Welcome to the Wine With Jimmy RU-vid channel. My name is Jimmy Smith, and I am a wine educator based in London, United Kingdom. As a WSET tutor, I know that the material in these courses can be quite daunting to master for the final exam. With this in mind, I've created my RU-vid channel to help wine students successfully achieve their qualifications as well as provide guidance on many different aspects of wine generally - all in a way that is approachable and easy to understand.
Subscribe to this channel for new educational wine videos every week!
You can also find a comprehensive suite of WSET revision resources that I've created at www.e-learningwine.com which includes multiple choice questions, flashcards and other useful revision templates and exercises (as well as more educational videos!)
Thank you for visiting, and if you ever find yourself in London, UK, I hope you can join me for a class, a glass (or a bottle!).
Hi Jimmy , Can you arrange some discount for my e learning portal for WSET level 3. I just decided to do level 3 after watching almost all these videos . I hope you can help me with its since the course is also very expensive for me , I have scored 100 out of 100 on my wset level 2 . I know wset level 3 is very hard but I really wished to do this
Hi Jimmy , Can you arrange some discount for my e learning portal for WSET level 3. I just decided to do level 3 after watching almost all these videos . I hope you can help me with its since the course is also very expensive for me , I have scored 100 out of 100 on my wset level 2 . I know wset level 3 is very hard but I really wished to do this
What a great content! Just subscribed. I have a question though: Do the effects of lees ageing that you list always come in that order? I thought the Muscadet I had had a very round mouthfeel, which I attributed to the lees, for example, despite it being in contact for only 4 months.
Cheers! Lees ageing shows up differently depending on variety, ripeness, abv, ageing conditions, a whole lot of factors! There isn't a set 'order', and there can be a wide variation of effects, but any lees contact with muscadet will definitely enhance the body and texture of the wine. Good question!
In the beer world it's known that the THP flavor disappears with time in wild fermented beer, and I've observed this repeatedly in beer I've made. The explanation that's usually given is that the brett eventually metabolizes it, but that may just be a guess. I usually see it take up to 6 months to disappear from my beer. It may be that it takes longer in wine because of the higher abv, or might not ever fade if the yeast is no longer alive in the bottle.
I admit to being confused by "butter" as a flavor descriptor up until this video... It seems like it is making reference more to the fermented profile of cultured butter. That matches up to what I would probably call old rice, rather than spoiled. Maybe? 😅
Hi Jimmy As what I learned, cork taint is caused by a chemical compound called 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). TCA is produced when fungi in cork and wood come into contact with chlorinated compounds. But you said phenolic compounds, I am confused.
I appreciate the history on NY State wine. I live on Long Island but am partial to Finger Lake rieslings. I've done tastings at Dr. Konstantin Frank's twice (great room, great view!), and look forward to checking out others. My favorite though is the Wagner semi-dry. I hear the best red from NY State is cabernet franc but haven't been overly impressed with any yet. Love some recommendations from your followers.
Been watching your videos and they have been very helpful in nurturing a possible future career in the wine world. Is your advanced and extra material available on your website. Or maybe I will find it clicking around, watching more of your content. Thank you!
Thank you! Yes - there is more material available here: www.winewithjimmy.com/wine-with-jimmy-wset-revision-courses. You are also welcome to click around all of the other free content on this channel. Enjoy! :)
I am selling low interv wine and you can t imagine how many ppl can t taste it or find it as a nice addition to the wine. As for me, I can taste it, but it doesn t bother me at all.
Interesting! 😮 As an East Asian, personally I'm more accustomed to the European descriptors. I have never seen papayas sold in my country and never tasted one in my 30 odd life. 😅 Also we often put ginseng in chicken soup so we're pretty familiar with the flavor but ginseng is more like 'earth+mint' than green pepper. Lastly, pineapple is pineapple, strawberry is strawberry and butter is butter in East Asia, too, so I have't seen anybody confused with the descriptors. Instead, I've often seen people describe VA or certain Pinot Noir characteristics as soy sauce, and methoxypyrazine in Cab Sauv as gochujang (Korean red pepper paste). My personal favorite decriptor for Sauv Blanc is gyeolmyeongja (Korean cassia seeds.) which corresponds to gooseberry or cat-pee-like flavor.
As a gardener and start up grape grower, I find it very interesting to hear about the pitfalls of winegrowers. I bought three uprooted mature Mourvedre vines from Southern Europe. It seems that Mourvedre already existed 500 BC in Lebanon and the Phoenicians brought it to Southern Spain where it was cultivated by monks. Israel still has many wild grapevarieties, that survived the Arabic conquest. I have made amazing wines from those wild vines. I also made wine from abandoned vineyards close to Ramat Motza in the Judean hills, probably Sauvignon Blanc white grapes. I now live close to the German border in Salland. I hope to make wine again, having learned lots of reasons why winegrowers failed to innovate vinegrowing. Australia reinvented its wine industry and makes premium vines. Northern Europe chooses non traditional grape varietals and succeeds in capturing a niche market. Buying a Dutch wine is still very special. Small is beautiful. Perhaps the biggest issue with the wine industry is thinking that more is better. I tasted too many low quality wines, heard too many stories about wine maffia in Southern Europe and know how Europe keeps financing the European wine industry. Climate change is here to stay. Western Europe and Northern Europe will get the climate of Southern Europe of last century. Jimmy, you focus too much on the big and the famous. In twenty years from now, I expect the wine industry to be totally changed. You are in England. Focus more on Northern and Western Europe, not on countries that are too hot for grapes to grow.
