Brad Andersen Wine School in Gold Coast, Queensland | School/university

Brad Andersen Wine School

Locality: Gold Coast, Queensland

Phone: +61 405 407 186

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23.01.2022 It didn't take long for wine production to spread around the world and today anywhere there's land between the latitudes of 30 and 50 degrees north or south you're likely to find vineyards. Wine grapes can be grown successfully closer to the Equator provided sites are elevated to escape the heat and humidity, and close proximity to a body of water can help temper otherwise difficult conditions. Sites closer to the poles can also work provided they are protected from cold weather, and frost in particular, and stoney/gravely vineyards can retain heat during the day and radiate it back to the vine during the cold nights. Cooler areas also benefit greatly from the lie of the land, where slopes facing the Equator benefit from more direct Sun exposure.

19.01.2022 From time to time I'll take a diversion from the article series and cover a topic that's come up recently. Today it's merlot, or what I like to call "proper merlot". Sometimes clients ask me for a red wine to go with lamb and when I suggest merlot, the response is often that they don't like it - "too light and simple". This really couldn't be further from the truth. The problem is that merlot is an early ripening variety and greedy commercial producers like to take advant...age of this by picking early, getting the wine through fermentation quickly and, with little intervention, into bottle and out to the marketplace. Yes, these wines tend to be simple, light and fruit-driven with no/minimal oak. However, merlot is closely related to cabernet sauvignon and in the right hands can produce wines of similar weight and power. In fact, in one way it's even superior to cabernet in that it doesn't suffer from the infamous "doughnut effect" - lack of fruit on the mid pallet (and the reason merlot is so often blended with cabernet). And the Bordelaise know a thing or two about wine where in the right bank appellations, merlot is king! Try a proper merlot when you're next in the mood for cabernet and be pleasantly surprised - I promise. See more

16.01.2022 As the production of wine became more and more widespread, Europe led the way in terms of quality and innovation. France is regarded by many today as the spiritual home of fine wine (despite the entire industry being virtually wiped out by a bug called phylloxera in the mid-1800s), so much so that until only recently, many of of the famous French wine "brands" - e.g.: Burgundy, Champagne - were used and abused by non-French producers around the world. International agreements... have seen these important appellation names removed from labels on wine produced outside of these areas. Here is a quick run down on the most prominent French appellations and their most important varieties: Bordeaux on the southwest coast is home to cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and some petit verdot and malbec; Burgundy in the central east of the country is predominantly planted to chardonnay and pinot noir; Champagne in the north-northeast has mostly chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier; the Rhone Valley sees grenache, shiraz, mourvedre, viognier and numerous other white and red varieties; and the Loire Valley on the central west coast has sauvignon blanc, cabernet franc and chenin blanc. Phew! See more

12.01.2022 Just 6 more Likes and I get the page name officially! Please share and encourage friends to Like the page itself, not just this post. Thanks in advance everyone.