Kristi Mayfield, CMS1 / WSET2 / Wine / Education
I’m not alone in this am I?
I still revel in the moment years ago when I got it right and no one else did. What’s that you ask? With 20 glasses of wine in front of me (no, I’m not exaggerating!), I was at a lovely formal wine dinner where guests were asked to guess the wine at each course. I sat rather silently being an absolute novice on anything wine related at the time and just smiled as others touted their extensive library of knowledge trying to guess the varietal or blend, the region, the producer or vineyard and even the vintage.
Holy cow was I in over my head! Then something utterly magical happened, with three gorgeous glasses of sublime amber liquid sitting in front of me, I took a deep inhale of the lusciousness, a quick sip of the nectar and out of nowhere blurted “SAUTERNES”!!!! And… I was right! Ok, so I didn’t have a clue as to the rest of the details, but it was a moment I will never forget in my wine journey.
Fast forward to my Court of Master Sommeliers Intro course. Here we go again, but this time instead of an intimate group of 16 friends and acquaintances, I was in a massive hotel ballroom with 100 complete strangers (except my friend Charisse whom I had no clue was going to be in the same class!). Being the nerd that I am, I sat in the second row. Luck of the draw, as we rounded the tables during the first blind tasting, it landed on me, yep, little ole me, to tell the entire student population exactly what wine was in my glass. I had a little help from those before me on defining the aromas and the flavors, but no help at all on the big reveal. Drum roll please rat tat tat tat tat… I got it right! Burgundy Pinot Noir! I was on a roll!
Two partial guesses does not an expert make I’m afraid
With these successes behind me, I could consider myself somewhat of a blind tasting expert, right? Abso-stinkin-lutely NOT! Flukes? Wild guesses? My alter ego taking over? Demons possessing my brain? Not that far off I’m afraid. Blind wine tastings still bring out my nerves and make me question whether I know anything at all about wine in the first place. But every once in a while, the encyclopedic studies, the NYC library of data points and wine tips and the endless podcasts, articles and research I have invested in over the past few years pays off and I actually put all the puzzle pieces together for a gold medal win!
Candidly, I doubt I ever take my skills at wine tasting seriously, but I do gain more and more confidence when I simply leverage the basics to write the story each and every wine is trying to tell me. Leveraging the DOMSOM 6 S’s of wine tasting (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, I encourage you to take the DOMSOM course!), I break it down step by step and each chapter gets me closer to the grand finale. I’m not talking each and every one of the details from vineyard to vintner to vintage, but varietal (or blend) is always my primary focus which can narrow down the region and put a few more pennies on my wine BINGO board.
Pour it Baby, One More Time!
Fast forward to last night. My super cool women’s wine group got together to map out our events for the year and to have some fun during our meeting (never pass up the opportunity to drink wine at any meeting my friends!), our resident Somm at the venue picked two “secret” wines for us to taste and guess. This is where the sweaty palms and racing heartbeat come in again. Seriously, it happens every time! Trying to avoid the inevitable ask – Kristi, what wine do you think it is? – I walked the group through the 6 S’s like a champ delaying the ultimate test of my wine aficionado capabilities. But alas, all good things must come to an end. Here we go…. White wine – what’s it’s story. What clues is it giving me and how many boxes can I check or uncheck along the path of deduction (or destruction however you want to look at it!)? VIOGNIER! Bam. Got it! Whew……
No rest for the wicked, that luscious white was quickly followed by an anonymous pour of red. DAG NAB BURN IT (I’ll let you decipher the 4 letter soliloquy I cannot type in public)!!! Another one! Ok, deep breath (into the wine glass of course), sip, swish, savor. Repeat. Herbaceous? Yes. Tannic? Not really. Deduce, refine, reframe, process. COTE de RHONE! Score! I’m 2 for 2! But hey, we all get lucky now and then and this was my night!
Bottom line, for anyone except the elite of the elite in the wine world, wine tasting should be fun, not scary. Everyone’s smeller smells something different. Everyone’s taster tastes something different and that super cool when it comes to wine! I’m fascinated hearing what other people smell and taste as it opens my eyes (ok my nose and tongue) to things I might no otherwise have sensed. So next time you have a chance, have your Somm, waiter, waitress or wine shop owner pick a bottle for you and keep the selection a surprise. Pop the cork and get to business and see just how much of a story the wine reveals to you along the way! Good luck!
Want to learn more about the DOMSOM 6 S’s of wine tasting? Start now at DOMSOM.us!!!
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