Last week we had our American Wine Society - Year 1 - Wine judge Certification class and exam.
The exam is only held at the National Conference and this year it was in Rochester New York. I flew back to attend the conference and to take the exam.
The exam is in 3 parts. One part is theory and we had a series of books and papersthat were required reading in preparation for the exam. Most of the topics were basic sensory analysis with some additional emphasis on Wine faults.
I wouldn't guarantee it, but I think one could be successful just reading Alan Young's book "Making Sense of Wine" and also Marian Baldy's "University Wine Course". these books also give you wine tasting exercises to perform such as judging between 3 wines of various sweetness. They give you the formulae and ingredients to create valid tasting samples.
The 2nd part is, for most students, the hardest, and that is: you are given 10 wines. In our case 6 had aroma faults and 4 flavor faults. There were about 25 possibilities of what could be the cause of the fault. We had to assign the correct fault to each of the glasses. I had tested and tasted and practiced this part of the exam several times over the summer and fall, and we also reviewed it again on test day, but when you have to pull out the correct aroma from a full red wine during test conditions, it gets a lot trickier.
This is something I will have to practice and practice again and again.
The final part of the exam is to judge 4 wines and write up your tasting notes and assign a score to the wine.
The wines were 1) A strawberry fruit wine, 2) A white hybrid 3) A chambourcin (native american red grape) 4) a red vinifera.
I had never had a Chambourcin before and I though it somewhat harsh and vegetal. I thought they must have adulterated it, and I described what I tasted and because I knew they wanted us to avoid scoring everything mid-range ( i.e. 14-16 points : a 'good' wine), I gave this a 12.5 out of 20. A commercially acceptable but nothing special wine. The judges who had tasted Chambourcin before, thought this a very good example of one and graded it 17 out of 20 points, though I did note that at least one also thought it vegetal.
The rest of the wines I came close on, and overall I was good enough to get a pass.
What a relief ! I wasn't sure of the results. I don't think any of us were and I wouldn't have been surprised if I hadn't passed and still had 2 more days of a conference to get through. I was beginning to think that maybe they should tell us the results at the end of the conference so at least we could all have a good time before we got the news.
After getting through the first year, I now have a much better idea of what to expect and I can plan and practice for it. Several of my class mates had fellow AWS members who had been through the class before and were able to give them some good advice. My recommendation is that if you do intend to attempt the program, that you search out anybody who has taken it before and talk to them about what to expect.
Having found out Friday morning that I had passed the exam, the next two days of the Conference were a real gas. I will write on it later.
john
Sunday, November 20, 2011
WSET Unit 6 - 2nd attempt
I had my WSET Unit 6 exam on Nov 3rd. I think I passed, but it could still be close.
I was fortunate in that this time, my hands, while tired and cramping before I finished writing nevertheless didn't start shaking as they did the first time. Of course I think the caffeine had something to play during that affair.
I have learned a couple of things.
. If, like me, you spend a lot of time on the computer, don't hand-write letters or papers that much, then you need to practice your hand-writing. Hand write out all the topics you might encounter. Build up your hand writing skills.
. I usually write in pen. Last time I took this test, I also used a pen and when I made mistakes or wanted to add in a few words, it got very sloppy. I had a lot of cross outs. But I hate pencils, with their hexagram sides and points that are made to grip the pencil but just dig into my finger. I also hate how the point wears down and affects my writing style. 2 months ago I went to the store and bought 6 types of mechanical pencil. I tried all of them and found the one that felt best in my hand. Even better, is that it erases easily, and the point is always sharp and fresh. I will only use these from now on.
. Read the small print at the top of your tasting page: It could say "These wines are all from the same region or country". This saved me when I thought I smelled acetaldehyde and was thinking Sherry when the wine was really an aged Sercial. I knew my 2nd wines was a Madeira and therefore went back to re-look at the first wine and re-evaluated it correctly. The examiners review notes mention time and again that people lose points because they fail to read / apply this hint.
. Be aware of sub-topics within a larger one. I have seen this twice now. On this exam there was a question about VOS, and VORS Sherry. There is no specific topic in the Oxford Companion about this. It is buried deep down in the topic on Sherry itself. If you just look at the larger topic, (Sherry) you can miss some detail that is actually large enough to be a topic on its own.
