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[syrahqueen]

Celebrate World Champagne Day 2017

Celebrate World Champagne Day 2017

Today October 20th, 2017 is the eighth annual World Champagne Day, a celebration of bubbles.  There are many beautiful sparkling wines around the world, but only Champagne is from Champagne France, the region that produces the most famous of all sparkling wines.  World Champagne Day is one of my favorite days to discover, explore, and drink all things Champagne. Champagne, located on chalky hills…

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[drinkingthings]

MS Level 2 Exam - 70 Days Out

I am taking my Level 2 Master Sommelier Exam in April, with the hope of attaining the rank of "Certified Sommelier".

As you may know from reading along, much in my life has changed since I began the program of studies with the Court of Master Sommeliers.  I was employed as a sommelier then.  I am not now.  I don't even work in a restaurant now.  As a matter of fact, I don't even work with wine now.  I have a fantastic job that I am very happy with managing accounts and working with the largest spirits portfolio in the US.

But happy as I am, I am definitely not working with wine, and this has had a pronounced effect on my personal consumption of wine.  As in, I drink virtually no wine now.

If I'm going to pass this exam (and I kind of need to, because I don't think I would pay the big bucks to register for a second try), I need to get back into the wine game.  So here I am, 70 days away, and I am going to make a fool of myself on the internet by posting my first academic blind tasting in maybe a year.

I stopped into one of my favorite wine purveyors' earlier this afternoon, West Side Wines, and asked my friend Rob, who works there (it would be awkward if he didn't) if he would wrap up in a paper bag a mystery wine.  He did, and I walked out of the store like I was carrying a Steel Reserve, all in brown paper.

All I know is that it's red and cost $17.  I will not read anything into the cost.  I will read heavily into the fact that it is the color red.

Here we go:

Whoa, I must be in the tasting notes portion of this post because we just got indented.  This wine is light in color and has very low opacity.  It tends more towards bright, almost orange-tinted red.  The legs are thin and falling fairly quickly.  No variation to speak of on the rim.

The nose is slightly earthy, with some tart red berry fruit.  A little stony, with a little spice.  I'm not picking up a lot... one of my nasal passages is a little blocked, but not in my sniffing nostril (my left).  I may be out of practice.  Just swirled real hard and went deep, and picked out some cola action.  These descriptors to me, so far, are all in line with Tempranillo from Spain, and a young one.

Okay, nice red fruit on the palate, a little raspberry.  This wine is quite smooth, with a fine but tangible silky coating.  Light but solid handshake.  I get a prick of underripe berry in the mid-palate with a good dash of acidity to make the corners water, but the most distinguishing feature of this wine is the smoothness and coaty mouthfeel.  Crianza Tempranillo still seems like a good bet.  Pinot Noir is also not to be counted out, Chilean perhaps.

I feel like I can't be too upset guessing Tempranillo.  Tempranillo it is then:

MY GUESS - 2008 Tempranillo "Crianza"; Rioja, SPA

I wasn't close.  The wine is:

ACTUAL - 2010 "Tenuta delle Terre Nere", DOC Etna Rossa

I don't even know what this is.  Let me look it up... 

http://www.skurnikwines.com/prospects.cgi?rm=view_detail&prospect_id=396

Indigenous varietals from Sicily's Mount Etna.  Well, I don't feel bad at all.  I would be willing to bet that there isn't a sommelier in the world who could call out something so bold as Nero Mascalese and Cappucio in a blind tasting.

Actually, I take it back that I wasn't close.  The Nero Mascalese grape is thought to be related to Sangiovese, which is close to Tempranillo in the spectrum of varietals.  It is young, but it is barrel aged (25% new) for 18 months.  So Crianza was not a terrible guess by any means.  Next time, I'll provide further instructions to my buyer to select a wine that would be possible to guess!

This wine is very compelling though (thank you Rob!), and most importantly, I sat down, tasted, and evaluated a wine, for the first time in a long time.  A fine first step.  Much more to come as I begin to work myself back into wine tasting shape!