The Core Principle
Wine knowledge has two components: facts (regions, grapes, classifications) and logic (why wines taste the way they do). Most people try to memorise facts in isolation. The smarter approach:
If you understand why cool climate wines are high in acid, you don't need to memorise that Chablis, Champagne, and Mosel are all high-acid - you can deduce it from their latitude.
The Learning Stack
Layer 1: Frameworks
Climate-ripeness, Old/New World, geography basics. Master this first.
Layer 2: Causal Models
Why climate affects flavour, how winemaking impacts taste.
Layer 3: Grape Profiles
Each grape's consistent personality and characteristics.
Layer 4: Specific Facts
Regions, producers, classifications. Encode via memory techniques.
Mental Models
These frameworks let you deduce answers from first principles. Master these and you'll know things you never explicitly studied.
🌡️ Climate-Ripeness-Flavour
The single most important model. Explains 80% of wine characteristics from geography alone.
🍇 Grape Personalities
Each grape has a consistent "personality" that travels with it. Know the grape, predict the wine.
🛢️ Winemaking Effects
Oak, malolactic, lees ageing - each technique has predictable effects you can identify.
🌍 Old vs New World
Two philosophies, two styles. Understand the mindset, predict the wine.
The Climate-Ripeness-Flavour Chain
This is the master key. If you know where a region sits climatically, you know its style.
COOL CLIMATE WARM CLIMATE
│ │
â–Ľ â–Ľ
Less sun → Less sugar → Lower alcohol More sun → More sugar → Higher alcohol
Higher acid retained Acid drops during ripening
Grapes struggle to ripen Grapes ripen easily
│ │
â–Ľ â–Ľ
FLAVOURS: FLAVOURS:
• Citrus, green apple • Tropical fruit, stone fruit
• Herbal, grassy • Jammy, ripe
• Mineral, lean • Rich, full
• "Tart" • "Lush"
Grape Personalities
Think of each grape as having a consistent character that expresses itself everywhere it's grown:
Chardonnay
Neutral grape that takes on terroir and winemaking. Oak it and it's buttery; leave it alone and it shows place.
Sauvignon Blanc
Aromatic compounds always express. You'll know it's Sauv Blanc within seconds of smelling.
Riesling
Bone dry to lusciously sweet, always high acid. Expresses place beautifully. Ages like nothing else.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Small berries = thick skin = high tannin. Always structured, always ages well. Cassis is the signature.
Pinot Noir
Thin skin = pale colour, light tannin, hard to grow. Needs cool climate. When it works, it's magic.
Syrah/Shiraz
Cool climate = peppery, savoury, medium body. Warm climate = rich, jammy, full body. Same grape, different beast.
Winemaking Impact Model
| Winemaking Choice | Effect on Wine |
|---|---|
| Oak (new French) | Vanilla, toast, spice, adds tannin structure |
| Oak (new American) | Coconut, dill, more aggressive vanilla |
| Malolactic fermentation | Creamy texture, buttery notes, lower perceived acid |
| Lees ageing | Richer texture, bready/yeasty notes |
| Cold fermentation | Preserves aromatics (think: NZ Sauvignon Blanc) |
| Carbonic maceration | Bubblegum, banana, light body (think: Beaujolais) |
| Extended maceration | More tannin and colour extraction |
Memory Techniques
Once you have the frameworks for understanding, use these techniques to lock in specific facts.
🏛️ Memory Palace for Regions
Assign wine regions to rooms in a familiar place. Walk through mentally to recall.
Example: Your House as France
- Front door = Champagne (the entrance, celebration starter)
- Kitchen = Burgundy (heart of French cooking, Pinot & Chardonnay)
- Living room = Bordeaux (elegant, for entertaining, the blends)
- Bathroom = Loire (fresh, clean, the "wash" of Sauvignon Blanc)
- Bedroom = RhĂ´ne (warm, spicy, sensual Syrah and Grenache)
- Garage = Alsace (on the border, German influence, Riesling)
For Bordeaux Left vs Right Bank
Imagine the Gironde river running through your living room:
- Left side of couch = Left Bank = Cabernet dominant = "Left = Cab = Structured"
- Right side of couch = Right Bank = Merlot dominant = "Right = Merlot = Rounder, softer"
🗺️ Visual Encoding with Maps
Your brain remembers images far better than text. Create visual associations.
France Map Shape = Hexagon
- Top right corner = Champagne & Alsace (cold, northern)
- Top centre = Burgundy (narrow strip running north-south)
- Bottom left = Bordeaux (Atlantic coast)
- Centre-south = RhĂ´ne (runs north-south along the river)
- Bottom = Languedoc (the sea of value wine)
Key practice: Physically draw maps from memory. The act of drawing encodes spatially.
đź”— Elaborative Interrogation (The "Why" Technique)
For every fact, ask "WHY?" and link it to something you understand.
| Fact | Why? |
|---|---|
| Pinot Noir is light coloured | Thin skin = less pigment |
| German wines are often sweet | Cold climate = hard to ripen = residual sugar balances high acid |
| Champagne is acidic | Northernmost French region = grapes barely ripen |
| Barossa Shiraz is full-bodied | Hot climate = ripe grapes = high sugar = high alcohol |
| Sauternes is sweet | Noble rot (botrytis) concentrates sugars |
Each fact becomes a logical consequence, not an isolated memory.
