I Passed!

Great news to report!  I received word that I passed the two exams that I took in November.  What a relief!  I've been on pins and needles as our class had to wait 9 long weeks to get these results.

The first exam was Unit 5 Sparkling Wines. This exam consisted of 3 short answer questions on various topics related to sparkling wines and 3 blind tastes of sparkling wines.  I actually passed the tasting with Merit!  A pass is a grade between 55-64%.  Merit is 65-74% and Distinction is 75%+

The second exam was the Case Study, which is half of Unit 1 The Business of Wine.  The case study is a closed book paper that you write in a timed exam condition.   This case study was on supplier/retailer relationships, and I passed this one with Merit as well!

Wanted to share the good news with everyone.  I will be back shortly to report on the next unit that I just recently began: spirits!

Up Your Wine Game: Tasting Room Etiquette

Happy New Year to my readers!

This is something I get asked about all of the time. What is the proper way to taste wine? Do I smell the wine? Spit it? Swallow it? Do I tip? Can I ask for more? Is there a cost to taste? Etc?

I find that the more I progress in my studies my friends and family look at me as an authority on the subject. So I consider it a my duty to impart my knowledge:)

There are a couple different types of tasting rooms you might find yourself in. One is at a wine bar in the city, and the other is in an actual tasting room on a vineyard property in the wine country. Both would have the same rules of thumb, though the setup may be different. In general, at a wine bar, you get seated and a server brings you a wine (and food) menu. From there, you order as if you were at a regular restaurant. A tasting room is a little bit different. In general, you need to come up to the bar to be served.  First things first:

What is a flight? A flight is where you get a small taste of a few different wines that all have something in common. The flight might be: White Summer Sippers, Big Bold Reds, or a flight of Red Zinfandels. Each taste is usually 1-2oz and there are generally 3-5 tastes in a flight. Flights are a great way to try a few things you might not be familiar with. If you're feeling experimental or just in the mood to sip, a flight is the way to go. If you're not the experimental type, and are a creature of habit, then go ahead and order your wine by the glass.

If you’re in wine country at a tasting room, something like this might happen. You're standing at the long wooden bar with a few others, and someone comes up and pours you 2 oz of a red wine that you know nothing about. What do you do? Stare at it? Pound it like a shot? Something in between the two? The best thing to remember in a tasting is to be patient. That person behind the bar could be pouring tastes for as many as 20 people and needs to keep all of their pours straight. There might be a bit of lag time between tastes poured, but that's the beauty of being in a tasting room. You can chat with your friends, talk about who liked the wine you just tried, or make friends with others who are at the bar.

The pourer just poured the wine in your glass. At this point they're probably going to identify what they just poured and give you a short tasting note on the wine. The tasting note is just a guide for you. If you don't smell or taste what they talked about, you're not wrong or a crappy taster or anything of the like. That is just what they're suggesting that their wine is about. You may agree or disagree, and that's ok. Now, if you're me and you're in a WSET Diploma Level 4 blind tasting exam and you get poured a wine that shows red berries (strawberries and cranberries) on the nose, then you sure as hell better get those red berries on the nose. There's no room for disagreements. But remember, that's not the real world. In the real world (at that tasting room with your friends) you can smell and taste whatever the heck you'd like! But, I recommend at least listening to what the pourer has to say. You might not know how to taste a wine and pick up that it's sour cherries you taste. But if it's suggested to you, and then you taste the wine, you might be blown away because you sure as hell taste sour cherries! It is pretty exciting once you can start discerning the different flavors of fruit, oak, spice, etc on a wine.

At a tasting room, you might find that a flight of wines has no charge. In that case, it is highly suggested that you buy a bottle. That is how the winery can offset the cost of giving away free pours all day. Now, if you don’t particularly care for any of the wines, then no need to buy a bottle. This isn’t a hard and fast rule. I would suggest to tip generously ($5/person maybe), say thank you, and be on your merry way. You might also find that there is a cost to the wine flight. $10-$15 per flight is the norm.

Here are the basics on tasting wine:

Swirl-swirl the wine in the glass. This will slightly aerate the wine and give it a chance to be in contact with oxygen. No need to be fancy and do the swirl mid-air. Put the glass on the bar, put your hand on the base, and move the glass around in circles.