Thank you for sharing your insights and experiences. It's always fascinating to hear from fellow enthusiasts and growers. Regarding the focus of my videos (this one included), they follow the WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) courses, which is why we often concentrate on certain countries and regions. About Mourvèdre, while grape cultivation in Lebanon dates back to ancient times, the specific link to Mourvèdre around 500 BC isn't well-documented. But as you say the Phoenicians did spread viticulture throughout the Mediterranean, which likely brought Mourvèdre (known as Monastrell) to Southern Spain. Also, I’ve covered various regions in my videos, including places like Georgia which has a rich wine heritage and unique traditions, and the cooler states of North America and here in the UK . These videos aim to show the diversity within the wine world. Your points on wild grape varieties in Israel and climate change are really interesting. It's exciting to see how regions like Northern Europe are adapting with non-traditional grape varieties and finding success. Thanks again for your comment! I hope you continue to enjoy and find value in the videos.
Thanks for finalising this Series. Some time ago you started to publish a 17 Parts series of Georgia. So far, only 12 parts are published on RU-vid, are you planning to continue. When?
Thanks for sharing your insights Jimmy! Regarding the claim about mousiness disappearing (at 22:30), something similar happens with pure chemicals related to mousiness. In other words, when ATHP is synthesised in a laboratory, it polymerises: multiple ATHP molecules reacts with each other to form flavourless compounds. Even when ATHP is dissolved in alcohol and kept in the freezer, it will disappear within about three months. I don't know if ATHP behaves in the same way in wine, but the compounds reacting with each other could potentially explain why mousiness in wine disappears
Thank you for posting this. It's very helpful in getting my bearings of the area as I plan to visit soon - but Selbach Oster's vineyard, which you didn't mention, is top on my list :)
Hi! Here is a link to the course specification for Level 2 so you can see what you can be tested on: www.wsetglobal.com/media/6942/wset_l2wines_specification_en_may2019.pdf The Level 2 materials are organised around varieties rather than countries/regions. For riesling, Mosel, Rheingau and Pfalz are the German GIs noted. Regionally important labelling terms indicating style and quality of wines made from the principal grape varieties are also set out: Prädikatswein, Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese (BA), Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA), Eiswein, Trocken, Halbtrocken. All of the above can be examined at Level 2.
I've not done chemistry in a while, but my first guess about why it can disappear with time in bottle could be that those different compounds can get to a higher oxidation state than the one that causes the unpleasant aroma, so the mousiness is a temporary stay over a longer journey towards chemical stability.
Mouse never actually goes away, its just people confuse post malolactic fermentation protein instability with Mouse. it essentially has, same yeasty, wet doughy notes on the aftertaste but it gets stabilized in couple of months and thats when people think Mouse has gone away.
This is interesting as I can usually detected a corked or somewhat corked wine, but I have also done tastings where it actually appeared to blow off and in some cases became more pronounced with aeration. Trying to distinguish between the two, I love fino sherry which is quite unusual for this side of the pond. I love amontillado styles as well depending what I have with it, but it can have a somewhat unpleasant long finish which would otherwise be good in a table wine. Where I can have more issues is with Madeira which I like for other than cooking which is terribly Un-American. Here I can have an aftertaste which I have never quite understood. I was wondering if this could be mousiness in the oxidative development of some of these fortified wines? Is this just my palate? I am sure you know peoples' tastes usually go in way or another when it comes to things like asparagus and cilantro so maybe it is just my personal taste here as well. Your thoughts kind Sir.
This resonates. There are a handful of compounds I have found in a variety of fermented beverages that register on my palate as “mouse adjacent.” One of them is that musty yeasty quality in sherry, one is a almost cheesy over stirred lees (think muscadet) and the other is the “water cracker/biscuit” note in some pilsners. The real lightbulb for me was paying extra attention to when the mouse hits and how intense it is. And does it impact my next sip in a negative way and detract from the harmony in the wine. To test, first I would try some “local pickled thing” and see if there is any THP, so you can really isolate when and where on your palate. Then I would seek out mousy wines at your local natural shop. Then maybe a Brett IPA to differentiate barnyard funk and phenolics from the wheaty grossness.
At about 14:00 you explain how at around 2-2.5% alcohol, free run juice and eventually pressed juice are combined and yeast is added to finish the fermentation. Is the vat unsealed and oxygen added at this point, or does it remain oxygen free throughout?
Hi! these wines will be handled in a protective way throughout the process to prevent unwanted oxidation. To this end, some producers will press when the initial fermentation activity is still occurring (and some CO2 is still being produced).
I am walking the Deutsche Weinstrasse in two weeks. This is a route through pfalz. We Call it the wine camino :) Any good tips on wineries to visit, places to stay and/or eat?
I love the Sangiovese from this region. I had the 2015 Chiara Condello Le Lucciole. I believe it was her first vintage of this bottle. It t was fantastic, I regret only buying one bottle
Yes! There are some interesting explanations and discussions here: tablascreek.typepad.com/tablas/2020/06/why-calcareous-soils-matter-for-vineyards-and-wine-grapes.html www.fao.org/soils-portal/soil-management/management-of-some-problem-soils/calcareous-soils/en/ www.apuwinery.com/post/more-about-our-soils
Drank lots of home-made when I was there in 1999. Fantastic - no hangover, no matter how much I put down. Mukuzani is my favourite. Shame there isn't more in the shops at a sensible price.
