Event Recap: Tre Bicchieri

Back in February I had the opportunity to attend the Tre Bicchieri tasting put on by Gambero Rosso at the Barkar Hangar in Santa Monica. Gambero Rosso is a multimedia brand in the Italian food and wine world that includes: food guides, wine guides, books, a TV channel, a learning academy, and events around the world. The Tre Bicchieri tasting brings together all the highly rated wines that make it into their Vini d'Italia annual guide. The guide is now in its 30th edition. Over 45,000 wines are tasted annually by special committees involving over 70 people. Wines that make the cut in the guide are rated one glass (bicchieri), two glasses (due bicchieri), or three glasses (Tre Bicchieri).

The Grand Tasting showcased over 200 wines of all 3 levels detailed above. I didn't spend much time there, as I was lucky to receive an invite to the Vini d'Italia Special Awards Masterclass. Here we tasted through 9 wines that were the "best" in their respective categories. Tasting notes are below:

Sparkler of the Year: Ruggeri 
Valdobbiadene Extra Dry Giustino B. 2015
A good balance between fruit (citrus, stone fruit, and green fruit) and white flower. Creamy mousse, elegant, fresh, drinkable.

Winery of the Year: Bellavista 
Franciacorta Pas Opere 2009
65% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir. WOW. This wine has spent 6 years on the lees, so it is totally my jam.  Notes of: citrus, apple, and stone fruit (peach). Also, yellow flower, leesy (yet fresh!), and nutty. Medium + finish.

Grower of the Year: BioVio
Riviera Ligure di Ponente Pigato Bon in da Bon 2015
BioVio has been certified organic since the 80s; they were one of the first. Pigato is a native grape of Liguria. This wine has citrus notes (lemon and grapefruit) and a perfumed elderflower nose. One of the panelists exclaimed that this wine has GPS; it takes you immediately to Liguria. In my opinion this wine would shine with food.

Award for Sustainable Viticulture: Roccafiore
Todi Grechetto Superiore Fiorfiore 2014
2014 was one of the most challenging vintages in Italy in over 20 years, which included summertime rain. This wine has medium - aromatic intensity with yellow apple and a toastiness due to oak treatment. It is full-bodied and round with great structure, is very well integrated, and has an elegant finish.

White of the Year: Tenuta di Tavignano
Verdicchio die Castelli di Jessi Classico Superiore Misco 2015
A textured wine with good body. Notes include: lemon peel, nuts, and a smokiness. Great acid. Would be kick ass with some seafood.

Best Value for Money: Tiberio
Pecorino 2015
This was an interesting wine that I thoroughly enjoyed. On the nose alone, this appeared to be a basic, daily drinker. Notes of citrus (lemon), a slight nuttiness, wet stone, and vegetal, white pepper quality. Has a Sauvignon Blanc-like feeling to it, but the acid is not as high.

Up and Coming Winery: Istine 
Chianti Classico LeVigne Riserva 2013
It is hard to find an "up and coming" winery in Italy, because they have all been there so long! On the nose there is red fruit (cherry and strawberry), spice (black pepper and cloves), and floral (violets). The wine is earthy/meaty on the palate and has good acid, as can be expected from a Chianti.

Red of the Year: Chiaromonte
Gioia del Colle Primitivo Muro Sant'Angelo Contrada Barbatto Classico 2013
This is a lovely and interesting wine from Puglia. It has 16.5% ABV but does not feel as that hot. Red/black fruit (sour cherry, blackberry, plum) with some of the fruit feeling stewed (Amarone-like?). The wine also had a mocha/chocolate note as well as meatiness/gaminess (dried meats). Overall, this was the most interesting thing I tasted today. Meaty, perfumed, AND funky on the nose. The palate was smooth, velvety, and mouthfilling.

Sweet of the Year: Lis Neris
Tal Luc Cuvée Speciale
95% Verduzzo, 5% Riesling. For this wine, the grapes are dried passito-style. The wine is honeyed with notes of tropical fruit, chamomile, and spice, including rosemary/garrigue.

Spotlight Italy: The Wines of Lugana DOC

There are many well known Italian wines that we are all familiar with (i.e. Prosecco, Chianti, Barolo, etc), but there are a ton of lesser known Italian wine regions.  Wine is such a fragmented industry with consumers facing shelves upon shelves of choices.  Lugana is not a choice many consumers see on their local shelves, as it is a smaller DOC with most of the wine production consumed within the region.