Smell-stick your nose in the bowl (i.e. the part of the glass with the wine in it). Don’t be shy or afraid to do this. Stick it in and take a big whiff. The first thing you should smell is fruit (I’m not big on “shoulds”, but work with me here). If it’s a red wine, things you might smell are: cherries, strawberries, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, raisin/currant, etc. If you’re smelling a white wine, you might smell: lemon, lime, pear, yellow/green apple, grapefruit, lychee, tangerine.

Taste-You’ve swirled and smelled, the next step is to TASTE! You have 2 options here. You can take a taste/sip and swallow the wine. OR you can take a sip/taste, swirl the wine in your mouth, and then spit it in a spitoon. Most people opt to swallow, as that is the most comfortable and what they are used to. Swallowing is fine, so long as you’re mindful of how much you’re drinking. With tasting, you might be going from sparkling to white to red, and you might be visiting multiple tasting rooms. With all this mixing, you’re bound to get drunk a bit faster. So just be sure to pace yourself. Spitting is a perfectly suitable alternative. I like to spit, because when I visit a tasting room, my goal is not to get drunk. I want to enjoy all the wines and be present for my tastings. Also, it’s a great idea if you want to be the DD. It doesn’t sound like fun, but I can assure you that you really do get the full winery/tasting room experience even if you spit. I actually enjoy it more. Plus, you can watch all the drunkos stumble out of there and know that you’re gonna be good to go for the rest of the day. The others will barely be able to get home, get their PJs on, and go to bed…..even if it is only 5pm.

Rinsing your glass? Ok, so this one is a pet peeve of mine. And sometimes I see wine bars/tasting rooms suggest it, and it makes my skin crawl. It is my opinion that you do not rinse your glass with water between pours. If you’re staying within the same category (i.e. sparkling, white, or red), then it is wholly unnecessary. If you do move between categories (i.e. you started tasting whites and are now moving to reds), then a little rinse is ok. But do not rinse it with water, have the pourer rinse it with the next wine you are drinking. 1 oz is more than enough. Swirl it around the glass to get the remnants of the previous wine, and then dump it in the spitoon. From there you can request a pour of that same wine to taste. You have now in effect, “seasoned” your glass with the next wine you are tasting. If you rinse with water, you’ll still have a bit of water coating your glass, so the next wine poured in there will be a bit diluted. And who wants diluted wine? In the end, I rarely rinse my glass while tasting, unless I’m doing a super serious tasting or maybe in a tasting group with classmates.

Tips? As a general rule, when I visit a wine country and go to multiple tasting rooms, I bring some $1s in order to tip the pourers. $2-$3 at each tasting room is sufficient. I look at it as a thank you for the pour and for the knowledge they shared. I used to pour at a wine bar, so I also do it because I always appreciated it. I can attest to the fact that hand washing scores of delicate wine glasses is a slow, tedious process.  Lastly, the ever important question:

Can I ask for more? Sometimes you are given such small tastes, that you want just a scoonch more to enjoy. Or maybe you finished your flight and are debating about buying a bottle of one of the wines. It is perfectly acceptable to ask for another taste. The proper way to ask is “May I revisit the ______”. This signifies that you would truly like to taste that wine again and/or are interested in purchasing a bottle. The one rule of thumb is to not ask for more tastes if A. you’re trying to get drunk or B. you are drunk. That’s just tacky. A pourer can spot it a mile away, and it’s just embarrassing. Remember, you’re wine tasting, not chugging beer. Pace yourself, enjoy the company and your surroundings, and sure, enjoy a little buzz. But whatever you do, don’t be that drunk one at the tasting room.

I hope you enjoyed this post about tasting room etiquette.  Stay tuned for my next post as I discuss the new unit we are studying: Spirits!

Big Box Wine Retailers

“Each sale of a heavily marketed branded wine from a supermarket is one less sale of a genuine terroir wine from an independent wine merchant.” -Jamie Goode aka The Wine Anorak

Happy holidays to my readers! Though I can only get away with saying that for another day or two!

