But sometimes I really should.
Recently, we celebrated a friend’s birthday and I decided to host a blind rosé tasting. I selected four rosés from different regions around the world. True to my motto – taste everything and anything any way you want – region was my only criteria. Lesson learned – pay more attention to the grapes, flavors, and dryness of the wine. Don’t get me wrong. We had a great time, especially watching each other’s faces as our tastebuds were surprised with each sip. Some basics “rules” to follow – don’t mix dessert wine with other wines; select different varietals of grapes – grenache, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, etc.; also consider region – Old World/New World, South America, South African, New Zealand, etc.
What is a blind tasting?
Select up to four wines because any more may exhaust your palate. On the day of the tasting, just make sure you don’t know which bottle is which. They can be covered and numbered or get yourself a bartender who (in our case) was my husband. He selected the order of the wine too, which was the next mistake, but had I been more selective with the wine could have been avoided. C'est la vie!
Next, get a tasting mat with four rings for four glasses. I made my own using Microsoft Publisher. So easy and so fun! Number the rings 1-4. Pour only up to 2 oz of wine in each glass, again as not to exhaust the palate. Smell the aromas, taste, then write down your experience. I told my friends which regions the wines came from, so it was also fun to guess which wine came from which region. Then we rated our favorite to least favorite.
How did it turn out?
FUN! I chose wines from Washington State, France, Virginia, and Austria. Wait…what? Austria? Yes, I was intrigued when I read about it at the store. Selecting wine from Washington State and France you are likely to get the same grape varietal. Our palates are pretty advanced, so this selection was purposeful to see if we could taste the difference between Old World and New World wine. Sommeliers are challenged with this tasting during exams. I’m pleased to report that we passed and guessed correctly! Admittedly, it wasn’t without confused palates on the first taste. Why the same grape varietal? Washington State and France are on the same longitude; therefore, similar climates can grow similar grapes.
We all guessed the Virginia wine correctly, because of my mistake. Had I paid a little more attention, I would have read about the wine and recalled that this was a dessert wine. It was sweet and still very good (especially paired with creamy cheeses, but avoid goat cheese because of its bitterness). My husband placed this third in the tasting, so it really threw off our palates for the fourth wine. Oops!
Remember what I said about our faces? The last wine was Austrian and after tasting a sweet wine, nothing about this tasted good. Totally my fault. We did go back and taste it later and although much better than the first sip, it still wasn’t our favorite.
Which wine won the day?
For me, the Côtes de Provence took first place followed very closely by the Charles & Charles Columbia Valley, Washington. Shocking right? Both are light in color but full in flavor. It never fails that I reach for a Côtes de Provence almost every time. If you’re bringing a wine to a deck or dinner party, a Côtes de Provence is always a safe bet to please all palates.
We learn and grow from our mistakes. Taste on and carry on!
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