Blind Tasting: Merlot From Around the World!
¬Article by David Metz with 1 comment 1 comment
3 Jun 2009So last night a few folks gathered at a super secret location to continue our preparation for the Certified Wine Educator (CWE) exam, namely the blind tasting portion. Many people are familiar with the Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) title and this is the next certification in the Society of Wine Educators. It does require to already be a CSW, so everyone participating is already a CSW or has plans to take the mostly academic multiple choice exam.
The CWE exam includes a multiple choice exam, an essay, a component tasting (varietal recognition), and a fault tasting. A few of us get together to practice and “study.” As usual, the wine starts flowing and the “studying” continues on throughout the night, usually off-topic as you may notice.
So here was the lineup for the night:
Really, honestly, I would never buy any again.
The tasting was fairly typical. One person was in the room and placed the wine in the bag. He left. The next person came in, mixed the bags way up, any order he wanted. He left. The next person came in, mixed up the bags any way he wanted. He left. The last person came in and numbered the bags in any order he wanted 1-5. He didn’t have to leave. Every person had 5 glasses in front of them numbered 1-5 and the wines were poured accordingly.
This was after the first round, you can see my failure. 2 out of 5... Ouch.
After everyone had time to write down their own choices, we began discussing before revealing the wines. You were welcome to change your mind at this point if you wanted, I did not. Maybe I should have, I only got two right the first round. After we discussed, the wines were revealed. We concealed the bottles again, the same as before with new bags and started again.
I ROCKED IT!
The second pass I nailed a complete 5 for 5. It was such a good feeling after bombing the first time around. It was interesting because the wines began to change from being open. Some of the signatures from before were fading and new signatures were coming out.
Okay, so I mentioned how the “studying” gets off topic? We then did the following wines blind:
Tired and bored, this is going unedited. Harass me later!
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¬ The Georgia Aquarium
#111 September 21st, 2009 at 10:23 am
If you’re looking for a great opportunity for a wine tasting, Georgia Aquarium invites you to be a part of our fourth annual wine tasting event, AquaVino. Georgia Aquarium’s AquaVino event is on October 29, 2009 from 7-10 p.m. This year’s event invites guests to “Sip, Savor and Sea” the wonders of the ocean. Exclusively for one night, guests will have the opportunity to enjoy more than 200 wines and 30 of Atlanta’s best restaurants. All proceeds from the event support the Aquarium’s state-of-the-art veterinary services facility through the Correll Center for Aquatic Animal Health. Please visit http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/aquavino for more information.