WHAT YOU CAN LEARN BY FAILING A BLIND TASTING
What #blindtastingfailure feels like...
What's the #1 mistake you can make when blind tasting?
In my opinion, the biggest mistake is: deciding what you are tasting before you are finished assessing the wine!
I was recently at a blind tasting where we were doing 12 wines (all red) in a mock Master of Wine exam setting. We had just over two hours to taste the wines and write up our essays. The problem, I went into the practice exam having got into town very late the night before. Definitely not enough sleep to stay sharp while doing a substantial flight of red wines. Plus, I'd skipped breakfast.
Tasting humble pie: I got to the last two reds, the end was in sight! After so many tannic wines, I was ready to be done. We were told they were from the same country and were made from the same grape. They had a medium ruby colour.
I smelled the nose and got some bright red fruit, and a hint of what struck me as aromas of semi-carbonic maceration. I somehow decided right then and there that they must be Beaujolais!
Big mistake. Huge. {Pretty Woman reference}
WRONG.
They were Syrah.
Re-tasting them after the bottles were revealed, right away, there was the gamey, savoury note. Plus the distinctive peppery flavour. The assertive tannins.
While tasting, a voice in my head had said: these have too much tannin to be Gamay. But instead of listening, I tried to make Gamay fit by postulating they were Morgon.
How did I ever convince myself these were Beaujolais? It was a really bad ID.
I know how: not enough sleep. Not having a proper breakfast and glass of water before tasting. By rushing through to identify the wines before doing a proper assessment.
Everyone makes mistakes. I'm sharing this in the hopes the next time you have an exam that you avoid some of these pitfalls. The #1 being, always assess the wine objectively, then use deductive reasoning to try and identify what it could be. The mind is a powerful thing, and put on the wrong track, will tell you that you're smelling and tasting things that aren't there.
Next time I do a mock exam, I'll be sure to remind myself of the Parable of the Syrah Beaujolais.
Thanks for reading! Commiserate in the comments, and if you're brave, share the worst ID you've made in a blind tasting.
Cheers & Cin Cin,
Rachel