This is the time of year for copious amounts of food, booze around of every corner, and lotsa parties. ‘Tis the season! December is a month where if you blink too fast, you might miss it. Time flies between work, office/client parties, family commitments, gift exchanges, potlucks, etc! Now is when you might find yourself with the need to purchase wine in quantity. Maybe you had a holiday party and you bought a couple mixed cases. Or maybe you need to buy a few bottles to give as gifts or to take to a party. You might be stocking up on bubbly for New Years Eve. The wine opportunities are endless in December. The question becomes, where do you get your wines for this gluttonous month? There are a few options (depending on where you live). These include: grocery stores, local wine shops, or big box retailers. This post will focus on big box wine retailers. They could include alcohol retailers such as BevMo! or Total Wine. Or they might include Costo, which is a big box retailer that carries wine. In my humble opinion, there are many problems with purchasing your wine at a big box retailer. I will highlight a couple issues below.

Problem #1: Big Box Retailers give a customer the illusion of choice

When you walk into a BBR (Big Box Retailer) you’re faced with wall to wall shelves of wine. So many choices you have! Or do you? I submit that you do not and that it’s an illusion-filled store of homogeneous wine. BBRs predominantly carry mass-produced wine, which is usually made by a commercial producer who purchases grapes en masse and makes wine on an industrial level. The wine has no sense of place (what we call terroir). More often than not, it is a “California Blend” or a “White Wine” or something of the like. If we’re talking about California wine at lower price points ($5-$10 retail), those wines will usually be chalk full of undesirable additives, chemicals, and/or preservatives, such as: commercial tannins, bentonite, flavor and color enhancing enzymes, carbon, synthetic polymers, and gum arabic. The wine is made to be approachable and pleasant (aka easy to drink). In wine geek terms, this means that the wine will be slightly sweet with a small amount of RS (residual sugar), have low tannins/acidity, and a lot of fruit on the nose and palate. Consequently, most all of these wines taste alike.

In essence, BBRs are warehouses of (generally) uninspiring, industrial wines. Note however, that BBRs carry high-end wines as well. These wines might be made well, however, they are still (usually) made in mass quantities. These are brands/labels that you see and recognize or that you would be proud to bring to a dinner party. Those wines also come with a cost. You can assume that a nice chunk of the price of that wine went to pay for their expensive wine-making facilities and towards the marketing of the brand.

Problem #2: Much of the price you pay is for the marketing of the wine, not the wine itself

With mass produced wine, part of the cost that you pay is the marketing budget. If you walk into a BBR and recognize a wine brand on the shelf, that has a cost associated with it. That company spent money to ensure that when you walked into the store, you would recognize their brand and purchase it. Some of these examples include: Yellowtail, Kenwood, Gallo, Blackstone, Sutter Home, Barefoot, etc.

Another cost is the promotion of the wine. Where is the wine placed in the store? At eye-level?  On an end cap?  Double exposed in the window and in an aisle? Many times the producer/distributor has to pay the BBR for desirable placement in their stores or in a print advertisement.

I don’t know about you, but when I spend $ on wine, I want it to be about the wine. I want to support someone who grows the grapes, who made the wine, and who believes in the art of wine-making. I want to support their livelihood.

I won’t share names, but I had a friend who worked (for a short time only) for a BBR. He was instructed to first ALWAYS recommend the wines that they direct imported. Forget if there was something else that worked better for what the customer wanted or that better fit within their budget. He had to be a puppet and recommend “their own” wines. So remember when I told you that you really don’t have more choices in places like this? This is what I mean. It’s an illusion.

This may seem like a bashing post on BBRs. In fact, it is not. This is my opinion on the shortcomings of shopping at a BBR. There are a lot of people who might live in small towns or who don’t have access to a local wine shop.  If you want to enjoy wine, you really don’t have a choice, and I understand that.  In that case, embrace the BBR. Be cautious with the “buy 3, get 1 free deals” or the recommendations from the staff. There is plenty of drinkable and enjoyable wine within those 4 walls….enjoy it, and don’t sweat the small stuff.

If you do have a choice, please support your local wine shop. They are everywhere….really, they are. Google it, check Yelp, post on Facebook, etc. I have been pleasantly surprised time and time again to find a wine shop in many small, unassuming towns across America. Those salespeople have no allegiance to any specific wineries, distributors, etc. The vendor reps aren’t going to give them free bottles for meeting sales goals, and they aren’t being held to a quota by upper management. The idea is that the selection in the store is pre-curated with only quality wines (note that quality does not mean expensive). The salespeople are truly there to help you and to demystify the process of purchasing wine.

