Today, I am launching a new video series here on YouTube, called the 3.5-minute wine school. Here, over time, I am going to be sharing EVERYTHING I know about wine, and more. I will be gathering in this series all the information you need to know about wine, from the basics like how to taste wine, to the most detailed information about grapes and regions. So YOU, can become a wine expert too.
My name is Julien, I am a qualified winemaker from France, Master of Viticulture and Wine Sciences, and WSET Diploma Graduate. I’ve spent the past 20 years studying, making, and more importantly tasting fine wines, oh and I’ve worked in 7 different wine countries
Why should you watch this video? Because as Jancis Robinson Master of Wine once said: “Wine can be so much more than lubrication.”
I will be uploading as often as possible so you can crank up your wine knowledge FAST.
I will always break things down into small and digestible chapters for you, because I believe wine is for everyone, and everyone should be able to understand wine.
This video, is to explain what is Julien’s 3.5 Minute Wine School and why you should join the journey.
Why 3.5 Minutes Video?
In all honesty, there is a series here on YouTube that’s called the WSET 3 Minute Wine School. So the tittle of this series is inspired by that other series, that was presented by Jancis Robinson MW. One has to acknowledge its inspirations. But the WSET (which by the way is an international wine course, and I am a Alumni of that course as I passed the its highest qualification, the Diploma, a few years ago) the WSET launch that series back in 2010, and they haven’t really followed up since. No one actualy has. So it’s time that someone brings it back to reality and currency.
Why 3.5 minutes? Because I think 3 minutes is the right format to convey a small dose of wine knowledge. It’s short, concise, precise, yet enough time to actually pack in some real information.
The extra half a minute is for the intro and outro, so you actually get a full 3 minutes of solid wine material.
What Are We Going to Learn in this Series?
Well, we are going to cover everything over time. We will start from the beginning, like how to taste wine, how to swirl wine, how to uncork a bottle, this kind of essentials.
But we’ll then cover more detailed topics. We’ll go into specific wine regions to learn more about their specificity and their wines, into specific grapes, and more precise topics.
The aim is that if you follow along and watch the various episodes, you will progressively become a wine expert.
One important thing: at any time, on any episode, feel free to ask questions in the comments AND feel free to suggest video topics. I want this to be a conversation, not a lesson.
Who is Julien Miquel?
Well, as I said at the beginning, I am a qualified winemaker from France, I studied enology at one of the very top winemaking colleges in France, in Bordeaux. I worked at some top wine estates, including Chateau Margaux, after which I travelled the world making fine wine, in Spain where I worked very closely with famous consulting winemaker Michel Rolland, I worked in Tuscany, Italy, in Sonoma California, in Australia, and New Zealand.
Them I spent 6 years in the top management of the biggest wine-related website Wine-Searcher, during which time I passed the WSET Diploma, one of the world’s highest wine qualifications.
Essentially, I’ve spent the past 20 years making wine, speaking wine, breathing wine.
But, and that’s probably the most important lesson, that I’ve learnt from winemaking: I’ve learnt humility. The more you know, the more you know that you don’t know everything.
I’ve also learnt that wine is for simple pleasure and simple enjoyment. It doesn’t have to be snobby or complicated. That said, when you know a little bit about wine, you enjoy it better.
So that’s why I propose to learn more, step by step, about the wonderful world of wine here.
So, come along with the journey of Julien’s 3.5 Minute wine school. It’ll be fun. We’ll be starting with the beginning, course 1: how to taste wine?
I will see you soon, in the world of wine…
Cheers
Shout out to Madeline Puckette of Wine Folly (Essential Guide to Wine Book author), and Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV (wineliberarytv) for having inspired me to start making wine education and tasting videos on YouTube.
#JulienWineSchool