Hello all,

I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
working on.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Tomw

p.s. please don't turn this into a thread about why tastings are
right/wrong

"Tom" > wrote in news:1162349830.224047.3220
@f16g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

> I was wondering if anyone had
> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
> varietal)

Relax. Like any test think carefully and go with your gut. You may be wrong
but like on any test one must risk wrong to reach right. Our first
impressions are more often right than our long deliberated analyses.

Go for the zen approach to tasting, be the wine.


--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

There are no tricks. You taste, and respond according to your knowledge,
experience, and tastes. You gain knowledge and experience - and develop your
tastes - by tasting. So simply enjoy, and don;t sweat trying to get it
right.




> Hello all,
>
> I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
> forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
> varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
> working on.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help,
>
> Tomw
>
> p.s. please don't turn this into a thread about why tastings are
> right/wrong
>

Tom wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
> forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
> varietal).


Peek at the label! ;-)

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup


> Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
> working on.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help,
>
> Tomw
>
> p.s. please don't turn this into a thread about why tastings are
> right/wrong

Tom wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
> forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
> varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
> working on.

Tom,
As others have said, there is no trick. What there are are various
factors that you consider in trying to figure out what is in the glass:

1. appearance -- what is the color? is it browning at the edge?
2. taste/aroma -- what wines does it remind you of? what is the acidity
level like? how tannic is it?
3. mouthfeel -- how full bodied is it? how alcoholic is it?

When you have amassed all your impressions, you then try to piece them
together like a puzzle? How old? Old World vs. New World? Modern vs.
Traditional? Hot climate vs. cool climate?

Even very experienced tasters have great trouble getting it totally
right without prompting or clues. It's a bit of a parlor game, really,
and the point is to have fun. Just tonight, I mistook a CA Pinot Noir
for a French Syrah... go figger!

Mark Lipton

"Ken Blake" > wrote in message
...
> Tom wrote:
>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
>> forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
>> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
>> varietal).
>
>
> Peek at the label! ;-)


And bottle shape or colour.

pk

.. Just tonight, I mistook a CA Pinot Noir
> for a French Syrah... go figger!


and at our last blind tasting I mixed up a cabernet with a
Grenache.......and that's after 27 years of blind tastings

so go and enjoy yourself, but for one tip I would offer, is that first
impressions do count,

JT

Tom wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
> forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
> varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
> working on.

I would suggest Michael Broadbent's pocket guide to Wine Tasting from
Simon and Schuster. This little pocket book has been around a long time
in several editions, and it is inexpensive. It has several good color
illustrations to help in evaluation of a wine's color. There is of
course no need to make a fuss about wine tasting. Many are content to
just enjoy it. Especially for people new to wine, it is helpful to jot
down names of wine you like or dislike to aid in purchase of wines to
try in the future.

One thing to do is determine what its not.
"cwdjrxyz" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Tom wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
>> forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
>> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
>> varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
>> working on.
>
> I would suggest Michael Broadbent's pocket guide to Wine Tasting from
> Simon and Schuster. This little pocket book has been around a long time
> in several editions, and it is inexpensive. It has several good color
> illustrations to help in evaluation of a wine's color. There is of
> course no need to make a fuss about wine tasting. Many are content to
> just enjoy it. Especially for people new to wine, it is helpful to jot
> down names of wine you like or dislike to aid in purchase of wines to
> try in the future.
>

"Tom" > wrote in news:1162349830.224047.3220
@f16g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

> Hello all,
>
> I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
> forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
> varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
> working on.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help,
>

Tom,

if you think a blind tasting purpose is to show how many wines you guess,
then you are going to be severely dissatisfied for a long time.

relax and ask yourself: what does this tastes like? and then compare your
prediction with the actual wine. And try to learn in the process. Learning
and tasting without prejudices is what blind tastings are for.

S.