Lastly, I want to quickly address the issue of price. A lot of people say that they shop at BBRs because it is cheaper. Is wine at a BBR really less expensive? Yes and no. Yes, many times you can find bottles cheaper at a BBR, than at an indy retail spot. BBRs may have paid less for the wine at wholesale (because of quantity discounts, which aren’t allowed in all states), and can thus offer better retail prices, promotions, etc.

I say: don’t buy those wines anyway! See above regarding mass produced wines. Yeah, you can probably get a bottle of Blackstone Merlot for $9 at Total Wine. But guess what, you can get a decent Italian Merlot at a local wine shop for maybe $11-$13. By doing that, you are probably supporting a smaller producer in Italy, who is making honest wines. And you’re supporting a small business in your community. Boom.

Happy New Year readers and thank you for allowing me to share my wine voice with you. I hope you have enjoyed my SOMMspirations…..wine inspirations from a sommelier.  Until 2016!!

Vintastic Voyage: Amador County and Los Olivos/Lompoc

Even though the month of October was filled with nonstop studying, I still managed to make some time to head to the local wine countries in the area. This is the beauty of California.....from pretty much about anywhere, you are usually no more than 2 hours from land under vine!  At first I thought I shouldn't spend these precious weekend hours away from my books and flash cards. Then I realized that getting out and tasting is as important as memorizing my flash cards.  I'm glad I did, as I explored two areas I was not familiar with.

Amador County
Amador is about 45 minutes Southeast of Sacramento. My husband and I were in the area visiting an old friend and her new family, and she wanted to show me their local wine country. Amador was beautiful. There are the typical rolling hills/vineyard views, but there is also a distinct outdoorsy feel. Almost as if you were not too far from a forest, or the mountains.  There are 40 wineries in the Amador area.   The area is known for Zinfanel and the Rhone varietals (Syrah and Grenache).  Lodi, the Zin capital, is not too far from Amador. We first stopped at a delightful little gourmet food spot called Andrae's Bakery. We picked up fresh sandwiches, sardines, and some sweets for lunch. They had a really nice selection of artisan food products to peruse through as well.

Our first stop was my favorite of the day, Andis Wines. Minimal/sustainable decor (versus the usually cluttered wine country tasting room).  A great selection of wines to taste. We were lucky, as we got to taste with one of the winemakers. A charming young guy from Kentucky.  We loved getting to know him and hear his story as to how he ended up in Amador. I found the wines approachable and enjoyable. Nothing too overly complex or sophisticated. And honestly, sometimes that's ok. I don't want to always have to work for my wine. Sometimes I just want something quaffable and tastes good.

Next up was Jeff Runquist Wines. The tasting room was really busy, as they were having some sort of a wine club event. Good wines here. Though nothing I opted to take home.   I find that if I am too distracted in a tasting room (i.e. with a big group of people, or the tasting room is busy on its own), that I have trouble really getting "into the zone" of tasting.  I feel distracted and unable to truly give my time to the wine.  In those times I just focus on the company that I am with, and try to not take the wines so seriously.

The last stop was Dobra Zemelja Winery, and what an interesting place that was. The tasting room was in a "cave" underground that was built by the former owners Milan and Victoria Matulich, of Croatia.  Milan was there in the tasting room, and we were lucky enough to have him guide us through the tasting. He was a great guy and we heard all kinds of stories of his colorful life. He grew up in Croatia, and my friend that I was with had spent some time in Croatia, as his father was in the military. The wines, on the other hand, were nothing to write home about, and at times, difficult to drink.  However, the focus was not on the wines.  It was in laughing and listening to Milan share his interesting life story!

Los Olivos/Lompoc
The next field trip was to the Los Olivos and Lompoc area. I went with a couple girlfriends of mine for a fun Saturday field trip, and the first stop was Andrew Murray Vineyards in Los Olivos where my one friend had to pick up a wine shipment of hers.  And let me tell you, their tasting room is stunning. We were lucky enough, as we got to taste in the private wine club area, which was beautiful. A clean, sleek aesthetic, yet it still had a comfortable living room feel.