. Don't forget your Who, What, When, Where, Why, and Hows. One question on my test was "Write a paragraph on Languedoc". While keeping to the context of Fortified Wines, you still have to put down as much as you can about the topic. So first tell what and where it is. Talk about the climate. Talk about the terrain.
I mentioned 3 of the 4 VDN DOCs that I could remember. I mentioned that Arnaldus de Villenova (not part of the syllabus, but interesting nevertheless) invented the mutage process at the University of Montpelier in Languedoc. Your job is to tie together as many facts as you can as long as you stay on topic.
. Regarding tasting. I used to follow the WSET - SAT in order of items on the taste part. i.e. I would check sweetness, acidity, tannin, alcohol, body, intensity, flavors, length. I found myself having to take several sips to pull together my thoughts on each of these items. This took a lot of time. After I took a review tasting session with (MW Candidate) Maureen Downey, she pointed out that I really needed to speed this up. AND she said that I should figure out an order that worked for me. Now I just do two sips. Sweetness, body, (slurp) alcohol. (Spit) Acidity and Tannin develop slower and I judge these after spitting. (Next sip.) Intensity, flavors, and length. Also some flavors might develop during the first sip, But the mouth is now prepared to taste.
. Your mouth does wake up. Maureen mentioned that some of the MW students wash their mouths with Champagne before entering the testing room. It wakes the mouth up and saves a couple of minutes during the tasting session.
. Smell all your wines before tasting any of them. One may be very high alcohol, for example, that you really should taste last. Do your tasting in an order that works for you. The wines are not necessarily set out in a good tasting order. Just don't mix up your notes.
. My current goal is to write a complete tasting note in7-8 minutes or less. On a normal WSET exam that will leave 35-40 minutes to write the 3 topic questions that they will give us. By a complete note, I mean one with all the options. Normally 20 points are given for the basic notes and 5 points for the optional areas of : Variety, Quality, Price, Region, Country. You never know what combination of these last sections they will give you to make up the 5 points. So always practice by writing them all.
If anybody reads this blog and wants my notes, I have 36 pages of notes that I took from the Oxford Companion and various other sources and compiled them all in one place to make studying them easier.
Send me an e-mail and I will send you my notes.
john
I was fortunate in that this time, my hands, while tired and cramping before I finished writing nevertheless didn't start shaking as they did the first time. Of course I think the caffeine had something to play during that affair.
I have learned a couple of things.
. If, like me, you spend a lot of time on the computer, don't hand-write letters or papers that much, then you need to practice your hand-writing. Hand write out all the topics you might encounter. Build up your hand writing skills.
. I usually write in pen. Last time I took this test, I also used a pen and when I made mistakes or wanted to add in a few words, it got very sloppy. I had a lot of cross outs. But I hate pencils, with their hexagram sides and points that are made to grip the pencil but just dig into my finger. I also hate how the point wears down and affects my writing style. 2 months ago I went to the store and bought 6 types of mechanical pencil. I tried all of them and found the one that felt best in my hand. Even better, is that it erases easily, and the point is always sharp and fresh. I will only use these from now on.
. Read the small print at the top of your tasting page: It could say "These wines are all from the same region or country". This saved me when I thought I smelled acetaldehyde and was thinking Sherry when the wine was really an aged Sercial. I knew my 2nd wines was a Madeira and therefore went back to re-look at the first wine and re-evaluated it correctly. The examiners review notes mention time and again that people lose points because they fail to read / apply this hint.
. Be aware of sub-topics within a larger one. I have seen this twice now. On this exam there was a question about VOS, and VORS Sherry. There is no specific topic in the Oxford Companion about this. It is buried deep down in the topic on Sherry itself. If you just look at the larger topic, (Sherry) you can miss some detail that is actually large enough to be a topic on its own.
. Don't forget your Who, What, When, Where, Why, and Hows. One question on my test was "Write a paragraph on Languedoc". While keeping to the context of Fortified Wines, you still have to put down as much as you can about the topic. So first tell what and where it is. Talk about the climate. Talk about the terrain.
