The Best Ways To Learn About Bordeaux Wine From Home
Even if you’re putting your wine country travel plans on hold for now, there are many ways to learn about Bordeaux wine from your own home! Here are some of our favorites.
Download a Wine App
Vivino
With Vivino, you can scan any wine label to see ratings from other users, critics’ reviews, and save your favorites with tasting notes so you never forget a great wine! You can even use Vivino to scan restaurant lists and make recommendations; and even order wine directly through the app. Vivino features nearly 1800 Bordeaux wines, from Grand Crus to Sauternes, Cremant de Bordeaux, Bordeaux Superieur and more– a great tool to learn more about some wonderful bottles and keep track of what you’re tasting.
Delectable
Delectable is like peeking into the wine journal of your favorite sommeliers and winemakers. Follow influential wine professionals and see what they’re drinking daily, as well as their tasting notes– and you can even purchase wines.
Make sure you check out the extensive Bordeaux section of the app, with hundreds of tasting notes from wine professionals and wine lovers all over the world. You might just discover your new favorite bottle!
Wine-Searcher
Wine Searcher not only has amazing articles and educational guides to learn from, but you can enter any wine + your location, and their database will tell you the closest local shop to carry it, or where you can purchase online.
The Bordeaux section of the app gives great educational resources about the region, as well as a monthly index of the most popular Bordeaux wines, where you can find them near you, and the average price you should expect to pay. From hard-to-find bottles to everyday pleasures, the Wine-Searcher app will make sure that great Bordeaux wines are always at your fingertips!
Listen To a Wine Podcast
I’ll Drink To That!
A former sommelier, Levi Dalton, interviews incredibly famous and knowledgeable wine personalities in his tiny apartment. With hundreds of episodes going back to 2012, Dalton welcomes winemakers, sommeliers and writers for fascinating conversations.
On the podcast’s Soundcloud page dedicated to Bordeaux, you can access hours of interviews with Bordeaux experts and winemakers including Jane Anson, Alexandre and Francois Thienpont, Nicolas Glumineau and dozens more! A wonderful way to immerse yourself in Bordeaux traditions, culture, and wines.
Wine for Normal People
The Wine for Normal People podcast is for people who like wine but not the attitude that goes with it. Host Elizabeth Schneider translates wine into normal terms that you can relate to through the podcast and blog.
Some terrific episodes on Bordeaux include interviews with Familie Aubert, with Amelie Aubert, the 7th Generation of Bordeaux Winemaking, Women of Bordeaux with Caroline Perromat of Ch Cerons and Sylvie Courselle of Ch Thieuley, and Stephen Bolger of VINIV – Make Your Own Bordeaux.
The Wine Enthusiast Podcast
The Wine Enthusiast Podcast takes you on a tantalizing trip into the world of wine, beer and spirits, reported and recorded by Wine Enthusiast’s editors. The episodes explore trends, education, and profiles of winemakers and wine professionals all over the world.
For those interested in how to find Bordeaux at affordable prices, check out ‘Bargain Bordeaux’ Episode, where Wine Enthusiast’s European Editor Roger Voss speakswith with Françoise Lannoye, the president of the Côtes de Bordeaux, about what makes this region so unique and how consumers can find exceptional bottles for less than $30.
Join a Virtual Wine Tasting
There are so many live virtual tastings popping up right now that you can join from all over the world!
Virtual Wine Tastings at Home with Wine.com
This tasting series is free to register for– with the option to buy the wines, of course! We recommend participating in this virtual tasting featuring Saskia de Rothschild, Chairwoman of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite)– now available on YouTube. Among the wines tasted in this session is Chateau L’Evangile Blason de L’Evangile, and it’s fascinating to explore this wine through the lens of one of the new stars of the young generation of Bordeaux.
Spitbucket.net Virtual Wine Events
This website, hosted by Spitbucket.net, is a great directory of virtual wine experiences you can partake in right from the comfort of your own home. Whether you’re looking for a tasting hosted and curated by a winery, a retailer, or a sommelier/expert, there are multiple virtual events listed every day!
Upcoming tastings to discover on the site featuring Bordeaux wines include Appreciating the differences between Bordeaux vintages with Château Brown, Richard Bampfield MW and Jean-Christophe Mau hosted by 67 Pall Mall, Terroir Effects on Bordeaux hosted by Coravin, and Fine Wines of Bordeaux Online, hosted by Shropshire Wine School.
The Virtual Tasting Room on Instagram
Wine bloggers and influencers know a thing or two about communicating on wine digitally… they were doing it before it was cool! This Instagram account curates the best social-media-powered virtual tastings and interviews, and all events promoted on the account are free to watch. New virtual tastings are posted every morning, so don’t forget to check in and see which Bordeaux experiences are available that day!
Take an Online Wine Class
If you decide it’s time to take your wine education on a more formal path, there are online wine courses available. Some of the most in-depth are presented by the Wine Scholar Guild.
We highly recommend their Bordeaux Master-Level Program! A dream team of Bordeaux experts from all over the world provides a unique and dynamic learning experience via web-based teaching technology, with 9 weeks of study featuring 15 webinars, a study manual, and quizzes to track your progress.
The Bordeaux Wine School currently has a series of webinars hosted by Mary Gorman-McAdams MW, Laura Williamson MS and Jesse Becker MS called How the Masters Tackle Bordeaux! If you’re enthusiastic about Bordeaux and want to learn more, these webinars are a great place to start. Staying home is the perfect time to dive deep into Bordeaux!