Photo courtesy of : Andrew Murray Vineyards

We tasted quite a few wines there. I found them a bit hard to distinguish, and came to the conclusion that a lot of the wines were still too young to enjoy. They were a bit harsh and the tannins and acid were a bit out of whack. I predict that a good chunk of the wines we tasted could benefit from 2-5 years in the bottle.

Drinkability/ageability of wines, is something that I am slowly starting to understand and be able to apply in the real world. I used to determine the quality of a wine based solely on what I was tasting that day. What I have learned is that a key part of that assessment is "where is this wine in its life cycle today?" Is it too young to drink, just right, or is it past it's prime? If it is just right, will the wine improve with age in the bottle? Or is this the best it's going to get? If the wine is too young, when will be the prime time to drink it?

In addition to the wine tasting, we also did a truffle chocolate pairing that was delightful! The chocolates had some interesting flavors such as white chocolate rosewater and milk chocolate star anise.  I walked away from Andrew Murray with a bottle of 2013 Syrah Alisos Vineyard.  This was $36/bottle and only 400 cases were produced. My note was that this wine was a tannin bomb.  But I saw some potential for aging.  This wine is a cooler climate Syrah.  30% whole clusters were used in the fermenters, and a bit of Viognier is blended in.  This wine will hold in the cellar for a decade or more.

Choclate truffles paired with the wines

Our next stop was Industrial Eats in Buellton for lunch. I had gotten some recommendations from blogger friends who had eaten there when the Wine Bloggers Conference was in the area in 2014. It is exactly as it sounds...an industrial place too eat. A super cool aesthetic and plenty of seating, including a large communal table in the middle. We split a Margarita pizza and a Caesar salad that was to die for. Great food and good prices...I highly recommend it.

Industrial Eats, Buellton

Then we were off to the Lompoc Wine Ghetto.  We were there on a Sunday, so quite a few of the tasting rooms were closed, which was a bummer. If you recall in an earlier blog post, I shared about Sashi Moorman (a Santa Barbara winemaker) who spoke to our class back in August. I loved his stories and values in regards to the wine business. He has his own winery in the area called Piedrasassi, and also makes wine for Stoplman Vineyards, both who have tasting rooms at the Ghetto.  Piedrasassi was closed, so we headed to Stoplman. One thing about the Ghetto is that it is a "no frills" kind of place. You literally feel like you are in an industrial/warehouse area that should not be open to the public.  The Lompoc Wine Ghetto is a community of urban winery tasting rooms in an industrial setting.  The first tasting room was opened in 2005 and now there are 26 tasting rooms onsite. It's not about hospitality there, it's about the wines. The gentleman who poured wines for us was a nice guy with a dry sense of humor. Stoplman had a range of very interesting wines in a no-frills setting. Unique blends and things such as a semi-carbonic Syrah and an unfiltered Rousanne. I would say that a good chunk of the wines we had here would greatly improve with bottle age. The tannins were a bit harsh and needed some time to mellow out. These were interesting wines...wines you have to work for. My friends didn't love the selection here...their palates are more accustomed to more approachable wines. And that is ok. The beauty about a wine country is that there is something for everyone. It's not about going to multiple tasting rooms and loving everything you try, it's about having an experience and seeing the multitude of wines that can be made in one area/region.

Our last stop was Ampelos Vineyard and Cellars, which was recommended by a cohort in my WSET class. They were the first biodynamic winery in the area. They definitely catered a bit more to the customers here. Multiple seating areas, a bar at which to taste, cheese/crackers available for sale, etc. The gals who worked there were cheery and had a decent amount of knowledge about the wines they were serving.

I hope you enjoyed this recap of my two most recent Vintastic Voyages.  Stay tuned for next week when I will discuss my opinions of Big Box Wine Retailers.  Right in time for Christmas!

Stoplman Vineyards at the Lompoc Wine Ghetto

Please vote for the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge!

Hello readers.  On Monday I published a post entitled "To Pair or Not to Pair, That is the Question".  This post was entered into the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge hosted by The Drunken Cyclist, a fellow wine blogger.  The topic is "pairing" and was selected by last month's winner, JVB Uncorked.  You can read his winning post HERE.

