Category: WSET Diploma

WSET Diploma

Not enough dirty socks, but good anyways: Pfaffenheim 2013 “Pfaff” Pinot Gris

Posted on by Josh

Pfaffenheim 2013 "Pfaff" Pinot Gris[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 5: Alsace]

I’m a big fan of Alsatian Pinot Gris. I was supposed to make a post on one by another producer last week but drank it too quickly to leave any trace of sobriety (“I’ll just buy another bottle, srjgkglrahhh”), and plus I knew the theme of the upcoming class was Alsace, so tasting a Pinot Gris was definitely something that was going to happen, anyways.

The wine was notably Pinot Gris (if not Gewurztraminer) from just looking at it with its coppery tint from pinkish grapes (another reason to love it?). Not as exuberant on the nose like Gewurztraminer or Muscat, but there are hints to stone fruit, mineral, peach, some sort of sweet orange floral notes, and a bit of mango.… read more

WSET Diploma

Gewp: Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2012 Gewurztraminer

Posted on by Josh

Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2012 Gewurztraminer[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 5: Alsace]

Indisputably Gewurztraminer on the nose (if not Muscat), where it was like liquid Bed Bath and Beyond. I might as well have taken a big whiff of my grandma’s purse, and it probably would have been more accurate had she been the source of my late aunt’s durian-eating habits. I mean I guess the wine isn’t so much durian-driven than it is lychee and peaches, but still.

I noticed a bit of bubble by just looking at the glass, as did some other classmates, and indeed there was just a hint of spritz on the palate that other people detected. What’s interesting is that we had the exact same wine no more than a couple months prior, and then it seemed perfectly fine, but an in-bottle malolactic fermentation was a possibility for the bit of spritz for this time around.… read more

WSET Diploma

Vanilla, but not in an oaky way: Hugel 2011 Pinot Blanc

Posted on by Josh

Hugel 2011 Blanc de Blancs[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 5: Alsace]

Pinot Blanc is one of the exceptions to Alsace, where the region itself is an exception to the non-varietally labelled wines in France. Unlike Alsace, the rest of French wines are typically labelled by their appellation rather than the grape – so unless there’s an informative back label, the average consumer might get lost with regions that sound like they’ve come from a George R. R. Martin novel. It’s a big conversation. Alsace, for the most part, dodges this.

Many (political) reasons led to this general rule, but then there’s poor little Pinot Blanc, which may very well have some Auxerrois in its blend despite the fact that it’s labelled “Pinot Blanc”. … read more

WSET Diploma

First impression over the second: Charles Sparr 2011 Cuvée Tradition Pinot Noir

Posted on by Josh

Charles Sparr 2011 Cuvée Tradition Pinot Noir[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 5: Alsace]

We’ve started off with the red in our flight of eight Alsatian wines, because Alsatian Pinot Noir is arguably softer and more delicate than its steely whites. I don’t remember the last time I’ve even had an Alsatian Pinot Noir, but it makes total sense that the cool climate region chooses Pinot Noir out of all red grape varieties to specialize in. Alsace tends to produce lighter styles compared to Burgundy with noticeably paler colour and softer texture, but for me it’s been personally hard to generalize because you just don’t see it much in this market, ever. The grape puts a small dent in the total plantings of grapes in Alsace, at around 10 percent.… read more

Life · WSET Diploma

WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 4: Workshop

Posted on by Josh

Only five of the fifteen-ish of us showed up for class today, maybe because the topic of the class was “Workshop”, which sort of sounds unexciting, vague, and the opposite of compelling. Perhaps it was the endless rain last night, and I don’t blame the people who decided to dodge the fat and thunderous drops of Vancouver rain, instead opting to wrap themselves up in a thick blanket while eating pizza and watching Netflix. Hey – I’m jealous of you. But you know shit starts to get serious when you start practicing exam skills no more than four weeks into the unit, just at the brink of November, and the exam is in June.