I had the pleasure of attending two different Lugana DOC wine events in the Los Angeles area this year. In April I was invited to the Valpolicella & Lugana tasting put on by the Consorzio Tutela Vini Valpolicella and the Lugana DOC Consorzio Tutela. And just last week I attended a Lugana luncheon conducted by Laura Donadoni (Laura Wines) and put together by Cori Solomon (The Written Palette) of LA Wine Writers.

Lugana DOC is located between Lombardia and Veneto on the south shore of Lake Garda. The Lugana region has a Mediterranean climate, but Lake Garda gives maritime influences including cool breezes and relatively mild weather. Lugana DOC was the first all white wine DOC in Italy. Turbiana, which is a clone of Trebbiano specifically grown in Lugana, is the sole white grape used.  All wines are monovarietal. Sometimes the grape is referred to as Trebbiano di Lugana.

The Valpolicella & Lugana tasting took place at the beautiful and recently renovated Park Plaza Hotel. While Valpo and Lugana wines are VERY different, it makes sense to pair the tasting as we are in the same gegraphic region. Also, Lugana wines are all white, while Valpolicella wines are just about all red. Some highlights from this trade tasting include:

Villa Canestrari

This is a family winery with its 4th generation winemaker at the helm. The Museo del Vino onsite showcases old winemaking equipment and tools that have been used since the winery’s opening in 1888.  I thoroughly enjoyed their Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG 2012 “A”.

Shots from the Museo del Vino

Loving this Amarone

The award for most interesting wine I tasted at this event goes to Cantina Bulgarini Fausto with their Lugana DOC Superiore 2014 “Ca’ Vaibo”. The grapes for this wine undergo a short drying period before pressing. The final wine is a straw-yellow color (almost gold) and has notes of stone fruit (peach, apricot) along with a strong nuttiness.

Cantina Bulgarini

The most recent Lugana event I attended was the Lugana Luncheon put together by Cori Solomon with the LA Wine Writers Group. Laura Donadoni walked us through her portfolio of Lugana wines beautifully paired with the cuisine of Cafe del Rey by Executive Chef, David Vilchez. See details below on each pairing. Each course was better than the next. I could have eaten a plate full of each of them! I’m hungry again just thinking about it…….

Laura Donadoni telling us about Lugana

1st Course
Amuse Bouche: Seafood Salad on Toast
Pairing: Cascina Maddalena, Lugana Brut, Metodo Classico ($20 retail)
This was an unexpectedly delightful bubbly made in the Metodo Classico (2nd fermentation happens in the bottle). It is crisp with good fruit (citrus and yellow apple) plus white flower notes. What I love is that you also get nice creamy, yeasty, and brioche flavors from bottle fermantation, yet it is still very fresh and clean. This is a nice Champagne alternative at about half the cost of an opening pricepoint Champagne.

2nd Course
Smoked Salmon, Pita, Tzatziki, Mixed Greens, Olive Vinaigrette
Pairing: Montonale, Lugana DOC 2015
This is my White Wine Summer Pick.  Clean, refreshing, and a nice honeyed quality, yet bone dry.  It's also got a nice medium + body and creaminess that comes from battonage (lees stirring for 6 months).

3rd Course
Seared Scallop, Saffron Risotto, Capers, Olive Oil
Pairing: Ca’ Lojera, Lugana Superiore 2014
I love this wine.  It is more honeyed than the basic Lugana DOC and has great structure and acidity. Once the wine got closer to room temperature, it developed a super nutty (almond skin) quality.  The scallop risotto pairing was OUT OF THIS WORLD.

4th Course
Swordfish, Squash Blossom, Passion Fruit Vinaigrette
Pairing: Zenato Lugana Riserva 2014
Zenato is famous for their Amarone wines, but they also have holdings in Lugana.  Great viscosity on this wine, which paired famously with the swordfish. A beautiful orange blossom nose.

Dessert
Bucheron Cheese, Grilled Peach, Honey, Sourdough
Pairing: Perla del Garda, Vendemmia Tardiva
This was a lovely medium dry dessert wine, that would also serve well as an aperitif before dinner.  Personally, I could have a glass of this for dessert on its own!

