Systematic Wine Tasting vs. Freestyle
Wine Tasting
If you have ever seen the wine programs that Gary Vaynerchuk
used to do on Wine Library TV and The Daily Grape in which he did 1,000 episodes of the former but only 89 of the latter then you
are familiar with what I refer to as Freestyle Wine Tasting. The approach is
fairly loose. You simply See, Smell, Sip, and Spit (or Swallow) the wine and
then say whatever first comes to your mind. It is probably the most natural
form of wine tasting and expressing one experience of the wine and it gives the
taster and commentator the freedom to express himself however he may feel at
the moment.
Then there are the more structured wine tasters who may write
wine reviews for magazines (Wine Spectator, The Wine Enthusiast etc.) who taste
an incredible volume of wine and write volumes of reviews. The challenge to
this kind of writing is that it becomes difficult to say something differently
than you may have said before, so these writers tend to want to become more
poetic in style of writing and remain short and to the point in order to make
their descriptions more reader-friendly and less boring. Here is an example of
a tasting note of the
2011
Domaine Thomas & Fils Clos de La
Crêle Sancerre
from the Wine Spectator:
“Very
ripe, focused and pure, with a lovely verbena and chamomile frame to the
mouthwatering straw, lemon curd and gooseberry notes. Long, wet stone-tinged
finish. Lovely. Drink now through 2014. 1,500 cases imported.” - Wine Spectator
(May 31, 2012)
The ultimate structured wine tasting comes in the form of a
preset Systematic Tasting grid which is highly regimented and has a more
restrictive vocabulary than the previous styles of analyzing wines. The U.C.
Davis aroma wheel is the most common source for the terms that may be used for describing
a wine.
Both the Wine & Spirit Educational Trust (WSET) and the Court
of Master Sommeliers use Systematic Tasting grids that are very similar but
have some minor differences. The intent is not to provide information to
consumers but to test the taster who is being evaluated for their ability to
analyze a wine and determine its varietal, vintage, style, quality and region
of origin and identity.
My personal style of wine notes that I have used in my blogs,
such as The California Winery Review, is probably a combination of freestyle
and systematic, leaning heavier on the more structured format. You don’t
typically hear Gary saying things like, “It has medium+ acidity…” or reviewers
for The Wine Enthusiast write, “The wine has medium to medium+ tannins…”
Monday October 28th was the first day of the evening class
of the Intensive Sommelier Training at the International Culinary Center in Campbell, California. On the first day
the lecture and discussion was on the basics of viticulture and viniculture.
On Tuesday the 29th, the second day, we learned the
basics of wine tasting techniques and “the grid” of the Court of Master
Sommeliers. During that time we did not study any particular region. Rather, we
tasted 6 wines (3 Old World, 3 New World) and primarily focused on just
learning the tasting format that will be used during our certification
examination. Since this blog focuses on non-Calfornian wines, my next three
posts will be solely on the 3 Old World wines as the others were all from
California.
The Loire Valley
The Loire Valley is north of Bordeaux, starting from the West
coast it is about 200 miles long and ends near the middle of France. The major
red grape in the Loire is Cabernet Franc and it grows best in Chinon and
Bourgueil. The region’s best white wines include Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin
Blanc. The Loire Valley consists of 4 major wine sub-regions running along the
Loire River - Upper Loire, Touraine, Anjou-Saumur, and Pays Nantais:
The Upper Loire’s
premiere white grape is Sauvignon Blanc, the best producing appellations being
Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé.
Touraine makes a variety of red, white, rose, and sparkling wines and
Vouvray is well-known for its fruity Chenin Blanc.
Anjou-Saumur’s primary grape is Chenin Blanc with the primary communes being
Coteaux du Layon and Quarts de Chaume who make Chenin Blanc based sweet white
wines. In Savennières you’ll find more austere Chenin Blanc that have the
ability to age into a complex, full white wine with fruity bouquet.
The Pays Nantes region is located at the westernmost edge of the Loire
Valley near the city of Nantes. It is the home to a
simple, bone-dry white made from the Melon de
Bourgogne grape which has no relation to the Muscat family of
grapes.
Sancere - The La Crêle
Vineyard
The Medieval hilltop town of
Sancerre overlooks the Loire River. This is the ancestral homeland of
antiquity’s powerful Gaullic Celtic tribe, the Bituriges, “The Kings of the
World.” After their defeat at the hands of Julius Caesar, a temple was built on
a nearby hillside in the Imperator’s (victorious general) honor. Many
historians and anthropologists lend credence that the temple’s name, “Sacred to
Caesar,” eventually developed into the name, Sancerre. Once the Romans
dominated the land, they established the Loire Valley for farming and
vineyards. While Sancerre is primarily known for Sauvignon Blanc it also
produces a small amount (20%) from the Pinot Noir grape, light red wines for
quaffing under the designation of Sancerre Rouge. A rosé style from Pinot noir is also
produced in a style similar to Beaujolais.[1]
The soils of Sancerre are based on limestone with caillottes
(small rocks), forming the top layer along with mid-kimmeridgian astrate
calcareous soils. These small, white caillottes are the signature of the La
Crêle vineyard. Located on a southeastern exposed hillside parcel, it adjoins
the Perrière vineyard to the east. The vines average 35 years in age, the
grapes are hand-harvested, and the wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks.
Domaine Thomas
For more than ten generations, the Thomas family has been
producing wine in the tiny hamlet of Verdigny, one of the 13 villages that make
up the famous appellation of Sancerre in the Loire Valley. Jean and Ginette
Thomas are the current proprietors, and their two children, Julian (currently studying
at the oenology school in Beaune) and Christale, are following in their
family’s footsteps. The Thomas own about 33 acres of vines, dedicated almost
exclusively to Sauvignon Blanc, the grape type of Sancerre.[2]
The Wine
The 2011 Domaine Thomas & Fils Clos de La Crêle Sancerre is
100% Sauvignon Blanc. It is a clear, day bright and straw-yellow wine of medium
concentration. On the nose it has dominating aromas of white grapefruit, grass
and fresh apples with underlying notes of chalk. On the palate it has medium to
medium+ acidity, medium viscosity and a medium to medium+ length finish with
citrus dominating the return. A very fine wine, it retails for about $25.
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