Category: WSET Diploma

WSET Diploma

2011 K Vintners Viognier

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon-green, legs
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, mineral, floral, white flowers, lime, lemon, hint of stone fruit, lemon, pineapple, oak, nutmeg, sweet spice
Mouth: dry, med+ body, med+ acid, med alcohol, med+ intensity, med+ length, floral, citrus, spicy apple
All in all: Good quality: although personally appearing neutral in characteristics, a marked floral complexity follows a balanced finish and a concentrated palate. Drink now; not suitable for ageing.
Identity guess: Mid-priced (Trebbiano/Pinot Blanc/Viognier) from Italy; 2 years old.
Is really: TBA-priced Viognier from Washington; 2 years old.

2011 K Vintners Viognier

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 8]

Even after having had an identity guess for this wine, I still noted down a marked floral character from this.… read more

WSET Diploma

2011 Max Müller I Sommeracher Katzenkopf Weissburgunder Spätlese Trocken Franken

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med lemon, legs
Nose: clean, med intensity, youthful, floral, citrus, mineral, apple pear, stone fruit, nectarine, custard, yoghurt, baking spice
Mouth: dry, med body, med acid, med alcohol, med+ flavour intensity, med+ length, creamy, floral, stone fruit, peach, ripe nectarine, baked toasty quality, green fruits, pear
All in all: Very good quality: complex and concentrated with a relatively long length. A great expression of the variety. Drink now, but has potential for short-term ageing.
Identity guess: High-priced (Trebbiano/Pinot Blanc/Viognier) from the Northern Rhône; 2 years old.
Is really: TBA-priced Pinot Blanc from Germany; 2 years old.

2011 Max Müller I Sommeracher Katzenkopf Weissburgunder Spätlese Trocken Franken

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 8]

A taste of this guy and I understood what Oz Clarke meant with his vivid description of Viognier:

“If you wanted serious, swooning wine, with texture as soft and thick as apricot juice, perfume as optimistic and uplifting as mayblossom, and a savoury sour creamy richness like a dollop of crème fraîche straight from the ladle of a smiling farmer’s wife – in other words, a wine which just oozed sex and sensuality – Condrieu, from the Viognier grape, was it.”

… read more
WSET Diploma

2011 Citra Trebbiano d’Abruzzo

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon-green, legs
Nose: clean, med- intensity, youthful, citrus, mineral, lemon, earthy, vegetal
Mouth: dry, med- body, med+ acid, med- alcohol, med- length, med- flavour intensity, mineral, creamy texture, soft, citrus, pear
All in all: Acceptable quality: relatively inoffensive and refreshing, but there seems to be a lack in intensity, concentration, balance, and persistance. Drink now; not suitable for ageing.
Identity guess: Inexpensive (Trebbiano/Pinot Blanc/Viognier) from Alsace; 2 years old.
Is really: Inexpensive Trebbiano from Italy; 2 years old.

2011 Citra Trebbiano d'Abruzzo

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 8]

This was a real tossup between wines one and three in the lineup, because they both seemed rather neutral to me at first, but this wine was clearly of lesser quality.… read more

Life · WSET Diploma

WSET Diploma – Section 1 – Week 7

Posted on by Josh

May 22, 2013

The clouds have finally succumbed to rain. And it indeed is raining, and it sure was a bittersweet walk home from the Canada Line and WSET Diploma class with a hat and a thickish flannel. Unfortunately since a couple of days ago, weather forecasts have been hinting to an identical sort of weather for my fake birthday shindig this Saturday (since my real birthday was during exam time), which is okay, because we’ll be inside, we’ll be drinking Spatlese followed by less exciting things, and maybe we’ll do other fun things like I’m not sure yet. We’ll probably just end up playing Resistance.

bowlofcheeseToday’s WSET Diploma class was about everything from the alcoholic fermentation to the bottling – mostly things like must adjustments, barrel fermentation, stabilization, fining, filtering – all that fun stuff.… read more

WSET Diploma

2011 Louis Latour Pinot Noir Bourgogne

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clean, med- ruby, legs
Nose: clean, med- intensity, youthful, red fruits, cherry, earth
Mouth: dry, med- body, high acid, med- fine tannin, med alcohol, med+ length, med flavour intensity, cherries, strawberries, earth
All in all: Good quality: a well-balanced high acidity cleanses the comparatively simple aromas and slightly bitter finish, but good concentration is delivered despite the light body. Drink now: not suitable for ageing.