I mentioned 3 of the 4 VDN DOCs that I could remember. I mentioned that Arnaldus de Villenova (not part of the syllabus, but interesting nevertheless) invented the mutage process at the University of Montpelier in Languedoc. Your job is to tie together as many facts as you can as long as you stay on topic.
. Regarding tasting. I used to follow the WSET - SAT in order of items on the taste part. i.e. I would check sweetness, acidity, tannin, alcohol, body, intensity, flavors, length. I found myself having to take several sips to pull together my thoughts on each of these items. This took a lot of time. After I took a review tasting session with (MW Candidate) Maureen Downey, she pointed out that I really needed to speed this up. AND she said that I should figure out an order that worked for me. Now I just do two sips. Sweetness, body, (slurp) alcohol. (Spit) Acidity and Tannin develop slower and I judge these after spitting. (Next sip.) Intensity, flavors, and length. Also some flavors might develop during the first sip, But the mouth is now prepared to taste.
. Your mouth does wake up. Maureen mentioned that some of the MW students wash their mouths with Champagne before entering the testing room. It wakes the mouth up and saves a couple of minutes during the tasting session.
. Smell all your wines before tasting any of them. One may be very high alcohol, for example, that you really should taste last. Do your tasting in an order that works for you. The wines are not necessarily set out in a good tasting order. Just don't mix up your notes.
. My current goal is to write a complete tasting note in7-8 minutes or less. On a normal WSET exam that will leave 35-40 minutes to write the 3 topic questions that they will give us. By a complete note, I mean one with all the options. Normally 20 points are given for the basic notes and 5 points for the optional areas of : Variety, Quality, Price, Region, Country. You never know what combination of these last sections they will give you to make up the 5 points. So always practice by writing them all.
If anybody reads this blog and wants my notes, I have 36 pages of notes that I took from the Oxford Companion and various other sources and compiled them all in one place to make studying them easier.
Send me an e-mail and I will send you my notes.
john
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Simply Italian US Tour 2011
I feel like I am becoming "somebody".
Through the fortunes of having friends in the business, living near a key winemaking area, and close to a cosmopolitan and internationally famous city (San Francisco) and probably specifically by volunteering at every wine event that I can, my name is starting to get "out there" and I am actually starting to get invitations to attend events instead of having to volunteer at them to get in the door.
This time I got an invitation through the Society of Wine Educators (SWE) (http://www.societyofwineeducators.org)
an organization in which I am a member and through which I got my Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) certification and where I intend to attempt the Certified Wine Educator next August 2012. However, I also have to thank Balzac Communications who organized the event and Paul Wagner, its president who is a board member of SWE and probably opened up the tasting to their members.
There are 20 wine regions in Italy, many more DOC and DOCG appellations, and hundreds if not thousands of grapes that have been growing there for thousands of years. Learning Italian wines is intimidating and a scary but extraordinarily rewarding experience. There are so many grapes, regions, and styles that you can always find something that you will like. And then you will be surprised by yet another wine after that.
The Simply Italian Tour had about 15 regions and 60 producers represented. It was busy but not overly crowded which is a real pleasure at a wine tasting. The room was divided a couple of different ways. On one wall were the sparkling wines, Franciacorta and Prosessco. One one wall, the Friuli producers were pouring.
In the center of the room were the Premium Brands from the Institute of Fine Italian Wines. Another wall focused on wines from the Veneto. Finally scattered throughout were single wineries representing many of the other regions.
Unlike some other events, there was not a huge crowd just around the premium brands. These attendees were spread throughout the room and were seriously interested in considering all the wines presented. My kind of crowd.
It is always hard to take notes in a walk around tasting like this. Pen in one hand, tasting notes in the other and glass in your third hand, so I don't have a lot of great notes, (I do have to find a system) but here is what I pulled from the notes that I did take.
First of all my primary goal is to taste grapes that I know nothing about. (And of course, an Italian Wine Tasting is a remarkable place to do this.) I am likely to pass up the world's most popular and most expensive Super-Tuscan to learn about Sagratino, the native grape of Umbria. I am probably not going to be found in front of a table of Barolos (The wine of kings and the king of wines) looking for the best one, but will be off in the corner trying a Lagrein so that I can learn that grape and trying to lock it in my memory.
