, chardonnay, aligoté, and gamay along with food-and-wine pairings and a guide to making sense of Bourgogne wine labels.

Designed for Instagram and Facebook, The Tasting Tips will also be available on the Bourgogne Wines YouTube channel and LinkedIn account. Later, each episode will be featured on a dedicated page of www.bourgogne-wines.com.

In the meantime, you can revisit the Season 1 on YouTube.

Are you ready to replace your sommelier with an AI operative?

Goodbye sommeliers? Hello to an AI alternative?

Meet VinoVoss AI Virtual Wine Sommelier - an AI-driven online search tool that is billed as "making it easier and quicker than ever before for all wine enthusiasts, from novices to connoisseurs, to find the PERFECT bottle wine for any taste or occasion".

Stop shouting.

Apparently you can ask this piece of devilment questions like “what is an inexpensive cabernet that goes with pork and that sommeliers like?” or “what is a fruity white wine from Napa suited for a romantic dinner?”

Some of the sommeliers I've encountered would probably try to divert both hapless drinkers to something that is "natural", cloudy and smelly. But there are also many fine somms out there who aim to guide you. 

I tried www.VinoVoss.com and... it is clearly designed for US consumers.

I asked it to choose a young chardonnay from Australia for under $50 and it came up with all the usual choices that you'd find on a US bottle shop shelf. So [yellowtall], Lindemans, Koonunga Hill, Lindemans, Robert Oatley.

Nothing wrong there, but nothing revolutionary either. And it would not be much help in a restaurant situation. 

It's another search engine to sell wine despite the claim that "BetterAI, a data technology company elevating the world of wine through the power of artificial intelligence (AI), has launched the world’s most comprehensive and intuitive wine search engine and recommendation system".

The system has numerous capabilities, including allowing users to search for wines by grape variety, region or price; get personalized wines based on taste preferences; compare wines to find a perfect match for a meal; track their own wine collection and create a wish list; search for organic wines and more.

But some refinement is clearly needed. 

I asked for a white wine made from an alternative grape variety that would pair well with roast pork. One of the top results: Louis Latour Montagny 1er Cru La Grande Roche. 

Unfortunate. The last time I checked, chardonnay was not an alternative variety.  

But when I asked it for the best high-end shiraz from Australia it did a lot better with recommendations including Torbreck, Penfolds, Henschke, Chris Ringland Jim Barry The Armagh and Yalumba's The Caley, which is actually a blend, but still a very fine wine.

It promised me 1998 Penfolds Grange for US $425 ($651) - a very good price for a vintage Penfolds says "may rank amongst the very finest released".

But there are only three bottles available when you click through - and you have no idea of the provenance or how it has been stored. 

I think I'll stick with Five Ways Cellars in Sydney, or Randall's in Melbourne, for now.

Meet the one-day cooking and wine classes that will cost you over $1850

So you are serious about food and wine - and want to learn from the best in the business. 

The Four Seasons George V in Paris has just launched four exclusive cooking and wine masterclasses for oenophiles and foodies looking to hone their culinary skills or deepen their knowledge and appreciation of wine. 

Suitable for all levels of ability, the masterclasses will take place one Sunday a month between January and April 2023.

Budding cooks and sommeliers will be accompanied to the magnificent dining room of Le Cinq for their experiences. 

Two hands-on cooking classes will be led by Christian Le Squer, the celebrated three Michelin-starred chef of Le Cinq, who will guide both budding and experienced cooks. 

Both classes start with a unique breakfast shared in the dining room of Le Cinq and end with an intimate lunch with the chef in the restaurant, privatised for the occasion. 

The January masterclass will celebrate Le Squer’s renowned signature dishes, including his famous ham, mushroom and truffle spaghetti. Guests will also learn how to prepare the chef’s gratinated onion, a twist on a traditional Parisian bistro favourite. 

The April masterclass will focus on Le Squer’s celebrated dishes combining Breton and Parisian influences. 

Wine lovers will have the opportunity to learn about some of the world’s finest wines with Eric Beaumard, director of Le Cinq Restaurant and one of the world's leading sommeliers. 

The February class will focus on wines from the Champagne region, sourced from small to medium-sized producers. 

The March class will take guests to Burgundy, sampling wines from both leading producers and small, family-run vineyards. Guests will learn about terroir, grape varieties and aromas, looking at how to define flavour and structure.

Coming in at €1200 per person, cooking and wine masterclasses must be booked in advance via e-mail at experience.paris@fourseasons.com. 

All you need to do now is get to Paris!

Meet the sommelier who is seriously dynamite

Music lovers might do a double-take when they take a look at the sommelier serving them at top London restaurant Clove Club. 

Dominic Smith is not only the wine guru at the Michelin-starred eatery, he also has a second career as Dynamite MC, a well-known rapper and MC. 

Dynamite MC, now 46, has been a fixture on the drum and bass scene for two decades, touring the globe. 

More recently his focus has been on educating people about wine. His diverse twin interests have won him attention ranging from the Financial Times to gossip site Popbitch. 

  

He told the FT: "My real epiphany was with a bottle of 2011 Crocus Malbec de Cahors I ordered to celebrate winning MC of the Year at the Drum&BassArena Awards in 2015. 

"I tasted it and it just hit me: wow, this is incredible, melting, velvet. I Googled it to find out more, and I saw a link to the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and I thought, why not go educate myself?”

He quickly competed his WSET levels 1, 2 and 3 and was offered a job by Clove Club co-founder Daniel Willis. 

The experience was “completely eye-opening. I’d eaten in fine-dining restaurants all over the world on tour, but there’s a huge difference between being a guest and working in a restaurant, being part of this beautiful ballet that’s going on all the time unnoticed that is practised and rehearsed," he told the FT.

"The preparation and detail that go into making a restaurant function so seamlessly is incredible. I had to earn my stripes."

Smith’s big loves are Champagne and pinot noir but he still performs as a musician on a regular basis. 

Impressive. 

How wine lovers can have a sommelier on speed dial

Have you ever enjoyed a bottle of wine in a restaurant, decided you'd like to buy a few bottles but then either forgotten, or found the wine hard to track down? 

A new digital service aims to make disappointments like this a thing of the past and promises to be your own "back pocket sommelier". 

VINNI is a new text-based wine delivery service that launched earlier this month. 

It seeks to provide an on-hand wine expert and a focus on being able to conveniently access the wine you are looking for. 

When a particular wine takes a consumer’s fancy, they are able to text VINNI an image of the label and the number of bottles they’d like, which are then delivered directly to their door in batches of six or 12.

To access VINNI, users sign up via the website and are sent their own private contact number to store in their phone. 

They are then free to use it as many times as they like, much as a friend would. Delivery is free to major urban centres and you can also receive wine suggestions from expert sommeliers.

VINNI founder, wine expert and sommelier Luke Campbell from Vinified, explains: “You're drinking that wine that blows your mind, at your favourite little wine bar but then can't find it in retail.

"Text your new best friend ‘VINNI’ with the label, and this effective little guy will not only source it, he’ll get it shipped to you pronto.”

I see potential issues with pricing, and sourcing the correct vintage, but it does sound like a good idea. One to suck and see, perhaps. 

“Having been in the wine industry for the past 20 odd years, I found I was getting endless texts from my mates asking where they could source particular bottles of wine while they were out and about," Campbell says. 

"I thought, 'a sommelier is something everyone could do with in their back pocket'!”

Choose from a monthly ($3.79 per month) or yearly ($40) subscription option for the service. 

For more information, please visit www.textvinni.com