The instructions are simple:

1. Read my post HERE
2. Vote HERE
3. Wash, rinse, repeat!

Voting Begins: Tuesday December 8
Voting Ends: Monday December 14
Winner Announced: Tuesday December 15

Thank you for your support! Cheers!

To Pair or Not to Pair, That is the Question #MWWC21

*This post is being entered in the Drunken Cyclist's Monthly Wine Writing Challenge. See more details here. The winner last month was Jim van Bergen of JVB Uncorked. He won with this post on the topic of “variety”.  Jim also selected the topic of “pairing” for this month’s challenge.  Enjoy!

**Please vote HERE!

“Pairing” is a very popular topic on wine blogs. This past month, every other blog seems to have a post on “Turkey Friendly Wines” or “Wines to Pair with your Thanksgiving Meal”, etc. Wine pairings are everywhere: wine pairing dinners at local restaurants, food pairing suggestions in an eblast from a local wine store, articles in food and wine magazines, etc. However, it is my belief that regular people don’t give two shits about wine pairings. This obviously does not include somms, people in the business, wine students, or aficionados. We (usually) do care. We understand how and why the Champagne brings out the briny, salty sea water in the oyster. We understand why a high acid pinot makes a nice foil to that piece of grilled salmon. When I dine out in my native Los Angeles, I love to read through the full food and wine menus to get a sense of what was going on in the minds of the chef and the somm when they created those menus. Why did they make the decisions they made? How do the wine selections complement the food and how can I maximize the relationship of the two (without breaking the bank)?

Newsflash: most people are more than happy to drink Yellowtail, Kenwood, Gallo, Blackstone, Sutter Home, Barefoot, etc. These all fall in that $5-$8/bottle sweet spot for grocery store wines. This, my friends, is most of America. They pop into the market to pick up fixins’ for dinner and grab the $7.99 bottle of red wine on the end cap of the wine aisle. Done. It was a 5-second decision that had nothing to do with how the wine would work with the fat content of the steak they were making. And I think that’s ok. I’m not gonna lose sleep over it. I’m not gonna hang my head in shame of my American wine-drinking brothers and sisters who ignore the ridiculous notion that food and wine must ALWAYS be consumed with the purpose of elevating the experience.

Everyone has a different experience with wine, and I can’t expect them all to be connoisseurs. That is one thing that I will call out some of my fellow wine bloggers and fellow wine students on: they focus too much on the high-end. Sure, good (and usually expensive) wine is awesome. There really is some insanely delicious stuff out there in the high-end market. But I find that the more people know about wine and study wine, they tend to leave behind the more “pedestrian” wines. There is something about drinking a light and refreshing Frascati out of a simple cup with a simple pasta dish while in Rome/Lazio. Or going over to a friends house for dinner and enjoying their favorite homemade comfort food dish with a cheap ass bottle of wine. Those are experiences and they are part of life. I don’t ever want to turn into that wine person who lambastes people’s choices of wine the second you leave their house, or who bad mouths their friend who served Cooks “Champagne” for their wedding toast. Wine is not as important to all people as it is to you. Get over it.

In my opinion, context is everything. For example, the other night I made a PB&J sandwich for dinner. Why? Because I was hungry, because I had nothing else in the house, and because I felt like it. I also drank a glass of bubbly with it. And it was fucking delightful. I didn’t consciously “pair” the sandwich to the bubbly (obviously). I just wanted both, and didn’t give a shit if it paired correctly or what people would think about it. On the other hand, I might cook a nice meal of chicken picatta on another night, and enjoy that with a creamy Carneros Chardonnay or a white Burgundy. Context.

The bottom line is that most of the time, I am NOT pairing my food and wine. Most of the time I eat what I want to eat and drink what I want to drink. Sometimes it’s just about what bottle we have open from last night and what protein is sitting on a plate defrosting in my fridge. It’s as simple as that.

Somehow this post ended up as a rant on some level...oops! But hey, sometimes you’ve gotta just voice your mind and live unabashedly. The more I learn about wine, the more I want to maintain my belief that Wine is Democratic. It is for everyone and meant to be enjoyed by everyone.

I'm Back!

I am writing this about 3 weeks after I completed a rigorous day of wine testing in early November. For the first time in a couple months, I feel like I have a life! Before the test I was studying 2 hours every day before work, any evenings I was free, and one full weekend day each week. And the crazy part is that you're studying an insane amount of information, and only a tiny piece of that information would appear on the exam.

