In this video we’re going to talk about Blind tasting wine what it is why you’d Want to do it and how to use tips I’ve Learned as a sommelier to become a pro Blind tasting it’s seemingly the coolest Part of becoming a civilier you get Nothing but a glass of wine in front of You with no other information and Somehow can magically figure out what it Is where it’s from how old what grape And even who makes it if you watched the Psalm film a disproportionate amount of Time was spent in the film focusing on This part of the sommelier exam and I Get it it’s flashy it’s almost kind of Like a game or party trick I mean who Wouldn’t want this killer talent to be Able to bust out of your next family Gathering or to impress that cute girl From the office by the way if you really Want to impress the cute girl from the Office do me a favor and give me a like On this video And subscribe if you Haven’t already I heard chicks love that What is blind tasting first off it’s a Little different than just tasting wine Normally in a normal wine tasting you Already know a bunch of information About the wine because it’s on the Bottle where it’s from alcohol content Grape price Etc and all you’re doing is Assessing it it’s flavors quality it’s Structure how much you enjoy it I Actually made a video on how to taste
Wine that you definitely want to check Out before you watch this video because We’re gonna build off some of those Topics because blind tasting is the next Level to this it’s about taking all that Information from regular tastings and Applying it to a wine you know nothing About one where you didn’t get to see The label it’s about challenging Ourselves our knowledge and our palette Training to see if we can arrive at the Correct answer but what is blind tasting Really for why do it at all a few Reasons number one you need to do it if You want to pass a summier exam and it’s Also used as a training exercise as you Study blind tasting is one of the three Parts of the sommier exam you need to Pass along with the written portion and The theory Portion by the way to learn More about the soulmate exam check out My how to become a Psalm video I made a While back here or in the description The reason it’s included in the exam Though is because it combines your wine Theory with palette training you need a Solid foundation of both to blind taste Successfully palette training means Training yourself to identify the Visuals of a wine flavors textures Structure and Aromas and side note Anybody can do this some people say I Don’t have a good palette and while it’s True some people are naturally better at
This just because I don’t have the Innate Talent of Tiger Woods doesn’t Mean I can’t practice golf and get good Enough to keep it on the Fairway the Point of pallet training is to do enough Repetition to identify patterns and Become familiar with the tasting process Number three is to test your wine Theory Knowledge so let’s say I’m a really good Taster and I’m able to identify that a Wine has high acid with strawberry Character low tannin and pale red color Great but how does that help me if I Don’t know what grapes and what part of The world produces wines with those Characteristics so that’s where the Theory knowledge comes in when you Combine the two you can successfully Blind taste number four it helps you Become a better taster in general and Gives you a methodology to follow for Tasting a lot of the principles you Learn when blind tasting can be applied When you taste casually and help you get More out of your wines and five it’s Just fun as I mentioned up top it’s kind Of like a game or a sport and the better You get the more fun it is whether You’re training for an exam or simply Have friends who are just into wine it’s A great group activity have everyone Bring a wine a brown paper bag and take Turns blinding the group let’s talk About the goals of blind tasting and for
My purposes I’m gonna go with the goals Provided by by the Court of Master Solomies but W said and other Organizations have similar goals by the End of the blind tasting we’re hoping to Assess four things about the wine number One where it’s from number two what is The grape or blend number three it’s Quality level and number four it’s Vintage now in the test and just Generally in life you don’t have to get The answer exactly right it’s kind of Like showing your work on a math problem You get points for arriving at a logical Conclusion even if it’s not the right One obviously we want to be as close as We can but if I call something Napa Cabernet which is actually Washington Merlot I’d still likely pass as those Lines have a lot of similar Characteristics they both have Medium-ish tannin similar fruit Character both New World Wines Etc all That being said let’s talk about how to Blind taste before we get started on the How-to portion of this I want to chat With you briefly about our Vino VIP Club This is our membership club that gives Early Access to all our videos including Our full episodes and the YouTube videos Monthly Raffles and giveaways virtual Zoom Hangouts with me access to our Members only Facebook group and a bunch More it also really helps support us
Because we’re independently produced and Plus your first month is free so nothing To lose so if you have a moment do me a Favor click the link above or in the Description to sign up Okay so now let’s get into how to blind Taste the Quartermasters actually has What they call a deductive tasting grid That is great to follow as your first Learning so I’ll put that link in the Description using this grid is also a Lot of one I went over in that how to Taste video I spoke about earlier which Is in the description as well so watch That to learn how to fill this out so Let’s pretend I already filled out most Of this info about this wine and I’m Ready to try and guess what it is the Next step is to figure out how these Elements on the grid answer our four Goals of place grape quality and age While we do this keep in mind we always Want to eliminate options when we can It’s kind of like a game of Clue Let’s Pretend This is Our wine it’s red which Means you can already eliminate sixty Percent of wines on the planet white Wines rose sparkling and orange wines All off the table so you’re doing great And you keep doing this until there’s Only a few options left goal number one Place we’re going to start are Broad and Then we’re going to eliminate options First question is this from a new world