So, having said that, here are some wines I liked:
There are so many examples of both classic, rare, and innovative wine-making that you will always find something interesting.
john
Through the fortunes of having friends in the business, living near a key winemaking area, and close to a cosmopolitan and internationally famous city (San Francisco) and probably specifically by volunteering at every wine event that I can, my name is starting to get "out there" and I am actually starting to get invitations to attend events instead of having to volunteer at them to get in the door.
This time I got an invitation through the Society of Wine Educators (SWE) (http://www.societyofwineeducators.org)
an organization in which I am a member and through which I got my Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) certification and where I intend to attempt the Certified Wine Educator next August 2012. However, I also have to thank Balzac Communications who organized the event and Paul Wagner, its president who is a board member of SWE and probably opened up the tasting to their members.
There are 20 wine regions in Italy, many more DOC and DOCG appellations, and hundreds if not thousands of grapes that have been growing there for thousands of years. Learning Italian wines is intimidating and a scary but extraordinarily rewarding experience. There are so many grapes, regions, and styles that you can always find something that you will like. And then you will be surprised by yet another wine after that.
The Simply Italian Tour had about 15 regions and 60 producers represented. It was busy but not overly crowded which is a real pleasure at a wine tasting. The room was divided a couple of different ways. On one wall were the sparkling wines, Franciacorta and Prosessco. One one wall, the Friuli producers were pouring.
In the center of the room were the Premium Brands from the Institute of Fine Italian Wines. Another wall focused on wines from the Veneto. Finally scattered throughout were single wineries representing many of the other regions.
Unlike some other events, there was not a huge crowd just around the premium brands. These attendees were spread throughout the room and were seriously interested in considering all the wines presented. My kind of crowd.
It is always hard to take notes in a walk around tasting like this. Pen in one hand, tasting notes in the other and glass in your third hand, so I don't have a lot of great notes, (I do have to find a system) but here is what I pulled from the notes that I did take.
First of all my primary goal is to taste grapes that I know nothing about. (And of course, an Italian Wine Tasting is a remarkable place to do this.) I am likely to pass up the world's most popular and most expensive Super-Tuscan to learn about Sagratino, the native grape of Umbria. I am probably not going to be found in front of a table of Barolos (The wine of kings and the king of wines) looking for the best one, but will be off in the corner trying a Lagrein so that I can learn that grape and trying to lock it in my memory.
So, having said that, here are some wines I liked:
- I tried several of the Franciacortas. To me, these sparkling wines don't have the same acidity as those of Champagne. A couple were off dry and the vintage ones didn't have as much of a over-ripe apple to them as you sometimes get in France. They seemed slightly fresher. Of note was the Rose Millesimato (2007) from Le Marchesine. This winery also won Gambero Rosso's "Sparkling Wine of the Year" for one of their other sparkling wines.
- Masi Agricola : 2008 Campofiorin (flower fields) : Rosso del Veronese. Very smooth blend 70% Corvino. Just an overall nice wine.
- Pio Cesare: 2006 Barolo Ornato. This wine had a lot of barrel spice. Clove was up front followed by cinnamon. This wine was still strongly tannic but the aromas were complex and inviting. Probably awesome in another couple years.
- Fraccaroli "Deinque" ND ( non vintage) Sparkling Malvasia. This was a full body rich spumannte style sparkler. I have not had many Malvasias before (except as Madeira Malmsey) and this one was a real treat.
- Benedetti 2005 "Croce del Gal" Amarone della Valpolicella. Very rich, very full. Intense cherry aromas, Some tannin. Maybe my favorite of the day for red wines.
- Beato Bartolomeo de Breganze: 2010 Prosecco extra dry. Very fruity, very ripe, but not overripe apples. Minimal mouse (is that prosecco style?). I marked several stars next to this one.
There are so many examples of both classic, rare, and innovative wine-making that you will always find something interesting.
john
Friday, November 18, 2011
Collio Wine Tasting
On October 26th I was privileged to pour wines for one of the wine producers of Collio Italy. The event was organized by my good friends at Balzac Communications and held in the showroom of the San Francisco Vespa dealer.