We went over the exam structure, had an hour-long practice session for the written portion of the exam, and then we had a half-hour-long session for the tasting portion of the exam.… read more

WSET Diploma

Mud House, in the middle of our street: Mud House 2010 Pinot Noir

Posted on by Josh

Mud House 2009 Pinot Noir[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 4: Workshop]

The third wine in our flight of three was most certainly the ripest in its fruit and probably the most intense as well (though the instructor aptly reminded us that this isn’t necessarily an indicator of quality).

The fuller-bodied and ripe red fruit along with the fair amount of acidity shouted New Zealand to me, and the guess of Martinborough was something I sort of partially pulled from thin air. Apparently Martinborough Pinots tend to be the most Burgundian, tending towards spice and plummy fruit, while Marlborough is lighter and more cheery in its red fruit. Central Otago Pinot Noir expresses itself toward that darker end of the red fruit spectrum and usually has a bit of a green note which I’ve heard manifests itself in a sage-like aroma.… read more

WSET Diploma

Halloween candy: Mark West 2012 Pinot Noir

Posted on by Josh

Mark West 2012 Pinot Noir[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 4: Workshop]

The second wine in our flight of three was clearly the lowest quality, though perhaps premature conclusions were drawn just from smelling the three without having tasted them yet. It’s that sort of jammy strawberry and vanilla thing, but it’s not a complex strawberry compote sort of deal. Maybe kind of like those Campino candy things without the yogurt connotation (and maybe even worse than that), but maybe candy is on my mind because I haven’t had my fair share of Halloween treats this year. Hrmph. I suppose this comes close. I mean it’s an orange label.

The palate seals the deal with a lightly-bodied wine and almost no acid to balance out the sweetness, but I suppose the saccharine fruit superficially lengthens the flavours on the back palate.… read more

WSET Diploma

I need to drink more Burgundy: Domaine Pavelot 2010 “Les Vergelesses” Pernand-Vergelesses

Posted on by Josh

Domaine Pavelot 2010 "Les Vergelesses" Pernand-Vergelesses[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 4: Workshop]

Out of the three wines we tried in our flight of, this was definitely the most old world – that is, the most earthy and austere, with fruits in the red section of the spectrum but geared towards a bit of a pleasant sour unripeness, so much that if you had me smell (but not taste) this blind not knowing the other two wines in the flight, I may have guessed something like Sangiovese, which is sort of known for just that. Sangiovese has much more tannin and scratch, though, while this was quite soft.

I remember studying a bit of Pernand-Vergelesses mostly when committing Burgundy’s Côte d’Or to memory for the CMS Certified Sommelier exam, and my imprecise definition of the area is a mere blob of an appellation within the Savigny-lès-Beaune appellation in the Côte de Beaune. … read more

Life · WSET Diploma

WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux

Posted on by Josh

First off, the premiere of this hot mess:

hbicwine

Fantastic coincidence that we studied Bordeaux in class this week. The screencap is from some reality TV show called the Ultra Rich Asian Girls of Vancouver, or something equally as unnatural-sounding, and it’s going to be a terrible trainwreck that everyone’s already predictably complaining about. Watching people’s reactions to something as obtuse as this show is almost as fun as watching the actual show itself. That, and there’s two degrees of separation with the girl who asks for a straw to put in her “Latour” from “Pomerol”, and that just makes it much more amazing.

Also, this.

(That label isn’t fooling anyone – that’s clearly Villa Teresa Rosé Frizzante.)

Back to Bordeaux: the renowned region is pure business.… read more

WSET Diploma

When life gives you rot, make it noble: Château Coutet Sauternes-Barsac 2000

Posted on by Josh

Château Coutet Sauternes-Barsac 2000[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

I was in the middle of tasting the first three wines in our second flight when I saw the instructor pouring the first bits of the fourth wine into her own glass. Bordeaux class, so Sauternes, unquestionably.

Yeah, gurl.

How often do you get to try one of the most prized dessert wines of the world? I’m not bragging, because all we get is a wee dram enough for tasting, and God knows I’m poor as fuck from WSET diploma tuition, anyways. This is as close as it gets, except for that time I knocked over my boss’s glass of Château d’Yquem. It shattered all over the floor and in perceived slow motion, I’m sure.… read more