Discovering Fine Wine
Wine tasting is a skill that can be learned and like portrait painting or playing the violin – the more you practice the better you will get. Wine tasting does however require a rather large number of samples and opportunity to taste and evaluate. Tasting classic wines from well-known appellations and many local examples, reference points, wine vocabulary and attending professional wine tasting events will help tasters become experienced and discover fine wine.
Writing a tasting note for The Shout readers is different from writing a judging note for wine competitions. A tasting note for Shout readers should help them in several ways including information to describe the wine to customers, helping the seller build upon their own wine vocabulary and create reference points to wine to assist in comparing wine styles and winemaking techniques. All without being too geeky. Tasting wine for judging in a competition takes a more focussed look at a wine’s finer points, balance, lengthy and complexity using experience from tasting classic wines as reference points, but not comparing necessarily to classic wines.
Wine points, stickers or stars may or may not help one of your customers in their buying decision. If they do it’s because the buyer, wine store, reader have faith in the rating or writer and may be compelled to buy the wine. Alternatively, wine notes and scores are an excellent way to market and advertise wine especially when the wine is an excellent example.
An excellent example of a particular wine is often referenced across popular press, wine critics, wine competitions or professional judging panels. These wines have specifically been recognised several times and is a great way to make buying decisions and ultimately become a fine wine candidate. Price at time of judging or assessment is irrelevant because the wine has to speak for itself and not because it sits in a specific price category. Some competitions do judge on price points, but most do not. The judging team is important as well and where there is a mix of winemaker, professional critic, wine buyer for specialist stores can be a formidable grouping.
Wines reviewed in this month’s issue all have something special about them, but they all display a great balance, length and complexity. One of the easy judging criteria you can adopt today and use with every wine you taste, in addition to the ideas suggested above, is do you find this wine intriguing, beguiling, layered, thought provoking, different and even more exciting with each taste? If so then you may be enjoying a fine wine.