Tom wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
> forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
> varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
> working on.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help,
>
> Tomw
>
> p.s. please don't turn this into a thread about why tastings are
> right/wrong

You cannot be serious. What is it you're trying to prove? Why not
actually DRINK some wine, with a meal, as the product is intended to be
used?

Has it ever occurred to you that many winemakers intend for their wines to
tasted in comparative tastings?


>
> You cannot be serious. What is it you're trying to prove? Why not
> actually DRINK some wine, with a meal, as the product is intended to be
> used?
>

In article om>, tomw@udel.
edu says...
>
>Hello all,
>
>I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
>forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
>some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
>varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
>working on.
>
>Thanks in advance for any help,
>
>Tomw
>
>p.s. please don't turn this into a thread about why tastings are
>right/wrong

Tom,

You know full well that "wine tasting" is just flat wrong! NOT. <G>

Good comments so far, on just relaxing, enjoying and learning all that you
can. Even if there is a "grade," don't worry about it, unless the prize is a
'70 Latour, or something just as good.

Andrea Immer (now Robinson) has done a few books on wines and tasting. One of
the best bits of advice, that she's offered in this area, is to break wines
first into Old World/New World. Compare/contrast the differences in how most
major varietals are handled/produced/grown in those two usually distinctly
different locales. Next, go for the varietal - Cab S, Merlot, Zin, etc. If you
are serious about the "contest," then maybe do a few tastings at home,
beforehand. Do you know the general makeup, i.e. whites, reds, Old World, etc
..? Also, if your facilitator is like I am, he/she might well though in a few
curves, i.e. New World Chard, done in a decidedly Old World style, or a Zin,
that thinks it's a Cab S. That sort of trickery. OTOH, if they play it
straight, then one can usually do a fair job, with some thought and by
elimination. You know, tasting a red, and ruling out the varietals, that you
know it is NOT. In these sorts of things, I usually do a very good job.
However, at a recent tasting, the facilitator chose wines with divergent
styles, and blew us all away. I can normally nail 90% and may even get, say
Rutherford within Napa, but this time we all fell far short - big buttery SBs,
austere Chards, a Merlot that should have been a Cab Franc, that sort of
stuff, and we all missed 90% of the danged wines!!!! It happens, even if one
is in top form and very analytical.

Most of all, have fun and take notes on your impressions of each wine, then
try and correlate your thoughts with the actual wines.

Hunt

In article >,
says...
>
>
>One thing to do is determine what its not.
>"cwdjrxyz" > wrote in message
roups.com...
>>
>> Tom wrote:
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>> I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
>>> forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
>>> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
>>> varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
>>> working on.
>>
>> I would suggest Michael Broadbent's pocket guide to Wine Tasting from
>> Simon and Schuster. This little pocket book has been around a long time
>> in several editions, and it is inexpensive. It has several good color
>> illustrations to help in evaluation of a wine's color. There is of
>> course no need to make a fuss about wine tasting. Many are content to
>> just enjoy it. Especially for people new to wine, it is helpful to jot
>> down names of wine you like or dislike to aid in purchase of wines to
>> try in the future.

Sibeer,

Didn't see your post, before I made mine. Sage advice. Eliminate first, then
define hemisphere, then work down from there.

Hunt

First, thanks to all for the advice. I actually ended up
opening/pouring the wines this week, so they weren't blind to me. for
others searching threads later I would say the best advice seemed to be
go with your first instact...it seems that many people tonight had the
correct varietal then second guessed and changed it.

as for the seriousness of it, it is for fun, but the person who guesses
the most correct varietals gets to pick any bottle from the store's
cellar to have in a later tasting.

And I do keep a record of all the wines I have. One of the benefits I
see in tastings is that i do not have the $$ to buy full bottles of
everything I would want to try, so i keep notes on what I like and
don't like and enter them into an excel file (i also have a terrible
memory and need to keep records). Seeing that I have only legally been
allowed to drink wine for a few months i think i'm on a good start

again, thanks to all for the advice

-Tomw

Tom wrote:
> forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
> varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
> working on.

