If you haven't explored the New Grenache lately, you're in for a treat, and likely a surprise––this incredible grape, once known chiefly as a blending ingredient and a symbol of the warm-climate fruit bombs of the 2000s, has entered its freshness era. It turns out that Grenache has a few unique tricks up its sleeve: miraculous old vines around the world, a climate-change-resistant growing season, the ability to show complex flavors even when picked early enough to retain acidity, and shockingly lovely structure, once you take it out of generic blends and give it a solo act in the right environment. We will focus on single-varietal Grenache bottlings from around the wine world and discover why top growers are falling in love with the versatility, beautiful flavors, and aging potential of this grape.
This class will begin at 6:00pm on Tuesday, February 4 and run for approximately 90 minutes. Wines tasted in class will be available for purchase with a discount available to attendees only. Seating is limited.
Julia has been working in the wine industry since 2008, when she wandered into a small Niagara Escarpment winery for a tasting and left with a job. Her roles since then have included wine (and beer) writer and editor, vineyard worker in Southern Wisconsin, retail buyer in Chicago, harvest intern in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and communications/education manager for Willamette Valley Wine. She is now Flatiron's events manager and buyer for New World wines.
A passionate educator, Julia has been teaching classes, seminars, private events and tutoring sessions on wine for over a decade. She is a certified WSET instructor and holds a WSET Diploma in Wine & Spirits as well as an Italian Wine Professional certification. Julia believes in the power of wine to facilitate important conversations about sustainability, agriculture, labor, memory and psychology, and she has never fallen out of love with wine's ability to combine topics from geography and microbiology to language, politics and history in unexpected ways.
2025 is about to be our most exciting year yet at Flatiron Wine School! Instructors Julia Burke, Annie Edgerton, and Ren Peir have all prepared a killer lineup of learning opportunities. Check out all class descriptions below, and bear in mind that classes do sell out.
Grower Champagne-quality sparklers are starting to pop up in unexpected locales. We've seen them appear in places you’ve heard of, like California (Ultramarine). Now we are seeing them in a place you’ve never heard of: Plešivica. That’s just a few miles southwest of Zagreb, in Croatia.
When we got the chance to visit, Patrick Bize of Domaine Simon Bize was still a culty magician in Savigny les Beaune (not yet the widely acknowledged master he became), making wines that transcended the (then) grossly undervalued village. What a chance to learn about the ins and outs of Burgundian farming and winemaking!