Spotlight: Rhone Rangers Los Angeles Tasting & Seminar

Who are the Rhone Rangers?

Members are dedicated to promoting American Rhone wines. The Rhone Rangers was started in the mid-80s by a group of winemakers who wanted to make wines other than Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay (two very popular wines of the day). In 1997 the organization was officially formed and now includes over 100 wineries and vineyards in California, Washington, Virginia, and Arizona.

As an event producer, I walk into events with a very watchful eye. Is the signage clear, does the flow of the room make sense, are the bathrooms easy to find?

The Rhone Rangers LA Tasting was very well laid out. Kudos to all involved in the planning, especially Big Red Marketing, the LA event coordinator. Upon arrival I was swiftly checked in as a member of the media and then whisked to the “Rhone-n-Pink” seminar. As described in the program: Moderated by wine expert Dan Fredman, the seminar will cover the art of crafting the popular pink wine, and feature six Rhone Ranger winemakers who will guide guests through their rosés. The wineries: Andrew Murray Vineyards, Bonny Doon Vineyard, Lone Madrone, Ranchero Cellars, Tercero Wines, and Vines on the Marycrest.

Talk about a broad range of styles. Oh, and Randall Graham is a bit of a wine celeb, in my opinion.

Wine #1
Andrew Murray Vineyards 2016 Esperance Rosé, Estate Grown $22
This was my favorite rosé of the day. It is made from 100% Cinsault and my tasting note simply states “stunning”.

Wine #2 
Ranchero Cellars 2016 Galaxie Rosé, Self Family Vineyard, $28
A very easy drinking rosé made from Carignan

Wine #3
Lone Madrone 2015 Mourvèdre Rose, $25
Dry farmed vineyards and made from direct press. A soft, feminine nose.

Wine #4
Tercero Wines 2016 Mourvèdre Rose, $30
Really enjoyed this guy. This wine is not served chilled. The grapes are foot stomped on their skins for 1 hour and then direct to press. The winemaker is not going after a specific color nor vintage consistency. A very unique savory/umami nose, but still a lot of fresh fruit.

Wine #5
Bonny Doon Vineyard 2013 Vin Gris Tuilé, $26
Hands down, the most interesting wine I tasted all day. The nose is super duper nutty with an oxidized feel to it. Randall suggested notes of curry, peanut, sherry, and citrus. According to him, this wine is the ultimate handsell. The color is brick pink with an orange hue. The wine is aged 9 months al fresco in demijohn.

Wine #6
Vines on the Marycrest 2015 Rose (Genache, Syrah, Mourvedre), $28
This is a rosé for food. A skirt steak salad, perhaps? A super spicy palate. Fun.

After the rosé seminar I enjoyed early access (for trade and media) to the Grand Tasting. Now, I'll have it be known that I am not much of a grand tasting kind of gal. I find large tasting events to be overwhelming, crowded, and not conducive to efficient and thoughtful tasting. If I do attend grand tastings I be sure to walk in with a plan. I research participating wineries before I arrive and get an idea of who I am interested in visiting. There is no way to visit every table and try every wine....it's not a contest. Here are a few of my highlights from the Grand Tasting:

Martian Ranch & Vineyard 2015 "Etheric" Clairette, $22
Wow, interesting, can't compare it to anything. Med + finish. Macadamia nuts but not oxidized.

Tercero Wines 2015 Cinsault, $40
Only 3 barrels made; dirt and meat notes, yet light in color.

Two Shepherds was my favorite winery of the day. I tried their 2014 Grenache Blanc, Saarloos Vineyard (native yeast fermentation with neutral barrels; a slight funk that I like) and their 2012 Pastoral Rouge, Sonoma, Red Blend (cool climate; my favorite red of the day; savory notes plus funk, umami, soy sauce).

The Mystery of Blind Tasting

As a wine student, the most frequent question I am asked is: how do you blind taste?

While I enjoy talking about blind tasting, I don't really enjoy doing it! Why? Because it's fucking hard.

It's interesting, people are fascinated by blind tasting wines.  A typical conversation goes like this:

Me: I'm a student of wine
Other person: oh, so does that mean you can guess what any wine is?
Me: <cue eye roll> no

To the layperson, blind tasting wines is a bit of a parlor trick.  My least favorite thing is when people shove a glass of wine in my face and say: if you know a lot about wine, what's this?  Sorry dude, that's not how it works.  We're at a bar, the lighting is shit, and this wine glass is as thick as my grandma’s bifocals.

