The exam is broken down into two sections: theory and tasting, both lasting two hours. The tasting exam has four flights of three wines, all tasted blind and which might be arranged by theme - grape variety or region, for example - or randomly. Twelve wines in two hours leaves ten minutes to assess each wine - describe the appearance, nose, and palate, and reach a conclusion on the quality of the wine.
For this blind tasting, I knew the theme - all the wines were from Pinot Noir - but didn't know the wines themselves. The key to blind tasting is not to try and second guess yourself: analyse the wine for what it is, not for what you think it might be, and let the wine speak for itself.
The WSET has a "Systematic Approach to Tasting," which breaks down flavours into different categories and forces you to analyse each technical aspect of the wine - acidity, tannins, alcohol - using uniform language. This can be a frustrating, formulaic way of approaching wine, but it does provide consistency to what can be an inconsistent exercise.
As you can see below, these are not the sexiest of tasting notes, lacking the florid poetry that journalists use in wine reviews. However, they should make clear the nature and style of the wine and its quality - rather than the subjective vocabulary of a review, the notes are designed to be objective. Here are my tasting notes as the WSET would expect to see them in the exam:
Clear, medium ruby colour, with legs.
Nose
Clean, pronounced intensity, and developing.
Raspberry and cherry red fruits, with toast, smoke, and vanilla from the oak ageing, with sweet spices cinnamon and nutmeg. Floral notes of violets and rose petals.
Palate
Dry, high acidity, with medium, soft tannins. Medium + alcohol, medium+ body, with a pronounced flavour intensity and a long, lasting finish.
As with the nose, raspberry and cherry red fruits, as well as strawberry. More herbal on the palate, with rosemary and sage; also rose petals. Backed up by toast, smoke, and vanilla from the oak.
Conclusion
Outstanding: complex balance of fruits, oak, and herbal/floral aromas, with ageing potential due to the good tannins, high acidity, and clear fruit flavours.
The best way to draw a conclusion on a wine is, by using your tasting notes, to follow the acronym BLIC - Balance, Length, Intensity, Complexity - analysing the balance of acidity, tannins, fruits, and oak; the flavour and intensity of the finish; the intensity, depth, and range of flavours; and the overall complexity of the wine.
Clear, medium ruby colour, with legs.
Nose
Faulty - medicinal, smells like cough sweets.
A faulty wine will not be poured for the exam - students can assume that the appearance of each wine is "clear" and the nose "clean." This is because there isn't enough to write about a faulty wine - it tastes wrong, and that's about it - and there's no way you can form a conclusion about its quality.
Clear, medium ruby colour, with legs.
Nose
Clean, medium + intensity, developing.
Red fruits flavours of strawberry, cherry, and jammy plums, with some black fruits coming through too - blackcurrant, blackberry. Dried fruits too, particularly figs. Use of oak, giving vanilla and smoke.
Palate
Dry, high acidity, with lightly gripping, drying medium + tannins. Medium + alcohol, medium body, with medium + flavour intensity and a medium + finish.
Juicy, jammy red fruits of strawberry, cherry, plums with black fruits - blackcurrant, blackberry - and dried fruits - figs. As with the nose, smoke and vanilla from the oak, as well as pepper.
Conclusion
Very good: an intense, dark wine with forward fruits and integrated use of oak; a wine of balanced complexity but lacking a certain subtlety and elegance.
Describing the flavours of the palate can be repetitive - there's not likely to be much different from the nose. That's why the nose is so important, the taster's first, immediate analysis of the aromas, while the palate is more about the technical details - acidity, tannins, alcohol, body.
Tasting wines blind also challenges preconceptions: the most complex and cool of the wines was from California while the wine from Alsace was the darkest and most intense in colour and taste. Three wines from the same grape pushes the taste buds: the flavour profile of each wine is bound to be similar, but the balance, intensity, and complexity of those flavours different. Rather than simply describing the fruits in a wine, it's the latter qualities that matter.
As you can see below, these are not the sexiest of tasting notes, lacking the florid poetry that journalists use in wine reviews. However, they should make clear the nature and style of the wine and its quality - rather than the subjective vocabulary of a review, the notes are designed to be objective. Here are my tasting notes as the WSET would expect to see them in the exam:
Wine 1
AppearanceClear, medium ruby colour, with legs.
Nose
Clean, pronounced intensity, and developing.
Raspberry and cherry red fruits, with toast, smoke, and vanilla from the oak ageing, with sweet spices cinnamon and nutmeg. Floral notes of violets and rose petals.
Palate
Dry, high acidity, with medium, soft tannins. Medium + alcohol, medium
As with the nose, raspberry and cherry red fruits, as well as strawberry. More herbal on the palate, with rosemary and sage; also rose petals. Backed up by toast, smoke, and vanilla from the oak.
Conclusion
Outstanding: complex balance of fruits, oak, and herbal/floral aromas, with ageing potential due to the good tannins, high acidity, and clear fruit flavours.
The best way to draw a conclusion on a wine is, by using your tasting notes, to follow the acronym BLIC - Balance, Length, Intensity, Complexity - analysing the balance of acidity, tannins, fruits, and oak; the flavour and intensity of the finish; the intensity, depth, and range of flavours; and the overall complexity of the wine.
Wine 2
AppearanceClear, medium ruby colour, with legs.
Nose
Faulty - medicinal, smells like cough sweets.
A faulty wine will not be poured for the exam - students can assume that the appearance of each wine is "clear" and the nose "clean." This is because there isn't enough to write about a faulty wine - it tastes wrong, and that's about it - and there's no way you can form a conclusion about its quality.
Wine 3
AppearanceClear, medium ruby colour, with legs.
Nose
Clean, medium + intensity, developing.
Red fruits flavours of strawberry, cherry, and jammy plums, with some black fruits coming through too - blackcurrant, blackberry. Dried fruits too, particularly figs. Use of oak, giving vanilla and smoke.
Palate
Dry, high acidity, with lightly gripping, drying medium + tannins. Medium + alcohol, medium body, with medium + flavour intensity and a medium + finish.
Juicy, jammy red fruits of strawberry, cherry, plums with black fruits - blackcurrant, blackberry - and dried fruits - figs. As with the nose, smoke and vanilla from the oak, as well as pepper.
Conclusion
Very good: an intense, dark wine with forward fruits and integrated use of oak; a wine of balanced complexity but lacking a certain subtlety and elegance.
Describing the flavours of the palate can be repetitive - there's not likely to be much different from the nose. That's why the nose is so important, the taster's first, immediate analysis of the aromas, while the palate is more about the technical details - acidity, tannins, alcohol, body.
so what were the wines?
Wine 1 - Cartograph Floodgate Vineyard Russian River 2011 ($44)
Continuing my burgeoning love affair with Sonoma Pinot Noir, a wine of real complexity and depth of flavour.Wine 2 - Domaine Odoule-Coquard Chambolle-Musigny 2011 ($47)
It was devastating to discover that the corked wine was from Burgundy: its flavours were flat and medicinal, with no hint of its quality.Wine 3 - Domaine Ostertag Vignoble d'E ($27)
For a wine from cool Alsace, this was a surprisingly full, fruity, dark wine. Its fruits were just a bit too jammy to rank as outstanding.Tasting wines blind also challenges preconceptions: the most complex and cool of the wines was from California while the wine from Alsace was the darkest and most intense in colour and taste. Three wines from the same grape pushes the taste buds: the flavour profile of each wine is bound to be similar, but the balance, intensity, and complexity of those flavours different. Rather than simply describing the fruits in a wine, it's the latter qualities that matter.
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