WTF! Wine Tasting Fiasco! WSET 3.5

This week's class marks the one third point in our course. I have been feeling pretty good about my tasting ability.

Until this week....

Our first wine region was the Loire valley. This is a big area that stretches from the ocean (maritime climate) to the centre of France (continental climate). The main grapes are pretty easy to remember. 3 blancs and a franc - Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Melon Blanc (or Muscadet) and Cabernet Franc. Some of the famous areas in the Loire include Chinon (Cab Franc), Muscadet and Vouvray Chenin Blanc).  There's also two really famous Sauvignon Blanc regions, Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé.  A great deal for Sauv Blanc is in Menetou-Salon which has great wine but not the same expensive price.

Our first wines were the three whites. Unfortunately, I had a really difficult time figuring out which was which. For example, I thought the Sauv Blanc was Chenin Blanc until I tasted what I thought was Sauv Blanc - and it was sweet! Threw me off completely!

Oh well, here's the wines:

Our first was a wine that had gooseberry, flint, stone, lemon and grass on the nose. It was definitely a youthful wine that also had apple and pear on the palate. It was a 2017 Domaine Delaporte Chavignol Blanc ($38). This wine had high acidity, medium alcohol, and medium (+) intensity of flavour. We rated this wine as Very Good and was a 'drink now' wine. I initially thought it was the Melon Blanc.

The second of the trio was a 2017 Domaine de la Pepiere  Muscadet Sevre et Maine ($26) which is the best of the Muscadets. This Melon Blanc had peach, apricot, melon (ha! melon for a Melon Blanc!), lemon peel and a bit of grassiness on the nose with some yogurt flavours from being on the lees on the palate. Despite the time on the lees, I felt that although this wine was balanced and complex, it did not have a particularly long finish and was not all that intense so was rated as merely Good. This wine is good to drink now and is not suitable for ageing.  Unhappily, I thought this was initially a Chenin Blanc.

The final wine of my three initial errors was a 2016 Maison Darragon Hautes des Ruettes Vouvray made from Chenin Blanc ($28). By the way, if it says Vouvray on the label, it has to be Chenin Blanc. I really enjoyed this one as it had pronounced intensity and something that I had a hard time defining, on the nose. The smell was wet wool which is textbook for a Chenin Blanc. There were also aromas and tastes of ripe apple, honeysuckle, honeydew, and honey. It was a balanced wine that was pretty intense, complex, and had a fairly long finish. I would put it between Very Good and Outstanding. When I first smelled this one, I thought it was a Sauvignon Blanc because of the funky smell, By the way, if you're ever in the Okanagan, Road 13 makes an amazing Chenin Blanc sparkler.

As you can see, the first three wines did not go well. I fared better, however, with the next two.

Moving East and South from the Loire valley, we ended up in Burgundy, home to the world's most expensive wines. In Burgundy, they make Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and that's about it. The north part does mainly Pinot Noir and the south part does mainly Chardonnay, although there are exceptions. Beaujolais is actually considered part of Burgundy but it's such a different kind of region, I have separated it out.

The first two wines were Chardonnay wines. Chardonnay is made from such famous places as Chablis, Mersault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassage-Montrachet. I was able to figure out which was from Chablis and which was from the Cote de Beaunne - thank goodness something went right this week!

The first of these wines was a 2017 Jean-Paul and Benoit Droin Chablis ($58).  This had tastes of apple, grapefruit, lemon, butter and stone and was a high acid, bone dry wine. It was balanced, had complexity and was fairly intense but lacked a long finish so we gave it a Very Good rating (and a pat on the back for my first correct wine of the night). Drink this one now as it is not suitable for ageing!

The second wine was heaven! This one was a 2014 Chassagne- Montrachet ($131) and is a Monopole wine which means that this is one that the negociant produces from their own vineyards and is their flagship wine. There was a lot of different fruit going on here but the best was the secondary and tertiary characteristics such as vanilla, butter, roasted nuts, mushroom and popcorn. It had all the hallmarks of an Outstanding wine and was one that you could drink now but wold also really benefit from ageing.

Staying in Burgundy, we then looked at some Pinot Noir. There are many different houses that make first rate Pinot Noir including Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits St. Georges, and the incredible but incredibly expensive, Pinot Noir. Domaine Romanee Conte which is a winery that demands some of highest prices for a bottle of wine anywhere.

Unfortunately, I was back to my old tricks again and mixed these up!

The first was a 2015 Joseph Faively Bourgogne Pinot Noir ($32). This had a fair bit going on including red plum, cranberry, cedar, smoke, and red cherries. On the palate, there was a pronounced intensity of flavours. It met some of the criteria for the assessment of quality and was rated Good.

The other Pinot Noir was a 2015 Domaine Daniel Rion et Fils Premier Cru from Nuits St. George ($100). This wine also had some great fruit on it including red plum, raspberry, cranberry, strawberry, and something vegetal - mushroom? - as well as strong tannins. This wine was less austere than the first one (which is maybe why we guessed wrong) and has some wonderful fruit flavours. Despite the age on it already, it would definitely benefit from ageing. It was rated Very Good - bordering on Outstanding.

I was on more solid ground for the last two wines. One was from the Loire - from Chinon - so a Cab Franc - and one was from Beaujolais - so a Gamay Noir. Beaujolais is one of those wines (like Pinot Noir) that's a great one to order if everyone at a restaurant orders something different. There's also Beaujolais Nouveau which is released this year on November 15th. It is a super light, bubble gummy wine (from carbonic maceration) and is supposed to be lots of fun - I've never had a Beaujolais Nouveau so I will definitely try it out next month. 

The Beaujolais that we did have was a 2016 Close de Roilette from Fleurie ($30), one of the ten crus of Beaujolais. It had flavours of stewed fruit, black cherry, bubble gum, and a bit of pepper. There was medium tannins, alcohol, and intensity with maybe a bit higher than medium acidity, It was very good but should be consumed now.

Courtesy BK Wine Photography

Fun fact - most vines in Beaujolais are trained in the gobelet style where the spurs are pushed up and tied together - sort of like braiding your hair and tying the braids together on the top of your head. 

The final wine was a 2016 Bernard Baudry Les Granges Chinon from the Loire valley ($27). It had flavours and aromas of black currant, red plum, eucalyptus, and smoke. This wine was high in acid and in tannins and had some cedar on it as well that meant it could age. It wasn't all that balanced and the length was OK so the question would be, would you bother ageing it as it was only a Good wine? 

Good question.

And so, my evening ended with me mis-identifying 5 of the 9 wines and missing out on a variety of aromas - or just getting them wrong. I will definitely have to refine my palate over the next few weeks. 

Will Taste Feverishly.