🍷 Dual Coding (Taste + Theory)
When you taste a wine, you encode two ways: sensory memory (what it tastes like) and conceptual memory (the facts).
Protocol
- Taste a wine blind (e.g., Chablis)
- Note: pale colour, high acid, citrus, mineral, no oak
- Reveal it's Chablis
- Connect: "Chablis = cool climate Burgundy = Kimmeridgian chalk = unoaked Chardonnay = that sensation I just experienced"
The taste becomes the anchor for the facts. Next time you read "Chablis", you'll taste it mentally.
This is why the tasting curriculum matters as much as theory.
đź“– Story/Narrative Encoding
Facts embedded in stories stick. Wine has rich history - use it.
Why Burgundy Has Tiny Vineyards
"Monks spent centuries in Burgundy, tasting soil and wine from each tiny plot. They discovered that moving 10 metres changed the wine completely. They mapped every parcel obsessively - that's why Burgundy has 100+ Premier Crus and 33 Grand Crus. The French Revolution broke up monastery holdings, and Napoleonic inheritance laws divided them further among children. Now some Grand Crus have 80+ owners for 10 hectares."
Now "Burgundy = tiny fragmented vineyards = quality hierarchy based on exact plot" is encoded as a story, not random facts.
Why Phylloxera Matters
"A tiny American aphid destroyed every vine in Europe from the 1860s-1880s. The solution? Graft European vines onto American rootstock (which is resistant). Now virtually ALL wine grapes grow on American roots. Pre-phylloxera vines are legends."
⚖️ The Comparison Method
Learn grapes and regions in contrasting pairs. Contrast cements understanding better than studying each in isolation.
| A | vs | B | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chardonnay | vs | Sauvignon Blanc | Neutral vs aromatic; can oak vs rarely oak |
| Cabernet | vs | Merlot | More tannin vs softer; cassis vs plum |
| Pinot Noir | vs | Cabernet | Light/elegant vs powerful/structured |
| Syrah | vs | Grenache | Peppery/savoury vs fruity/alcoholic |
| Riesling | vs | GewĂĽrztraminer | High acid vs low acid; subtle vs in-your-face |
| Left Bank Bordeaux | vs | Right Bank Bordeaux | Cabernet/structured vs Merlot/approachable |
Mnemonics & Acronyms
For lists that need to be memorised in order, create memorable phrases.
Noble Grapes (The Big 6)
German Prädikat Levels (Driest to Sweetest)
Bordeaux 1855 First Growths
Left Bank Communes (North to South)
Burgundy Quality Ladder (Base to Top)
GSM Blend Components
Deductive Tasting Order
Deductive Reasoning
In the tasting exam, you're not recalling facts - you're building a logic chain. Each observation narrows down possibilities.
The "If-Then" Deduction Cards
These let you derive answers:
| If You Observe... | Then Deduce... |
|---|---|
| Pale white, high acid, grassy | Sauvignon Blanc, likely cool climate |
| Deep gold white, low acid, tropical | Oaked Chardonnay, warm climate |
| Petrol/kerosene on nose | Riesling, likely aged |
| Very pale red, translucent | Pinot Noir or Gamay |
| Black pepper on nose | Syrah (cool climate/RhĂ´ne style) |
| Mint/eucalyptus on Cabernet | Australian origin |
| High acid + high tannin (red) | Nebbiolo or Sangiovese |
| Butter + vanilla + tropical fruit | New World oaked Chardonnay |
| Lychee + rose petals + low acid | GewĂĽrztraminer |
Example Deduction Chain
How observations lead to conclusions:
Final conclusion: Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc, 1-2 years old, good quality.
You didn't memorise "Loire Sauvignon Blanc tastes like X". You deduced it from observations + frameworks.
Practice Structure
Daily Study Session
| Activity | Technique Used | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Anki review | Spaced repetition | 15-20 min |
| Read one guide section | Elaborative interrogation (ask why) | 20 min |
| Draw a map from memory | Visual encoding | 5 min |
| Taste 1 wine with notes | Dual coding | 15 min |
Active Recall Techniques
Instead of re-reading, practice these:
- Blank page test: Write everything you know about Burgundy without looking
- Question generation: Make up exam questions and answer them
- Explain aloud: Pretend you're teaching someone about Bordeaux classifications
- Self-quiz: Cover answers, try to recall, then check
Anki Card Design Principles
❌ Bad Card
Q: What grape is Chablis?
A: Chardonnay
Problem: Tests recall without understanding
âś“ Good Card
Q: Chablis is made from Chardonnay. WHY is Chablis typically unoaked while other white Burgundy is often oaked?
A: Chablis philosophy emphasises terroir expression (Kimmeridgian chalk/mineral). Oak would mask the distinctive flinty character. Also, historically Chablis producers couldn't afford new barrels like CĂ´te d'Or producers.
The good card forces understanding, not just recall.
Key Principles Summary
Understand Before Memorise
Learn the "why" first. Facts become derivable.
Taste While You Study
Dual coding creates stronger memories.
Use Spaced Repetition
Anki daily. Space increases retention.
Test, Don't Re-read
Active recall beats passive review.