Tuesday Tasting April 17, 2012

Blind Tasting

Hello all, Happy weekend and warm weather to all. It’s been so nice in San Francisco the past couple days and people have been out and about. Hopefully we are all enjoying something tasty in our glasses this weekend.

So let’s talk about blind tasting. Every week I meet with some fellow Certified Sommeliers and we study in preparation for our Advanced Exam. One of the three portions of the exam is a blind tasting panel. So every week we meet and blind taste wines together. The rules are simple, one white and one red that would be ‘fair-game.’ A fair-game wine is one that is classic and very well defined, with distinguishable characteristics to its’ typicity. Sancerre, Chablis, and German Riesling are but a few white examples; Bordeaux, Red Burgundy, and Barolo are a sample of reds.

April 17th we met, 5 of us total. The solid core of three: Don, Rafael, and me. Dominque joined and so did Callie. We had some fun wines and it’s interesting to see how we improve each week. In total we tasted 10 wines, a bit of a marathon for our palates, but we are dedicated and thus powered through.

Wine #1 My White 2010 Bordeaux Blanc 60/40 Semillon/Sauv Blanc

Good easy drinking white with some good signs of being Bordeaux Blanc. Unfortunately it was not showing much signs of oak influence and thus made the guesses go a bit leaner. My bad.

Wine #2 Rafael’s White 2010 Albarino, Rias Baixas-Spain

I got some good notes of what this wine was about, and called Albarino in my initial, but went with Northern Rhone Viognier as my guess instead. Not too far off…

Wine #3 Dominque’s White 2010 Albarino, Rias Baixas-Spain

Another Albarino, back to back. This is why blind tasting like this can be so fun. Did I call Albarino here, nope haha! I thought it was a Pinot Grigio from Northern Italy.

Wine #4 Callie’s White 2004 Riesling Spatlese Mosel, Germany

German Riesling is one of those grapes where you really know what it is when you smell it. After that it’s all about figuring out where it is from and how old and how sweet it is. Spatlese is the ripeness level, and is definitely off-dry. I guessed that it was a 2006 German Riesling Kabinett from Rheingau, to the South of Mosel. I need to calibrate my Riesling sweetness levels.

Wine #5 Don’s White 2000 Graves Blanc, Grand Cru Classe 75/25 Sauv Blanc/Semillon

I was guessing this wine, and was happy with my synopsis, although my guess could have been better. I thought it was either Chenin Blanc or Semillon/Sauv Blanc from Graves-Bordeaux, probably about 7-10 years old. I guessed 2005 Vouvray Sec. I’m happy with the guess, but could have done better with the age/vintage.

Wine #6 My Red 2009 Cote de Brouilly, Cru Beaujolais-France Gamay Noir

Cru Beaujolais is fun stuff and a wine I like to carry and recommend to people. Everybody did pretty well with this wine.

Wine #7 Rafael’s Red 2007 Chinon, Loire Valley-France Cabernet Franc

This is a wine I need to get more exposure to. I got all the green qualities, but went new world South America. I guessed Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. The struggle continues…

Wine #8 Dominque’s Red 2007 Rioja Crianza, Spain Tempranillo, Graciano

Rioja has been a wine that has plagued me for a long time. This guess of a 2005 Rioja Riserva may be a sign of enlightenment in the future. Keep dreaming.

Wine #9 Callie’s Red 2009 Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara-California

California makes a lot of Pinot Noir from a lot of different places. Then there is Oregon too with the Willamette Valley. I guessed 2010 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. Not a bad try

Wine #10 Don’s Red 2006 Cornas, Northern Rhone Valley-France Syrah

So here is the red I was assigned to blind. It’s always good to end on a high note. Here I said 2007 Cote Rotie, another small appellation in the Northern Rhone Valley. The funny thing is in my notes I wrote Cornas first and scribbled it out.



No matter what at the end of the day the most important thing is to drink what you like.  I enjoy blind tasting, which is good given its importance in my profession.  Have a good week everyone, you will hear from me again soon.

Cheers!