This was a small and intimate event but one that had a number of really nice wines and a couple of real surprises.
First of all: for those that are unfamiliar wit it, Collio is a DOC wine region in North east Italy - right next to the border of Slovania. I am told that the designated region actually extends across the border. Colli are hills and this region got its name for its rolling terrain. They are specially noted for their floral white wines. According to J. Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine, Collio, in the 1970s, was the region that convinced Italians that they actually could make good white wines.
Pinot grigio, Pinot blanc, Friulano (aka Tokai, aka Sauvigonasse), Sauvignon (blanc and gris), and Ribolla Gialla are the key grapes. The first thing that I noticed was that one of my bottles was marked just "Sauvignon". Never sure when dealing with Italian grapes, I checked with the sponsors to make sure this was the same Sauvignon blanc that we all have come to know and love. Just this last week (mid November) I learned that European wine laws allowed the vintners to use the names of 7 varieties on their labels instead of just the area. "Sauvignon" is the generic for blends of Sauvignon bland and Sauvignon gris, though the wine could be 100% of either.
The key wine of Collio is (in my mind at least) Friulano. This is a light, dry, floral white wine, somewhat high in acidity, but one that makes a clean refreshing wine. Pinot grigio and Sauvignon now have more acreage than Friulano but this is the grape that made Collio famous.
As I was pouring and during a break in the traffic, one of my colleagues Connie called me over to taste one of her wines. "If you close your eyes and taste this, you will swear it is a red wine" was her challenge. I did close my eyes, I did taste, and I did swear. Ribolla gialla was the grape. The winemaker had fermented it on its skins, it had tannins, it had body, and if I had not not known better I would thought it was red. But it wasn't. Normally it is made light and delicate, but this winemaker gave it real character. And it worked.
Ribolla has a story. It was introduced into the Collio / Friuli region during the 13th century. It became so popular that the Italian poet Boccaccio specifically called out Ribolla as one of the main traits and causes of the deadly sin of Gluttony.
I didn't taste a bad wine that night. And I became a fan of Collio wines.
john
This was a small and intimate event but one that had a number of really nice wines and a couple of real surprises.
First of all: for those that are unfamiliar wit it, Collio is a DOC wine region in North east Italy - right next to the border of Slovania. I am told that the designated region actually extends across the border. Colli are hills and this region got its name for its rolling terrain. They are specially noted for their floral white wines. According to J. Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine, Collio, in the 1970s, was the region that convinced Italians that they actually could make good white wines.
Pinot grigio, Pinot blanc, Friulano (aka Tokai, aka Sauvigonasse), Sauvignon (blanc and gris), and Ribolla Gialla are the key grapes. The first thing that I noticed was that one of my bottles was marked just "Sauvignon". Never sure when dealing with Italian grapes, I checked with the sponsors to make sure this was the same Sauvignon blanc that we all have come to know and love. Just this last week (mid November) I learned that European wine laws allowed the vintners to use the names of 7 varieties on their labels instead of just the area. "Sauvignon" is the generic for blends of Sauvignon bland and Sauvignon gris, though the wine could be 100% of either.
The key wine of Collio is (in my mind at least) Friulano. This is a light, dry, floral white wine, somewhat high in acidity, but one that makes a clean refreshing wine. Pinot grigio and Sauvignon now have more acreage than Friulano but this is the grape that made Collio famous.
As I was pouring and during a break in the traffic, one of my colleagues Connie called me over to taste one of her wines. "If you close your eyes and taste this, you will swear it is a red wine" was her challenge. I did close my eyes, I did taste, and I did swear. Ribolla gialla was the grape. The winemaker had fermented it on its skins, it had tannins, it had body, and if I had not not known better I would thought it was red. But it wasn't. Normally it is made light and delicate, but this winemaker gave it real character. And it worked.
Ribolla has a story. It was introduced into the Collio / Friuli region during the 13th century. It became so popular that the Italian poet Boccaccio specifically called out Ribolla as one of the main traits and causes of the deadly sin of Gluttony.
I didn't taste a bad wine that night. And I became a fan of Collio wines.
john
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