The exam consisted of 3 separate tests covering two different units. Unit 1 is the Business of Wine and Spirits. The exam portion of that unit consisted of a case study in which you had to write a timed essay on the riveting topic of supplier/retailer relationships. The average pass rate of the case study over the last 5 years is 75%. Unit 5 is Sparkling Wine. There were two exams associated with that unit. One was a blind tasting of 3 sparkling wines. We are tasked to assess the wines using the SAT (Systematic Approach to Tasting) as well as to draw conclusions about the wines (i.e. what winemaking style was used, country of origin, grapes used, quality assessment, age, etc). I will say that we got lucky as hell. One of the wines was a sparkling red, which can only be one of two things: a Lambrusco or an Aussie sparkling Shiraz. Once you determine what wine you're working with (in our case it was the Shiraz) the tasting notes are a piece of cake. So I felt very strongly about that one. The other piece of the exam was 3 short essays. This is where all that studying came in. You spend tens of hours studying sparkling wines from around the world, yet only three highly specific topics are asked. Kinda crazy. Unit 5 has had an average pass rate of 80% over the last 5 years.

Studying for these exams was intense. For tasting study, it involved a lot of tasting groups with my classmates. This allows you to taste a large number of wines for a small price, versus buying the bottles individually. There would usually be 12-15 of us (there are 18 people in our class) tasting on a Sunday afternoon. We'd have our instructor or someone at our local wine shop pick out 12 sparkling wines. We'd brown bag them all and spend about an hour and a half tasting the wines on our own and writing our tasting notes. At the end, we'd do a grand reveal to see how we did, and then spend some time talking about the doozies or sharing how we got to our conclusions. The cost to taste the 12 wines was usually $20...not bad!

One of our tasting group lineups.

Study group in full effect.

We also did a couple study groups for the case study. We had the topic ahead of time (but not the exact questions), so we could talk about the history of supplier/retailer relationships, examples of good or bad relationships, and also share our resources.

Studying for the sparkling wine theory exam was more of an individual task. I spent hours reading our WSET study guide, reading prior exams, and reading the "Bubbly Bible", which is Tom Christie's Encyclopedia of Champagne and Sparkling Wine. As per usual, the Oxford Companion to Wine was sprinkled in as well! I started with flash cards on topics such as: the traditional method (i.e. pressing, riddling, second fermentation, etc), champagne regions, key producers, key regions, etc. As I got closer to the exam, I needed to see the information presented in a different way, so I took my flash cards and turned them into huge handwritten posters. The running joke was that our house started looking like the crazy guys house in A Beautiful Mind. It literally looked like a crazy person lived there with all my huge posters plastered on every wall! No joke, I started dreaming about Champagne pruning methods. It was intense.

Once the exams were over, I made the decision to take the month of November off from studying. My mind definitely needed a break. This is perfect timing because I love Fall/Winter and the Holidays, so it's a nice time to start to slow down and enjoy each day. In December I will spend time working on my Course Work Assignment, which is a research paper on the topic of wine brands. That is not due until the beginning of April. However in January we are starting up with Unit 4: Spirits, and it will be nice to have the bulk of my CWA research done and only have to focus on perfecting the draft in the new year. The Spirits exam comes up quickly in early March.

One funny thing that people kept asking me as I was studying this last month is: so are you drinking A LOT of wine? The answer is NO! In our tastings, we're not drinking, we're only tasting and spitting. And with as much studying about wine I was doing, the last thing I wanted to do was drink wine! When I'm reading about mineral contents of the soils of Champagne, fermentation temperatures, and the effects of uninoculated yeasts, all I could do to stay sane was drink a Cosmo. The studying does sometimes take out the romance out of the wine, which I think would make a great topic for a future post.

The next post coming up will be a recap of a couple Vintastic Voyages I took over the last couple months: Los Olivos up in the Santa Barbara area, and Amador County near Sacramento. Part of my goal as I work through this two year process of the WSET Diploma, is to become more familiar with the wine regions in my own backyard. Specifically throughout California.  Stay tuned as I take my studying out of the glass and into the vineyards!

Cheers!