Top Gear's overgrown boy racer, scruff bag and beer drinker James May knows nothing about wine. Award winning wine writer and critic Oz Clarke, on the other hand, is one of the world's leading authorities on wine. The first season sees TV's oddest couple drive through some of France's most beautiful wine regions, while the second season sees them travel to California USA to taste what the Americans have on offer. Oz's mission is to educate and excite James about wine.
Bordeaux and Languedoc-Roussillon
Nov 22, 2006
Oz Clarke attempts to educate Top Gear presenter James May about the pleasures of drinking wine. The first episode begins in the Bordeaux region, where the skeptical student learns to appreciate the nose on individual bottles, and tries to talk his way through a tasting session at ultra-posh Château Pichon Longueville-Baron. After Oz witnesses James embarrass himself, his next lesson takes them back to the basics of the winemaking process, from harvesting to crushing to bottling. James creates his own wine along the way and inflicts it upon an unsuspecting public with a blind taste test.
Provence
Nov 29, 2006
The pair visit an oyster farm in Montpellier and a bull-fighting festival in Beziers, as Oz attempts to prepare James for his challenge of cooking a meal and finding the best wine to match it. James finally thinks he's making progress when he learns an important fact about dessert wine, but baffles everyone with his choice of dish for the challenge.
Rhône Valley
Dec 6, 2006
The Rhône Valley provides ample opportunity to learn about different grape varieties. However, the world-renowned winemaker Michel Chapoutier provides an obvious distraction for James with his classic car collection. The father and son team of Domaine Viret, Alain and Philippe Viret, extol the benefits ‘cosmoculture’, a mystical approach to grape growing involving the harnessing of the cosmic energy of the sky. Former French rugby international and winemaker, Gérard Bertrand, challenges James to blend his very own wine using a variety of grape extracts.
Alsace and Burgundy
Dec 13, 2006
The duo head to Alsace and Burgundy for a lesson on barrel making, and ‘terroir’ - a catch-all way of describing the many factors that can influence the quality of a vineyard. Oz then takes a skeptical James to meet one of Burgundy’s most celebrated winemakers, Thierry Beaumont, to sample Burgundies from Thierry’s three separate terroirs.
Champagne
Dec 20, 2006
The duo visit three champagne producers in northeastern France. They meet a champagne-maker who shares James' love of vintage cars, and a man who makes wine in his back garden. Oz also tests James to demonstrate how much he has learned.
