On the recommendation of some fellow wine enthusiasts I recently read a book by one of America’s top wine gurus, Rajat Parr, called “Secrets of the Sommeliers.”  He covers topics ranging from his favorite wine-producing regions to education, and does an excellent job of making the information both entertaining and informative.

   Parr explains that the best way to really learn wine is to taste it “blind.”  In a standard blind tasting, the participants do not know the exact wines they are sampling and are only given basic information, such as the grape variety, to help in their evaluation.  By doing this one can get a real grasp on a region’s style and the basic characteristics of the grape variety.   As a Wine Consultant at ABC I have had the opportunity to participate in such tastings and have always found them to be both humbling and enlightening. 

   To revisit this exercise, I conducted a blind tasting at home comparing two Pinot Noirs; one from the Willamette Valley in Oregon and another from Burgundy.  The mission: to see if I could successfully identify one from the other and pick out the defining characteristics of each.   My girlfriend poured the samples and the comparison began.   I’ll spare you the “wine geek” details, but in short, both wines were excellent, both showed their regional characteristics well, and I was able to successfully identify one from the other.   The two Pinots were Argyle’s 2008 Willamette Valley bottling and a Premier Cru from Maison Champy. 

   I encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about wine and what makes each varietal and region unique, to invite a few friends over and have fun with this exercise.  I think you all will find it informative and enlightening, but most importantly, fun!  But don’t let yourself get discouraged if you don’t get the “right answer.”  Even some of the most experienced tasters have difficulty correctly identifying wines in blind tastings.  It’s all part of the excitement and learning process.  Enjoy! 

--Dave Malone, Wine Consultant, Tallahassee