Zoom into Orange wines or Irish-style brews with two new virtual events from NC’s Learning Enterprises.
On March 12, participants can dig deeper into the Underground Revolution of the NC Teaching Winery’s Underground Series of Orange wines. On March 19, the NC Teaching Brewery keeps the St. Patrick’s Day spirit flowing with its experience of ‘Lucky Brews.’
The monthly series of Friday evening experiences offer participants opportunities to connect with others remotely while learning more about the featured wines, beers or spirits from NC staff and faculty. Attendees also have the option of savouring featured products from NC’s Learning Enterprises during the event, which may be purchased through an experience package.
Underground Revolution
Friday, March 12, 6 p.m.
Orange wines need to be tasted to be understood, according to College winemaker Gavin Robertson.
On March 12, participants will be doing just through his curated virtual tasting of the NC Teaching Winery’s three Underground Series Orange wines. The Underground Series debuted two years ago with the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc. Since then, it has introduced two more Orange wines to the series: A Pinot Gris (2018) and a Gewürztraminer (2019). Robertson will lead participants through a tasting of all three and discuss the ancient winemaking approach used to produce the Orange wines.
To create the Orange wines, tanks were filled with freshly harvested fruit in the fall and buried underground in the Teaching Vineyard where the grape skins fermented and aged. During the spring, they were dug up and wine was pressed. The result: a truly natural wine without any added yeast or bacteria to achieve fermentation, and without any stabilizing additions during the production cycle.
Robertson noted that the Underground wine project is a lesson for NC’s first-year Winery and Viticulture Technician students and is used as a launching off point to discuss how wine can be made with very little intervention, often with a high-quality result. He said that it provides a useful framework for all lessons in modern wine science and technology that is delivered throughout the rest of the program.
“I’m always excited to talk about our Underground Series wines because they’re truly unique and tend to stimulate a lot of conversation and debate about what wine should taste like,” he said. “It’s often eye-opening even to folks with lots of experience tasting wine, forcing them to rethink their perspective on what wine ‘is’ and how it should be made.”
Registration details are available via the NC Teaching Winery.
Experience package: Two bottles each of all Underground wines (Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer) and one NC Teaching Winery patch ($115). Free local deliveries, free Ontario shipping and in-store pickup.
Lucky Brews
Friday, March 19, 6 p.m.
Brad Barta is St. Patricks Day ready as he prepares to host a virtual experience on Lucky Brews, March 19.
– Instagram Photo from the NC Teaching Brewery
In honour of St. Patrick’s Day, lead brewer and part-time instructor Brad Barta will lead participants through a tasting of selected Irish style brews. Beers in the spotlight include the Teaching Brewery’s Stout 101 and Porter 101, as well as two third-term projects from students in the Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program: a Wee Heavy and an Irish Red.
“It’s all about leading people through a tasting of the selected brews, while at the same time trying to be entertaining and bring in some St. Patrick’s Day lore/vibe,” said Barta. “I really think the social aspect is what most people will get out if it, as well as some good beer.”
Experience package: Six cans each of the four featured beers ($90). Free local deliveries and in-store pickup, shipping additional.
Registration details are available via the NC Teaching Winery.
