@sommeligay

Court of Master Sommeliers: The Certified Sommelier Exam

October 3, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

Phew.

The Certified Sommelier exam consists of three parts: a blind tasting exam, the theory exam, and the service exam. Much more intimidating to a guy whose restaurant experience involves washing dishes six years ago – and though the average pass rate isn’t too scary, ~60% is enough to have you doubt everything, because even at this level there’s a lot of material. There are brilliant, brilliant people I met this day who’ve spent oodles more time in the wine industry than I have and didn’t pass.

Balance seemed important – there was one intelligent fellow who already had the WSET Diploma, which requires you to know a VAST amount of information on wine (and it’s something I’m only in the middle of) – yet he didn’t pass. … read more

Quaffing

Liquid Love Handles and Marshmallows: 2011 Treana White

September 18, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med+ lemon, legs
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, oak, vanilla, baking spice, sweet spice, marshmallow, stone fruit, nectarine, orange peel, floral, perfume, ripe citrus, nuts, honey, hint tropical
Mouth: dry, full bodied, med acid, high alcohol, med+ intensity, savoury, oak, butter, ripe citrus, orange peel, savoury, baking spice, sweet spice, peach, floral, nutty, med+ length
All in all: Good (to very good) quality: one of the poster children of complex hedonism. Fantastic concentration, body, and balance of oak – but the alcohol is slightly imbalanced, and the structure may be lacking for some consumers. Drink now, not suitable for ageing.

I haven’t had wine in 9 days (for some dumb pseudo-reason like being really sick or whatever) with a few servings of both horrible and delicious beer in between.… read more

Quaffing

Glinda the Good Witch: 2010 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Herrenweg de Turkheim Muscat

September 10, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon, legs
Nose: clean, med intensity, youthful, spice, ginger, citrus, stone fruit, ripe peach, hint mango, mineral, petrichor, floral, orange blossom, tea
Mouth: dry, med+ body, med+ to high acid, med+ flavour intensity, med+ alcohol, strong minerality, wet stones, petrichor, citrus, white peach, stone fruit, hint spritz
All in all: Good quality: the wine has fantastic structure for a Muscat, and a strong minerality carries on to a med+ finish. But both the nose and palate could benefit from more fruit intensity and concentration. Drink now, not suitable for ageing.

After much debate at the liquor store – which also made it probably look like I was suspicious – I finally came to the conclusion that this was a day I where the whole “should-I-spend-x-less-dollars-for-this-wine?”… read more

Quaffing

Dido – “Thank You”: 2009 Kumeu River Village Chardonnay

August 20, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med lemon, legs
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, pear, citrus, white peach, melon, cream, lees, hint butter, hint oak, mineral, flint, nuttiness
Mouth: dry, med+ body, med+ acid, med alcohol, long finish, med+ (to pronounced) intensity, cream, butter, lees, pear, white peach, mineral, savoury, lemon, nuttiness
All in all: Good (to very good) quality: the developmental secondary characteristics are showing fantastically, with intense lees-y and buttery flavours coming through on both the nose and the palate. The wine retains structure and isn’t blousy, but could use a hint more concentration and complexity. Drink now, but suitable for short-term ageing.

It’s currently a cloudy Vancouver day. We’ve had the rounds – a cold and grey morning, mist here and there, some heavier rain in the afternoon, and the weather gods have decided to reign back on the rain (pun intended), so we’re back to a slightly muggy greyness.… read more

Quaffing

Like Moose Mason from the Archie Comics: 2010 Cailleteau Bergeron “Tradition” Côtes de Bordeaux

August 20, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, deep ruby, legs
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, dark fruit, black cherry, blackberry, cassis, hint oak, spice, plum, mineral, earth, hint ash, hint dried black fruit, small hint of green, dark chocolate
Mouth: dry, med+ body, med acid, med+ slightly coarse tannin, med+ alcohol, med flavour intensity, cassis, dark fruit, cassis, plum, mineral, much more earth-driven on palate, hint spice, hint ash, long length
All in all: Good quality: though the flavours are a bit tight on the palate due to tannins that need time to loosen up, there is a long earthy finish and a modestly developed nose. Can drink now, but has potential for ageing.