To non-wine aficionados, this sounds like the most difficult part of wine school.  That, my friends, is a myth.  In my opinion, blind tasting is much easier than factual recall of wine topics.  And WSET statistics on pass rates for the Diploma program validate this. Unit 3 (Still Wines of the World) is the only unit of the Diploma in which the tasting exam and the theory exam are separate. The results are graded independently of each other. The tasting pass rate is much higher than the theory pass rate. For the time period of 2010-2016, on average, the theory pass rate was 40.8% and the tasting pass rate was 71.5%.  Blind tasting (especially when in an academic setting) is actually quite formulaic. 

Another myth about blind tasting is that it's all about calling the wine. Whether it's the grape, country, or region. Believe it or not, you could call all the wines incorrectly on a WSET Diploma tasting exam, and yet still pass the exam. The reason is that the bulk of points are granted for the assessments. The assessment of a wine starts with the appearance, then the nose, then the palate. The second part of the points come from the conclusions, which can include determining quality level, determining the grape, determining the region/country, and readiness for drinking. As a general rule, there are less conclusion points available than assessment points.  A breakdown of assessment points is below.  Note that I did not break down conclusion points, as those are not standardized and vary per flight.

Appearance: color (1 point) and intensity (1 point)

Nose: intensity (1 point) and aroma descriptors (5 points)

Palate: level of dryness/sweetness (1 point), acid (1 point), alcohol (1 point), tannin level and nature (2 points; this category is for reds only), flavor intensity (1 point), body (1 point), flavor descriptors (4 points), and finish (1 point).

Here are examples of 2 tasting notes (assessment portion only) from my Unit 3 studies:

Tasting Note #1
This wine is a $20 Chablis, which is a white wine from Burgundy made from the Chardonnay grape

Appearance: This wine is pale lemon with golden hues.

Nose: This wine is clean with a medium intensity. Aroma characteristics include: citrus (lemon/lime), green apple, pear, wet stone, and dairy/cream.

Palate: This wine is dry with medium acid, medium flavor intensity, medium alcohol, and medium body. Flavor characteristics include: citrus (lemon/lime), white flower, green apple, pear, and a wet stone/minerality. The finish is medium.

Tasting note #2
This wine is a $13 Valpolicella Superiore, which is a red wine from the Veneto region in Italy. Predominant grapes are: Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara.

Appearance: The wine is deep ruby.

Nose: The wine is clean with a medium intensity. Aroma characteristics include: red fruit (cherry, raspberry, plum), vanilla, sweet spice (nutmeg and cinnamon), earthy/meaty notes, and dried flowers (violets).

Palate: On the palate the wine is dry with medium + acid, medium round tannins, medium body, medium alcohol, and medium flavor intensity. Flavor characteristics include: red fruit (sour cherry + raspberry), vanilla, sweet spice (nutmeg and cinnamon). The finish is medium.

How did I blind taste in preparation for my exam?

As I prepped for the rigorous tasting exam, I had to be smart about how I used the time I had.   After blind tasting for 6 months in preparation for the Unit 3 exam I narrowed it down to the following grapes that were most likely to appear on the tasting portion of the exam:

White: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Gris/Grigio, Muscat, Viognier, Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, Albariño, and Semillon

Red: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Grenache, Malbec, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Nebbiolo, Gamay, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Corvina, Mourvedre, Cabernet Franc

This list is not all-inclusive. Could I have gotten a Verdejo on the exam? Yes. But I found this list to be a good start.

As I write a tasting note, I cross grapes off the above list that the wine CAN'T be. This helps clear my mind and focus on the remaining grapes.

I like to start a flight by sniffing the wines side by side. Are we in the Old World (dusty notes, minerality, and restraint) or are we in the New World (fruit, assertiveness, and more fruit)?  The answer is not always so clear.  Then I go through my assessment of the appearance, nose, and palate. Sometimes I get ideas of what I am drinking as I progress, but I try not to get too committed. The danger is that you make an assumption early on and you start to write your notes to match what you think it is, versus what is actually in your glass.

