"Utterly breathtaking": words to live by

In the event that we end up catering large functions, hosting private events at our establishments, or living on student -- or teacher -- salaries, Steve provided the following word of wisdom: (No, not "plastics"!) "SPAIN."

If you need a sparkling wine, for a wedding or a Sunday morning mimosa, think "Cava." Spanish sparkling wines are only a dollar or two more expensive than Cook's or other horrible swill made by the odious "charmat" method, and the improvement in quality is appreciable. Cordoniu, Frexienet, and Segura Viudas are good bets. "You can buy this stuff at Long's!"

If you're looking for a house white, think about an Albariño from the Rias Baixas area. This medium bodied dry white wine is lighter than chardonnay, but heavier than Italian whites. It's more like sauvignon blanc, actually, but without any of the grassy quality of SB. Spain makes tons of this wine, and you'll find plenty of it in the $10 range. (In terms of other Spanish whites, "If it's not from Rias Baixas, I'm not interested.")For red wine, look no further than Rioja, one of the oldest growing areas in Spain, where the grape of choice is tempranillo, a varietal with cabernet sauvignon-like characteristics. Again, you can find lots of this wine at stores like Cost Plus or Trader Joe's, for less than $15 a bottle. The bargain of the week, though, was the extremely drinkable Viña Alarba from Catalayud, made from grenache grapes, a wine you could easily serve alongside a grilled steak or some white beans and chorizo. I kid you not, $6.99! According to Steve, Spain is home to "the best red wine values in the world today."We quickly toured the rest of the world, before test taking and tasting. Australia is not just Yellow Tail or Rosemount. The more specific the place name, the better, as we've seen again and again, so look for more than just "Southeastern Australia." The claim to fame is Shiraz (aka Syrah), and Australia is taking a page from the Rhone and making big, juicy red wines. About New Zealand, Steve had two comments: "Sauvignon Blanc" and "Marlborough". The one we tasted was full of the clean scent of green bell peppers. Amazing. Steve quickly mentioned Chile, which was the recipient of intense US investment in the 80s, during the second California phylloxera infestation: big consumer-oriented wineries needed to keep the pipeline full of inexpensive wines during their replanting. Unfortunately, the production is no longer needed in the US -- there's a wine glut here, these days, and the Chilean economy is not flush enough to support the local winemaking economy. Their neighbor, Argentina, is more fortunate, with a prosperous meat-eating middle class able to afford the fruits of the vine. In Argentina, the hot spot is Mendoza, where world class wines are being made with Malbec, usually considered a blending grape for Bordeaux-style reds. The big name here is Catena, and most other wineries are staffed by Catena "graduates". Apparently Senor Catena is the "Robert Mondavi" of Argentina.

In reference to South Africa, Steve yawned.

Our tests today were challenging and comprehensive: six labels to dissect, a wine list to properly organize, a lot of short answer questions, some multiple choice. I missed the obvious question "What grape is used in 'Dolcetto d'Alba'"? Any wine in Italy called "something di another thing" is made from the "something" grape. In general, though, I am pretty amazed by the sheer volume of knowledge that Steve taught us in Wine I and Wine II. He presented the material in a way that's memorable and useful when you're standing in the aisle at BevMo or reading through a wine list. His classes have been the best 50 hours I've spent at the CCA.