Experience'll only come with time, and a lot of tastings. Don't worry
too much about it, and don't feel too intimidated. Main thing - simply
relax and enjoy the wine as you taste it. Don't be afraid to throw an
opinion out - nobody's expecting you to pick a blend or the terroir
correctly. As far as getting things wrong - you won't be the only one
who does it, and the entire group's mistakes usually do make for a good
laugh at the end of it all.

Salil

As others have stated, main thing is to learn and have fun. And accept
you'l be wrong, often!
I think advice re eliminating and narrowing is very valid. And getting
clear the elements you expect from a particular variety in your head
can help. Sure there are Pinot Noirs that are big, burly, blackfruited
- but they are the minority.


Tom wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now, and I have my
> forst blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
> varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
> working on.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help,
>
> Tomw
>
> p.s. please don't turn this into a thread about why tastings are
> right/wrong

Ric wrote:
> Has it ever occurred to you that many winemakers intend for their wines to
> tasted in comparative tastings?

No. If they do, they're morons and traitors to their craft. I buy wine
that tastes godd in the context of a meal. Full stop.
>
>
> >
> > You cannot be serious. What is it you're trying to prove? Why not
> > actually DRINK some wine, with a meal, as the product is intended to be
> > used?
> >

Ric wrote:
> Has it ever occurred to you that many winemakers intend for their wines to
> tasted in comparative tastings?

No. If they do, they're morons and traitors to their craft. I buy wine
that tastes good in the context of a meal. Full stop.
>
>
> >
> > You cannot be serious. What is it you're trying to prove? Why not
> > actually DRINK some wine, with a meal, as the product is intended to be
> > used?
> >

Tom wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I have been going to wine tastings for a few months now,

Why? Do you just 'taste' food then spit it out?

> and I have my
> first blind tasting tomorrow evening. I was wondering if anyone had
> some good advice/tricks for guessing the wines (mostly just the
> varietal). Naturally the best thing is more experience, which I am
> working on.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help,
>
> Tomw
>
> p.s. please don't turn this into a thread about why tastings are
> right/wrong

You people are perverted.

In article .com>, tomw@udel
..edu says...
>
>First, thanks to all for the advice. I actually ended up
>opening/pouring the wines this week, so they weren't blind to me. for
>others searching threads later I would say the best advice seemed to be
>go with your first instact...it seems that many people tonight had the
>correct varietal then second guessed and changed it.
>
>as for the seriousness of it, it is for fun, but the person who guesses
>the most correct varietals gets to pick any bottle from the store's
>cellar to have in a later tasting.
>
>And I do keep a record of all the wines I have. One of the benefits I
>see in tastings is that i do not have the $$ to buy full bottles of
>everything I would want to try, so i keep notes on what I like and
>don't like and enter them into an excel file (i also have a terrible
>memory and need to keep records). Seeing that I have only legally been
>allowed to drink wine for a few months i think i'm on a good start
>
>again, thanks to all for the advice
>
>-Tomw

TomW,

Thanks for the follow up. Usually a poster will inquire regarding a wine, a
pairing, etc. and never be heard from again. Most of us here have no idea if
we helped, or hurt their cause.

I commend you on the record keeping. I always think that I can recall my
impressions from all of the wines, but then, when I sit at the keyboard the
next day, a good 25% are lost, and gone forever. To help me, I'm even picking
up a tiny Olympus micro-recorder, as so many tastings (food AND wine) do not
offer a space to place even a small tablet on. I'm usually trying to juggle my
plate of crackers and my tasting glass, and even with a "clippie" to hold the
two together, writing on a pad is often impossible. Now, if I can get a blue-
tooth mic for the recorder, and not pour my wine into it...

Seems that you had the fun, and that's what it is all about.

Hunt