I ate way too much for dinner so I decided that beer wasn’t the best thing to have after work – so between wine and spirits, I went with a half-bottle of the former.… read more

Life · Travel

Wine Bloggers Conference 2014 – The back of the bottle; the odds and ends

July 31, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

This was my first Wine Bloggers Conference – I partially regret not going last year, but at the same time, I justified my absence because my co-worker attended, so I thought work wouldn’t let us both take time off. Ironically, the bulk of us are on vacation in a couple of weeks.

Last year’s conference was in Penticton, i.e. it was literally super close to home, so I really do deserve a slap on the wrist for missing that one. I couldn’t resist not going to attend this year’s conference in Santa Barbara – first, California. Wine. Hi. Second, it would provide me with a fabulous answer for anyone that would ask what I was up to this summer, and I wouldn’t have to come up with a fancy complicated way to say “nothing”.… read more

Life · Travel

Wine Bloggers Conference 2014 – First time at a legit vineyard?!

July 31, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

Okay – so day two of the conference – after we’ve finished the breakout session (I went to the one about blends), we have a little break where I assume the bulk of us grab a snack or wash the summer Californian sweat/shame off our skin. We’re told to meet outside at 5PM sharp, and multiple buses would whisk us away to mystery locations. So literally, a couple of buses would show up, n-number of us would hop into one of the buses to somewhere we have no idea about, and then the remainder of us would wait for the next batch of buses. For all I knew this was the part in the horror movie where they would take us somewhere to get murdered, though let’s be real here – if I would’ve died from anything on this trip it would’ve been from a combination of alcohol poisoning and the shitty cliché of dying from how beautiful everything was.… read more

Life · Tasting

Wine Bloggers Conference 2014 – Blends: 2 + 2 = 5?

July 31, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

Okay! So flashback to Day 2 of the the Wine Bloggers Conference: it’s one of those times where we have to choose between three different seminars. There’s a seminar each on Merlot (hosted by Rutherford Hill and Duckhorn wineries), something on “How Pros Taste” (hosted by Jackson Family Wines), and then one on wine blends (hosted by Winebow), the last seeming like a strangely divergent topic from the former two. And I know – I should probably be basking in the Californian-based seminars (when in Rome etc.), but I couldn’t help but be intrigued by something less specific and more amalgamate in style i.e. the idea, at the time, of trying a row of Napa Merlots in the California heat made me scrunch my face.… read more

Tasting

Wine Bloggers Conference 2014 – Speed Tasting i.e. Tinder for Wines

July 29, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

Speed tasting. It’s one of the unique events of the Wine Bloggers Conference that’s always explained to you if you’ve never heard of the WBC before, kind of like the warning nod of the hangover to the newly legal. It’s always described as “speed dating but with wine” – though in this case, it’s only a one-way road of looking at your date in disgust. So there’s a plus, and it’s sort of like a Tinder swipe-left-or-right sort of situation.

In the essence of the Live Wine Blogging event, you have 50 minutes to taste through 10 wines. In each 5-minute session, the winery representative pours you wine and gives you a bit of a quick overview before moving on to the next table.… read more

Life · Travel

Wine Bloggers Conference 2014 – First Impressions

July 15, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

Day 1. First off: intentionally-chosen attire: Brettanomyces shirt. Onwards.

By something like 4AM on the day of my flight, I was excited out of my mind. I was absolutely stoked for the Wine Bloggers Conference, but I also love early morning flights – I love the feeling of escaping while the whole city is asleep (though I hope that this doesn’t say more about my myself than I’d like). There’s also something I find weirdly satisfying about successfully passing the airport security portion. Like, I’m fine – why do I even worry? The metal detector can’t check for bad personalities.

“Sir, can you please step over here? We looked at the scanner and we noticed that you enjoy puns. Can you Gew over there for a pat down, please?”… read more