Once I get through my assessments, I look at my list and see what grapes are remaining that I have not crossed off.  This is where I start to make my deductions.  If the flight is all wines of the same region, I try and pick out the one wine that is the "marker" (i.e. clear notes of tar and roses from a Barolo).   From the dozens of tasting groups we had, the goal is to commit some of these markers to memory.  The challenge is that it's not just memory in your head but also memory in your nose and on the palate.  On my exam we had a flight of 3 Merlot wines from various regions.  The marker for me was the one with insane pyrazines along with black (and some red) fruit.  This was the wine that grounded me in that flight.  A couple of weeks prior I had a wine from Chile that was super green (i.e. pyrazines) and it stuck.  From there I determined that the other wine was a Bordeaux (Merlot/Cab blend) and the third wine was from Napa.  I incorrectly called the wines Cabernet Sauvignon, but I feel pretty confident that I "passed" this flight as my tasting notes could (for the most part) still apply for Merlot.  Cabernet and Merlot have many similar aromas/flavors, so I'm sure I did pretty good on the assessments of nose/palate.  Also, I called all 3 regions correctly.  All in all, I felt the best about that flight.

If you've gotten this far on a tasting note for a flight, you've come a long way! This is when you have to bring it home with the conclusions, which could be a quality assessment or readiness for drinking, among others.

The thing with blind tasting is to not beat yourself up about it. Sure, if you are prepping for the MS or MW exam, beat yourself up. That shit is hard. Otherwise, do your best with the information you have, and practice, practice, practice.

Happy tasting!

They Make Wine? Viginia Edition

Photo: williamsburgwinery.com

Welcome to my new series entitled "They Make Wine?", where we explore both domestic and international areas not usually associated with grape growing and winemaking. Today we'll explore Virginia.

In November I was a part of the #VAWineChat virtual tasting. VA Wine Chat described by its founder Frank Morgan (of the Drink What You Like blog) is: a monthly winemaker interview series and virtual tasting focusing on the wines, winemakers, and wineries of Virginia. The intention was to post this blog in December, but alas Unit 3 studying started soon thereafter and all writing time was put on hold until NOW!

Super quick history lesson: Virginia, one of our original colonies, was settled in 1607. There were many native grapes grown in early America, but they were not necessarily used for winemaking; mostly just for table grapes. In 1771 Thomas Jefferson planted the first v. vinifera grapes in Virginia. Unfortunately they didn't take and not one bottle of wine was made. Since then, native grapes have been grown in Virginia and for a large part of the 1800’s and 1900s the wines were virtually undrinkable. Fast forward to 2017 and there are 230+ wineries in Virginia making a broad range of wines, including some quality ones! The downside is that all but 3% of the total Virginia wine production is consumed in Virginia. In other words, it is difficult to find Virginia wines outside of Virginia. I consider myself lucky that i got to enjoy 3 lovely wines from Williamsburg Winery in Williamsburg, Virginia!

The Williamsburg Winery, founded in 1985, lies on the Wessex Hundred, a 300-acre farm in Williamsburg, Virginia. The make wines from both hybrids (i.e. Vidal Blanc and Traminette) and v. vinifera (i.e. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Viognier, Petit Verdot, and Albarino).

The 3 wines I tasted are below:

2015 Reserve Chardonnay 11.6% ABV ($32 SRP)
This wine is made with 72% new french oak and 28% concrete egg. What in god’s name is a concrete egg you say? A concrete egg is a vessel that is used for the fermentation and/or aging of wine. Other, more common, vessel options include oak barrels and stainless steel vats. The concrete allows for oxygenation similar to oak barrels, but does not impart any oak flavor.

My notes: Unabashed oak on the nose and palate, bright fruit, with a clean finish. A delightful Chardonnay.

Winemaker Notes: The 2015 is showing some wonderful upfront tropical characters of pineapple, orange and banana with some apricot and plum to round out the fruits. There is a very clean creamy lemon note with some vanilla. The minerality of the wine is nicely balanced with the fruits. The oak is not overstated and blends nicely with the fruit and minerality of the wine. The finish is luscious with many layers and complexities. An elevated classic Chardonnay that will pair well with a lobster or ribeye steak.

2015 Viognier 12.7% ABV ($24 SRP)
Fun fact: Viognier is the state grape of Virginia!

My notes: Good fruit concentration, stone and tropical fruit on both the nose and palate, very youthful and approachable. A refreshing salinity on the palate with a hint of baking spices.

