Wine tasting

Question 1

Global wine market’s trends:

1. new world wines’ strategies focus on grape varieties instead of locations like old world did
2. structural and long-term oversupply caused falling prices and margins all around the globe, mainly driven by supply of new world wines
3. wineries don’t spend as much in marketing as other spirits or beer producers
4. wine distributors start to consolidate due to M&A, which increases their bargain powers over small producers.
5. large distributors and retailers start to have their private labels i.e. whole foods

Answer 1

smell the wine: chest-chin-nose tasting

swirl: let the aroma get stronger. when the wine is floral, it’s aromatic wine. the smell everyone gets are different since some people are sensitive to particular chemicals, so wine tasting are personal and intimate experience.

Question 2

Le Nez du Vin collection at winearomas.com

Answer 2

Old world wine originated from within EU.

Question 3

a mineral note wine: smells fresh pavement road after rains

Answer 3

complexity: the term about quality, layers of flavors vs plain jane flavor

Question 4

after sip the wine, hold the wine in mouth for a second.

light-bodied wine: diluted flavor
full-bodied wine: with much more flavors

Answer 4

dry is opposite to sweet mc

Question 5

acidity means sour taste in wine. acidic wines are called bright or crisp. if really acidic, it’s racy. together with light-bodied wine is austere.

low acid wine is called blousy. more fruity.

Pinot noir is a high acid grape

Answer 5

there are objective measures of quality of wine.

finesse: smooth and elegant
balance: fruit, acid,tannin and alcohol work together

Question 6

How long the taste last? this is called length.

Answer 6

Finish: how the flavor finishes in your tongue

Question 7

we can use a sip of water to cleanse your mouth and taste the wine once again

Answer 7

Riedel Wine glasses is a good brand

Question 8

corkscrew: put it to the center of the cork, get it all the way down, then pull.

Answer 8

not all types of grapes are used for making wines, only Vitis Vinifra, native to EU

Question 9

why red wine is red, it’s because the grapes’ skin was sinked with fleshy pulp during the process.

Answer 9

Pinot Noir is a thin skin grape, its red wine you can see your fingers through it. it’s pale.

Question 10

thick-skinned grapes, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petit Sirah, make dark and opague wines.

Answer 10

Climate is an important factor for wine making. since it impacts on the temperature, rainfall.

Cool temperatures raises the acidity in the wine and decrease the alcohol.

when the acidity goes up, the sugar goes down which makes alcohol goes down.

Question 11

Cool weather: high acid, light body, modest alcohol. paler color. lighter body. like in Germany, Canada, Russia, North France

Hot weather: tropical fruit flavors, fuller body with more weight, low acid, warm alcohol, raisin prunes. like in California, Spain, Italy, Australian, South Africa, South America

Answer 11

See: put wine against white cloth to see the color of core and rims of the wine

Question 12

Riesling: white wine, having high acidity. intensely aromatic. it’s very pale compared to Chardonnay. Dry Riesling from Australia, sweet Riesling from Germany. as Riesling ages, it has diesel/petro-like aroma. Since it’s white wine, it cannot age as long as the red, Bordeaux. you can get Riesling with different sweetness levels. it has delicate body, thin skin since it comes from cool climate. even German Riesling is sweet, it finishes dry and the sweetness can hide acidity.

Answer 12

Sauvignon Blanc, usually pale too but after it’s oaked, there is a greenish color. also aromatically intense. It’s the mother of Cabernet Sauvignon. Sauvignon Blanc can taste like fresh cut grass or asparagus-like. It has finesse, tasting fuller than Riesling. Loire Valley is famous for producing Sauvignon Blanc. It can stand for slighter warm climates.

Question 13

Chardonnay: it can grow anywhere. they can be purchased at many levels of prices. the ones from Burgundy are highest quality (White Burgundy Chardonnay). types: un-oaked ones from Chablis, oaked Chardonnay from Chile. it in general has deeper color than other whites. it’s aroma-neutral, not as aromatically as other whites, there is apple-like aroma. the ones from California warm climates can have pineapple aroma. it has softer acidity than other whites.

