@sommeligay

WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 4: Workshop

November 5, 2014November 16, 2015 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

November 5, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

[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

November 4, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

[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

November 4, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

[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

October 30, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

First off, the premiere of this hot mess:

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

October 30, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

[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

WSET Diploma

“Time of the Season” – The Zombies: Château La Cabanne Pomerol 2005

October 30, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

Pomerol and Saint-Émilion are the two famous appellations on the right bank of Bordeaux. Pomerol is the softer and the less drier appellation of the two, not to say that it’s necessarily sweeter, but perhaps just riper and broader in its fruit. Merlot rather than Cabernet Sauvignon reigns supreme on the right bank: this particular blend is 92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc.

My palate was going at this point, as the 7th wine of our fight of 8, but there was a subtle nose of dried red fruit, dried black fruit, plum, a hints of leather and graceful herbaceous notes. There was a bit of opulent “plum jam”, according to the instructor, along with a soft texture and silky tannins.… read more

WSET Diploma

The Burger King of Wine: Mouton Cadet Bordeaux 2012

October 29, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

I predicted that this was Mouton Cadet just because it feels almost integral in a class about Bordeaux, and the profile clicked well: youthful fruit that isn’t particularly aromatic or muted, dotted with unripe herbaceous character and a disjointed hint of confection. There’s oak, apparently, which is impressive for such a mass-produced bottle, and there’s also some earthiness which anchors its identity, at least, to the old world. Though relatively balanced, the wine seems just a bit thin and simple.

I sing the same ditty every time we approach one of these mass-produced wines, and even moreso for the more doctored wines of the world: Mouton Cadet in itself isn’t horrid, but neither is it great for the price point.… read more

WSET Diploma

Movember: Château La Serre Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2010

October 29, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

Okay. So it’s clear that I didn’t know as much about wine as I do now if we recall my 20-year-old self. Let’s just let that old blog post sink in. I can’t find myself to delete or change it because it’s a valid thought in my wine journey: can’t you see newcomers finding Saint-Émilion boring?

Saint-Émilion is an appellation on the right bank of Bordeaux, where Merlot is king. Saint-Émilion and Pomerol are the well-known and most prestigious areas in the right bank, where Merlot arguably finds itself in its most concentrated form. As we would soon find out, Saint-Émilion is the gutsier wine of the two appellations, and is supposedly less obviously from the right bank than is Pomerol.… read more

WSET Diploma

“Pelican” – The Maccabees: Château Cabannieux Graves 2009

October 29, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

If you didn’t know anything about wine and looked at the label would you think “Graves” meant “graves” and that the picture was of a cemetery? Just, like, a random thought. It’s Halloween on Friday or whatever.

I don’t remember much about this wine including why it was chosen in our first flight of four. What I remember is that the flavour profile was very similar to the second wine in our flight but with slightly more complexity with scents of cigar boxes and brushes of mint along with the developing fruit.

Now that I remember it, there was probably a discussion on how wine from Graves, which is in the southern part of Bordeaux, generally matures quicker than more structured wine from the left bank.… read more