Winemaker notes: The 2016 Vintage (note the vintage I sampled was 2015) is showing a wonderful balance and finesse. The freshness of the fruits (pineapple, pear, apple, banana, peach and strawberry) are well integrated with the fresh herbal/flower tones along with a hint of minerality/chalky characters. The lemon nuisance is a nice segue into the crisp acidity of the wine, yet there remains the creamy rich texture.

2015 A Midsummer Night’s White 12.6% ABV, 59% Traminette/32% Vidal Blanc/9% Viognier ($14 SRP)

My notes: White flower and perfume on the nose, a hint of residual sugar (sweetness), and ripe pear on the palate.

Winemaker Notes: A lovely floral, tropical bouquet offering many layers of orange, tangerine, banana, pineapple and a bit of lemongrass. There is a very soft honeysuckle and vanilla that offers an additional richness to the wine, along with a touch of minerality and spice. The finish is rich and creamy with an elegant mouthfeel that blends well with the brightness of the wine.

I hope you learned a tidbit or two about Virginia wine! My goal is to help people learn more and have FUN with wine. There is so much wine to enjoy in this world and from many unexpected places. Who knows, maybe your next bottle of wine will be from the great state of Virginia!

Check out the articles below if you want to learn more about winemaking in Virginia:



Jancis Robinson "Virginia's New Star"

Wine Mag "The Old Dominin's Upswing"

Food & Wine "A Road Trip Into the Heart of American Terroir"

Washington Post "Vineyards That Are Putting Virginia on the Fine Wine Map"

Holy Exam Batman!

On mornings like today, I find myself waking up, having a Nespresso, checking the news (translation: scrolling through Facebook), and cuddling with the kids (translation: Zoe, my dog and Ziggy, my cat). Next up, I go to the gym and work my tail off, then put in a full day at work. Around 6:30pm I come home to the kids (see earlier reference) and look around. I can see the walls. There are no stacks of notes, books, and maps everywhere. I almost feel guilty. Even bored. Do I really not need to read that Alsace flip chart for the 10,000th time? I took my FINAL exam on June 14th and since then I haven't known what to do with myself. Ironically, I'm missing the process. Is this what Empty Nest Syndrome feels like? The kids are all gone and mamma's got nothing to do. I used to wake up on work days at 6am and get in 2 hours of studying before work, work all day, and come home and study until bedtime. Wash, rinse, repeat.

It’s been 6 months and I am just now coming up from the dungeon called the WSET Diploma Unit 3 exam. For those of you who have experienced this exam, you know exactly what I mean. To give context to those not familiar with the program, from the month of February through the exam in June, I logged 300 hours of study. That counts study only, and does not include class time, tasting groups, and theory study groups. To say that I am mentally pooped is an understatement.

Let's recap. In June of 2015 I embarked on a 2-year adventure known as the WSET Diploma program. This program consisted of 20 in-person classes, 6 exams, and 1 research paper on topics including the wine business, viticulture (grape growing), vinification (winemaking), spirits, fortified wines, sparkling wines, and still wines of the world. Leading up to the last exam on June 14 I passed all 5 exams I attempted and passed the research paper. Only 1 exam separated me from my WSET Diploma certification: the dreaded Unit 3 exam. This exam is (roughly) 4x the size of the other exams. It consists of 12 blind tastings and 5 essay questions. However hard you think this exam is, I'd say to multiply that by about 5. It's an unreasonable amount of information to prepare for and to retain for this one exam.

With that being said, the exam is over! June 14 came and went. That day was a whirlwind of emotions. Waking up anxious and ready to go. Arriving onsite and making sure I had my pens, white out, and ID. We started with the first half of the tasting exam: 6 wines to blind taste in 1 hour. It was stressful. Opening the exam book and getting my bearings. Not feeling like there was enough time. When time was up, my heart was racing and I felt like I had an out of body experience. How did I prepare so much and yet feel so unprepared? I stepped outside with my classmates and many of them felt the same way; we got a bit tripped up and flustered. The group stayed positive and vowed to do better for the 2nd half of the tasting exam. What a difference an hour makes. We went in there and killed it. Not killed it in the sense that we all called the wines correctly. But we killed it because we went into that room, took a collective deep breath, and wrote those tasting notes with confidence and purpose. This time we were not in as much of a time crunch, and many of us felt more confident walking out of the exam room. The difference is that we knew what to expect after having completed the first tasting exam. We were calm and in control. Next was our lunch break and then the theory exam, which is the toughest part of the day.

