A Blind Tasting triumph.......

Studying wine has many forms but one of the hardest and most rewarding parts is tasting. Now, to become a certified sommelier, you have to blind taste 6 wines (3 white, 3 red) and be able to identify not only the particular wine but the year and where it was grown....and you only have 25 minutes to do it. 

I have had some tough times trying to correctly identify wine in a blind tasting. However, I feel as if I may have found a great learning curve to improve my skills. I won't always be able to use this format, but it is a big start for me........

Last week, myself, my dad and my hubbie visited our awesome local wine shop, Red or White, for a blind tasting of 3 reds and 3 whites. What made this trip different was the format. Instead of not knowing anything about the wines, we DID know the three red and three white varietals, but did not know which was which. This format not only allowed us to use our smell and knowledge skills in identifying the wines, but we were able to learn by tasting them against one another and comparing/contrasting. It made a WORLD of difference.

To be successful in a blind tasting, you do need to know the basic smells and tastes to expect from a certain wine varietal. That said, Kevin Zraly, in his Windows on the World Wine Course, recommends that you "memorize" the taste and smell of the most frequented varietals - Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauv Blanc, Merlot, Cab and Pinot Noir. That will give you a basis and a start at learning to blind taste.

So, how did we do? (Note to the reader: no answers were given to each other until we were all done making up our minds)

We will start with the Whites:

First, we examined their color and they were all a very similar transparent yellow. It helps if you have a white sheet of paper to put behind the glass.

Next, we smelled and tried to make a call on what the wine was just from its bouquet (the smell of the wine).

Wine Momma: (L-R) Chardonnay, Sauv Blanc, Riesling
Hubbie: Riesling, Sauv Blanc, Chardonnay
Dad: Chardonnay, Sauv Blanc, Riesling

Finally, we took quite some time tasting the wines and comparing them to one another. Another fascinating note to make is how the bouquet and taste can alter based on its temperature. The longer was tasted, some small changes occured.

After tasting, here are our findings -

Wine Momma: Riesling, Sauv Blanc, Chardonnay
Hubbie: Riesling, Sauv Blanc, Chardonnay
Dad: Riesling, Sauv Blanc, Chardonnay

The REVEAL for the Whites:
(L-R) -  Riesling, Sauv Blanc, Chardonnay

To say I was excited was an understatement. We all correctly identified, after tasting, the three varietals. My dad and I had two of them switched from just smell, but changed once we tasted.

The Red's -

The color, L-R, seemed to go lighter to darker.

After smelling, here were our predictions:
Wine Momma: (L-R): Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet
Hubbie: Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet
Dad: Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet

So, we all agreed on the smelling, which was exciting! After tasting, we all felt the same way.

The REVEAL for the Reds:
(L-R): Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet

We were so pumped to have predicted the three reds, both by smell and taste, correctly. Our success, in my opinion, was due to the tasting format. It offered us the ability to cognitively discern what we were tasting in a great educational format. I have decided to stay with this format for, probably,  another year until I feel I have exhausted the format and have matured to full blind tastings. 

We have much to learn, but did some celebrating with some Champagne.

Friends, this was a great and fun way to learn how to taste wines. I truly hope you are able to partner with your local wine shop and do the same. It makes for a great wine date or fun afternoon!

Cheers!