2011 Louis Latour Pinot Noir Bourgogne

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 7]

A wine selected by the instructor within our series of wines to illustrate the idea of pasteurization, and probably flash pasteurization in this case (confirmed as per the cute website), where the wine is heated up to a high temperature for a small amount of time to kill all the extras we don’t need, whether they be yeasts, bacteria, or some other organism I’ll need to know about for the exam.… read more

WSET Diploma

2011 G. Descombes Morgon

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med ruby, legs
Nose: clean, med intensity, developing, red fruits, raspberry, cherry, earthiness, spice, floral
Mouth: dry, med- body, high acid, med fine tannin, med alcohol, med length, med flavour intensity, red fruits, floral
All in all: Good quality: a good balance is evident in the well-integrated high acidity. Although the flavour characteristics need a bit more time to show their best, the wine is elegant, being light but concentrated in the flavours, despite having a mere med length (although some said med+). Drink now, but has potential for short-term ageing.

2011 G. Descombes Morgon

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 7]

I’m a big fan of the earthier Beaujolais crus, the ones I encounter being Juliénas, Moulin-à-Vent, and Morgon.… read more

WSET Diploma

2010 St Urbans-Hof Okfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

(Apparently slightly corked. A little hard for me to pick up)

Eyes: clear, med lemon, legs
Nose: clean (but I guess not then), med intensity, youthful, citrus, mineral, lemon, lime, petrol
Mouth: medium-dry, med body, high acidity, low alcohol, med- length, high flavour intensity, citrus, mineral, lemon, lime
All in all: I had this as good quality, especially because of the great balance between sweetness and acidity, but apparently this was corked.

2010 St Urbans-Hof Okfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 7]

The first sniff by the instructor was followed by a warning – I thought it was just a false alarm, and I still couldn’t fully pick it up after the good-as-gone red light, but apparently this poor little German Riesling was slightly corked.… read more

WSET Diploma

2008 Eternum Viti “Los Comillos” Toro

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clean (slightly hazy due to sediment), deep ruby, legs
Nose: clear, med+ intensity, developing, oak, vanilla, spice, red fruits, strawberries, black fruits, earth, oak, smoke, bacon, black cherry
Mouth: dry, med+ bodied, high fine tannin, med acid, med alcohol, med+ finish, med+ flavour intensity, red fruit, oak, black cherry, cinnamon, chocolate
All in all: Very good quality: complex developing aromas are help up by a balanced structure worthy of ageing, despite current high and slightly unbalanced tannin. Med+ length.

2008 Eternum Viti "Los Comillos" Toro

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 7]

One of the small tidbits I’ve learned from WSET Advanced is that Toro is known more for their more robust and strong expressions of Tempranillo. A quick flip through my past textbook says that this is due to a thick-skinned clone of Tempranillo (Tinta de Toro).… read more

WSET Diploma

2002 Anciano Tempranillo Gran Reserva

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, deep ruby, legs
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, oak, bright red fruit, spice, strawberries, earth, touch of barnyard, opened up with: mocha, chocolate, cacao
Mouth: dry, med bodied, med fine tannin, med acidity, med+ alcohol, med finish, med+ flavour intensity, strawberry, leather, savoury, oak
All in all: Good quality: the structural components are well-balanced, and the wine is very complex. The alcohol is slightly imbalanced and the length could be longer. Drink now: not suitable for ageing.

2002 Anciano Tempranillo Gran Reserva

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 7]

I didn’t believe it, and even during my first liquor store gig ever, I scoffed when this came onto the shelves. A Gran Reserva for 16 dollars makes the wine-savvy ruffle their eyebrows and go oh-please.… read more

Life · WSET Diploma

WSET Diploma – Section 1 – Week 6

Posted on by Josh

This week went by just as fast as the last, but it already feels so far away. Was it already last last Monday when we had that summer-like heat? Jesus – some friends and I tried to go to the beach last Friday. Not that it was unsuccessful, or anything, because we went, but it was cloudier than we expected and slightly cooler. Which – whatever. I go to the beach as much as I don’t drink, so this was a big deal. I just find it such a hassle to get there and back, but going to the beach more often is definitely one of my sad little goals for the next couple of months. Because making it a summer goal to go the beach more is like making a goal to throw more snowballs in winter.… read more