The theory exam is 3 hours of essay writing with only 5 minutes to plan each essay. This part of the exam is a test of strength. Your hand feels like it's going to fall off from fervently writing for such a long amount of time and your brain feels like it's about to explode from the endless facts you need to pull out of it. It is certainly a marathon. A wine marathon (hmmmm......there's an idea). The topics of the exam included: the Pinot Noir grape in Germany and Australia, the wine region of Alsace in France, climates in Chile, red wines of Valpolicella in Italy, and winemaking in Spain. Surprisingly enough there were NO questions on Burgundy, which is crazy. Also, there was only a small mention of Bordeaux. I figured we'd have to write in depth on both regions, but the thing about WSET is that you never know what they're going to ask.

After the exam I was a flurry of emotions. Relieved (it was over), happy (that I did it!), sad (it was over), and frustrated (of the things I forgot to write that I remembered immediately after the exam). My husband (and my dog) picked me up when I was done. We were packed and hightailed it to Palm Springs for a couple days of R&R in the desert. Both nights, I kid you not, I woke up in the middle of the night frustrated with some error I made on the exam. I am still beside myself that I wrongly called 3 of the wines. My gut upon initially smelling the wines was that they were all from the Loire. As I got through my notes I doubted myself and talked myself out of it. Moral of the story: trust your gut.

I am close to 1 month post-exam and am still struggling a bit with what my life looks like now. Coming home from work with a clean slate: no studying to do, no reading, no flash cards, no map study. I can come home, cook dinner, do a load of laundry, or just watch TV. I'm back to normal! For those who know me, this is a far cry for how I have existed since January. No social time, no going out. Only work and study.

I've got 2 more months to go until our results come from London. Every person who attempted the Unit 3 exam in the world, took it on the same day. Exams, which are all handwritten, are sent to London (where WSET is based) to be graded. We should hear back sometime in mid-September.

That's all I've got for you now! I am looking forward to getting back into the writing groove. You can expect to hear a lot more from me in the coming months.


CHEERS!

It's Not You, It's Me

Hello readers!  It has been a whopping 5 months since I have blogged, and what a 5 months it has been!  When I started this blog my goals were twofold, to one, document and follow my WSET Diploma journey, and two, to help people become more comfortable with and to enjoy wine more.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it, but this Diploma journey has been far more laborious and difficult than I ever imagined, especially while working full-time.  Since January, I study (on average) 15-20 hours per week, in addition to my day job.  That makes for a very busy life.  My friends and family have known that from January until my final exam, I am pretty much unavailable.  I will attend major lie events (i.e. weddings, birthday parties, showers), and visit new babies when they are born, but after that I am holed up a my house in books, flashcards, grids, spreadsheets, etc.  Also add to the mix a study group and a tasting group per week.  Aside from work and studying, there is not much time for anything else.

My apolgies for leaving you all hanging.  It was never my intention, but such is life.  I recognized that my studies had to come first, and I made a deliberate decision to pause on this blog. 

The good news is that my FINAL WSET Diploma exam is Wednesday June 14th. After that I'll be home free!  Results don't come in for 2 months, and I can finally exhale come June 15th!

For those interested, the exam consists of 12 blind tastings, set up in flights of three.  One flight is the same varietal but different region, one is the same region but different grapes, one is a quality assessment (might be the same style of wine or wines from the same region, but with varying quality levels), and one is a mixed bag.  You get 1 hour for 2 flights, a 30 minute break, and then another hour for the 2nd pair of flights.  The doozy of the exam is the theory portion.  The theory portion consists of 5 essay style questions that you have 3.5 hours to complete. 

All this will be done in one day, June 14th, starting at 10am. 

That's all for now.  I wanted to acknowledge where I fell short with my audience and also set a new agreement that I will be BACK post-exam.  I am really looking forward to completing my studies, getting my life back and being able to blog on a regular schedule!

Back to my studies and thank you for all your support.  My friends and family have been there every step of the way and I have also been grateful to have the support from strangers who read my blog posts, comment on them, like my social media posts, etc. 

Cheers, and I assure you, there is more wine to come!