Answer 13

Riesling usually come in elongated bottles.
Chablis is in sloping bottles.
Bordeaux bottles have high shoulders.

Question 14

Pinot Noir: prefer cool climates. think-skinned. highest maintenance grape. it’s the oldest cultivated vines in existence. with paler color compared with cabernet sauvignon. aromatics: red fruits aroma. light body, high acidity, less alcohol. usually pair red meet with red wine, fish with white wine. but Pinot Noir can pair well with pork. low in tannin.

Answer 14

Tannins create a drying, tactile sensation when drinking red wines.

Question 15

Shiraz/Syrah: type of grape variety. thick-skinned. tolerance for both cool and warm climates. color is moderately ruby. has red raspberry kind of aroma. higher level alcohol if it comes from a warm climate. Syrah Kyle from EU is more herbal, floral, smoky. Shiraz style from Australia: spicy, smoky

Answer 15

Merlot: the most popular grape variety in Bordeaux, spreading to Chile etc. it has wide range of price (2 dollars to 3000USD Petrus, 2000 vintage). looks quite dark. have blackberry, plum smell. more known for texture than aromas. its acid is generally lower than Cab.

Question 16

Cabernet Sauvignon: thick skinned, dark color, known for a particular fruit, black current. it often needs to go with protein, like red meet or cheese. rich in tannin.

Answer 16

Types of sparkling wines: champagne, Cava, Prosecco, Moscato d’Asti, Brachetto. Moscato d’Asti has strong aroma. they can be in various colors.

Question 17

Champagne: all champagne are sparkling wines, but not all sparkling wine is champagne. champagne is a region in France, to east of Paris. there are 250 champagne houses. the carbon dioxide in sparkling wine makes the alcohol moves through your bloodstream faster and to your head quicker.

Answer 17

how champagne is made? it’s made with two red grapes and 1 white. pinot not, pinot meunier and chardonnay. how they are blended are arts depending in wine makers. when pouring champagne into glass, the smaller the bubble, the higher the quality of champagne, more finesse. champagne is highly acidic. champagne from old world usually has stronger autolytic character in it than the sparkling wing from new world.

Question 18

Dosage: the sweetness added to champagne.

Answer 18

How to serve sparkling wine? should be at 7 celcius/45 foreheight. don’t chill it too long. 2/3 water in an ice bucket, then fill with ice curbs. Dn’t put it in freezer. Till the bottle, use cloth wrap the fist half of bottle, put your thumb on top of the cork to avoid jumping out. rotate the bottle instead of cork to open it. when the bottle is too warm, it can explode.

Question 19

Fortified wines: a wine that has had a spirit, usually a grape fruit, added to the wine. the alcohol strength has been strengthened or fortified. examples are Ruby port, tawny port, sherry.

Answer 19

sweet wines are often made of dried grapes. Tokaji (pronounced as tou kai, from Hungary), Sauternes (from France), Eiswine (ice wine, from Austria, Canada, Germany, usually picked at frozen days in January), Vin Santo (from Italy), Vino Passito. they are usually consumed like dessert.
sweet wines should be chilled at 7 degree Celsius.

Question 20

key question for corporate strategy is: is the sum worth more than the sum of the parts?
vs corporate strategy, business strategy answer the question about how to compete in a particular product market. corporate strategy answer the question about where to compete.

Answer 20

there are 2 types pf corporate strategy: horizontal integration and vertical integration.
horizontal integration: competing in multiple product markets, and achieving some synergy across the businesses.
2 types of horizontal integration: 1) related diversification: company appears to be competing in related product markets i.e. P&G, Disney 2)unrelated diversification: company appears to be competing in unrelated product markets. i.e. GE

Question 21

Vertical integration: competing in one product market along multiple points of the supply chain
2 types of integration: 1) backward integration: company produces own components/raw materials i.e. Amazon 2) forward integration: company owns distribution or retail store network i.e. Apple, it moves toward to be closer to its end-users.

Answer 21

To evaluate a corporate strategy: 1. is each business better off as part of this corporation than it would be by itself? 2. does each business unit within this corporation outperform comparable, focused companies?