Country or an old world country Old World Wines AKA Europe tend to be more Earth-driven or mineral driven while new World countries basically anything Outside Europe often produce wines that Taste more like fruit If you need other Clues old world wines Are usually and the key word is usually Because it’s not always the case but They’re usually lower in alcohol and Higher in acid for their respective Grape and usually have less Oak Character so consult your grid and ask Yourself does this wine taste more Rustic and earthy like an old world wine Or fruity and Rich like a new world wine And let’s say we think it’s old world Which is awesome because we’ve Eliminated another half of the world’s Wines next is it from a cool climate or Warm climate cool climate wines have Higher acid lighter body and less Alcohol while warm climate wines are the Opposite let’s say we think it’s cool Climate so now we think it’s an old World cool climate wine remember that Because we’re going to come back to Place after we chat a bit about the Grape goal number two is the grape or Blend this is where you need to know Some theory about your grapes for Instance that Pinot Noir has red fruits And low tannin while Cabernet Sauvignon Has black fruits and high tannin we
Actually have a playlist on our channel That details a lot of grape Characteristics so check that out Otherwise Wine Folly is a great resource For this as well As we assess I think getting too Specific with tasting notes Here can Actually trip you up I don’t really care If you get old potting soil Cherry Pie And dried clove think more broad Principles if the Wine’s fruit character Red blue or black or for whites Citrus Stone fruit or tropical do they use Oak What is the structure tannin acid and Body for Reds and for whites sugar acid And body with these three things fruit Character Oak presence and structure you Should be able to get a good sense of The grape here’s a list of the grapes They use for the certified sommelier Exam if it’s red fruits limited Oak high Acid and light tannin and body it’s Likely Pinot Noir or Gourmet the exact Same thing but medium tannin and Body San Diego with purple fruits Syrah or Maybe Cabernet Franc even if you’re torn On some elements go with what you’re Sure of if you’re having trouble with The fruit character but you’re positive The tannin isn’t high and there is an Oak you can eliminate High tanning Grapes like nebiolo or Cabernet Sauvignon or heavily oaked wines like Tempranillo and on and on until you hone
It in on the one or two grapes that it Could be one side note while I did say Don’t worry too much about specific Tasting notes there is one caveat Sometimes grapes have dead giveaways That you should look out for Syrah and Black pepper gruner and white pepper Chardonnay and butternuts from malactic Fermentation Cabernet Franc and bell Pepper Albarino and salinity Riesling And petrol Etc so make sure to learn these to make Your life a lot easier now back to our First goal Place let’s say we think it’s Pinot Noir or it’s game and we already Said it was old world and cool climate Here’s where your Theory comes in again You need to know which regions in the World are old world cool climate and Make Pinot Noir or Gourmet and there’s Really only one answer here that checks All the boxes it’s burgundy and so we’ve Got our place now is it Pinot Noir or is It game is it bubble gum and Banana-esque from Carbonic maceration Which is a game Hallmark nope well then It’s Gotta Be Pinot Noir so there we Have it we eliminated our other options And we’re left with Pinot Noir from Burgundy Hang on hang on we’re not quite there Yet goal number three quality two things To ask yourself with quality is this Wine complex and how long is the Finish
Then decide if it’s low medium or high Quality if your region has a quality Hierarchy assign it to one burgundy for Instance has Regional Village Premier Crew and ground crew so pick one of Those based on your assessment let’s say It’s the village level and goal number Four vintage unless you really know Vintages in your region of choice an Approximate age will suffice one to five Years six to ten years or ten years plus There are good Clues to help us Determine age and you should watch my Video about age lines to learn more but Quickly are there signs of oxygen from Either Oak aging or time in the bottle Things like color is the wine showing Brown Hues for Reds or copper Hues for Whites is their Rim variation on the Pallet have tertiary flavors like dried Fruit and earthy flavors started to take Over has the acid and tannin started to Fade use this info and make your best Guess I’ll say it’s a young line at one To five years old and there it is you’ve Blind tasted a wine and our hypothetical Example we’d say it was Pinot Noir from Burgundy the lodge level and one to five Years old all that’s left is to reveal The bottle And see if you’re right but even if you Weren’t you had fun didn’t you in all Seriousness see what you got wrong and Why and take that knowledge to your next
Tasting for my next video which I’m Gonna put here as soon as it’s out next Week I’m gonna blind taste two wines Using this method so you guys have an Example to go by I know this was a bit Of an advanced topic but I hope this Video helps you learn a bit about blind Tasting let me know if you have any Questions in the comments don’t forget To subscribe and please consider joining Vino VIP and if you haven’t seen our Full travel episodes that’s our main Content so head to our page to watch Cheers guys until next wine Foreign
