An Amazing Wine Tasting Evening with Friends

A group of friends in the midst of an amazing wine tasting.

WSET is not just for studying....

As I have alluded to before, people make great connections and friendships while doing the WSET course. We were all in it together, trying our best to pass the course, feeling the pressure of learning such a vast amount of information and feeling the pleasure of tasting wine together. 

But it finished in December!

Happily, the group that I have tasted with before - the friends that I have tasted with before - are continuing to get together. The first time, since our test, was a couple weeks ago when I was in France. 

The next time was just last Thursday.

Andrew was our host. He has taken both his WSET 3 and a comparable level of his CMS - Court of Master Sommeliers. He works at a restaurant but also works at a local independent liquor store and, therefore, can get a great deal on great wines!

Verity and her partner, Joey, were also in attendance. I took my WSET 3 with Verity - in fact, she related the story of our first class together - we had a champagne and some minor bubbles like Prosecco in a blind tasting. Both of us proudly announced that the Prosecco was the great wine, much to our chagrin! We both learned an awful lot more about wine since that first class. Verity also completed a comparable level of her CMS.

When I took my WSET, Sarah sat beside me every class - she was my WSET Buddy! It was great to see her at the tasting and reconnect with her once again.

A new person (for me), Steph, was working on the same level of CMS that Verity and Andrew had achieved. She is an actual Sommelier at a famous Vancouver restaurant! 

Finally, my buddy, Stewart, whom I have known since high school (when we used to drank a gallon bottle of Calona Medium White) came along as well.  Although he has not completed a formal wine course, Stew is well versed in the wine world (we've both come a very long way).

After everyone arrived, Andrew welcomed us with a glass of 2016 Crescent Hill Glennallyn Private Reserve Gewürztraminer from the Okanagan. As is common with this varietal, it was very aromatic and was a tasty, light way to start off our night. 

Andrew always does such a good job!

Our next wines were blind tastings. We had three whites and three reds.

Our first white was described by Steph, who spoke with such confidence that I was drawn in, hook. line and sinker, to what she thought the wines were. We tasted, and swirled, and spat. 

It was a Zarate Rias Baxas Albarino from Spain. It was not a strong wine and was not as full bodied as I thought it would be. 

Yellow, or lemon, in colour, this wine had aromas of lemon, apple, and had a minerality. These aromas were fresh, tart and ripe. On the palate, there were the same flavours - fresh or ripe apples, wet stone,  as well as medium plus acidity, medium length and medium complexity. There was also some oak on this wine.

As for all of the wines that we tasted, we all tried to come up with both the varietal and the place. Most people though this was a Chardonnay although some thought it was a Pinot Gris or something Italian. But we were all wrong. Albarino was just not on our radar! Overall, a Good wine.

Our next wine was another white and, this time, I nailed it. For me, petrol is an unmistakable aroma - and that means Riesling. Interestingly, unlike many of the petrol smelling Rieslings I have had in the past, this one was bone dry. This 2014  Howard Park Porongurup Riesling from Australia had additional aromas of rubber. pear, peach,. apple and a minerality. A complex nose with pronounced aromas.

On the palate, it was bone dry, as I said, with tastes of apple. It did not have the same mineral taste and was medium plus in alcohol and medium plus in acidity. This was a great dry Riesling - and I stated that to the group. Before the reveal I had also written down that I thought it was from Australia but hesitated to share that information. A Very Good to Outstanding wine.

Our final white was a real shocker. Verity described it as a 'giant in a sleeping bag' which means that it did not have a very pronounced aroma but when you got your nose close enough, there was an explosion of complex aromas. On the nose - and on the palate - were aromas like cloves, wood, popcorn, butter and vanilla. In fact, it smelled a little like a buttered popcorn Jelly Belly! It had medium acid, medium body and a very complex flavour.

Still, we didn't think it was all that fancy. We narrowed it down to Chardonnay but thought it was from California. You know, a big, oaky Chardonnay with lots of flavour.

Nope.

It was a Pouilly Fuiissé from the Maconnais region of Burgundy.  This 2014  Chateau Fuissé Le Clos Monopolé was not what we expected! It was probably the most expensive wine of the night, worth over $100. However, none of us found the elegance or refinement that we would expect from this kind of wine, although there was great complexity. I would rate this as Good to Very Good.

On to the reds!

Our first red of the night was a difficult one. Pale ruby in colour, it had aromas of mint and earth and a bit of an underbrush aroma. There were red fruits like cherry and raspberry as well as dried cranberry. On the palate, there were tastes of the same with the addition of some sort of leaf - like tomato leaf. It had medium plus acidity, medium minus tannins, and light bodied.

This Sangiovese wine was a 2015 Noelia Ricci Godenza Superiore from the Romagna area of Italy. It stumped us all. I thought it might be a cru Beaujolais although I couldn't detect the hallmarks of carbonic fermentation. There were some murmurings that it might be from Italy but no one had a strong feeling about that. Pinot Noir was another guess made by many of the group. It was certainly a surprise when the reveal came. This was a Very Good wine.

There next wine was probably my favourite. The 2015 Cannonball Merlot from Sonoma County had aromas of pepper, smoke, dark fruit such as plum and black berry,  jam, cedar and mushrooms. This wine had a pronounced intensity on its rather complex nose. On the palate was the same black, jammy fruits as well as some earthiness with medium acidity, medium plus tannins, and high alcohol. This wine had balance, complexity, length and intensity and I would rate this wine as Outstanding.  I first thought it was a Syrah, possibly from the Northern Rhone. My second guess was Merlot from California.

The final red for the night was another tricky one. The Chateau de Cherrière Bourgogne Pinot Noir was a very structured wine with medium plus acid and medium plus tannins, something I did not expect with a Pinot Noir. There were tastes and aromas of cedar, tobacco, farmyard, leather, mushroom, black fruit and black cherry. This was a real stumper as it had that Pinot Noir taste but such strong structure! I would rate this as Very Good.

One of the members of our group had something to celebrate so Andrew brought out a celebratory champagne style wine. The celebrant, Verity, then used a bread knife to sabre the wine! If you have a nice cold bottle of champagne (or other bubbly), you can use any kind of knife to open it. You simply slide the knife from the middle of the bottle up the seam of the bottle and, voila! The cork and some of the bottle will fly off the top!

Verity sabred a 1996 Summerhill Cipes Traditional Cuvée sparkling wine form the Okanagan ($80). I didn't do a formal tasting note at this point (we had finished the bottle leftovers at this point and were refraining from spitting or dumping) but I do recall that this was more than just a bready, yeasty tasting champagne. It had a beautiful golden colour. a nice fizz, and an exquisite taste that included a bit of a sherry.

A wonderful celebration to finish off a wonderful wine tasting evening!

Vancouver Wine Festival 2019

Wine from the festival!

This year I went to my second Vancouver International Wine Festival. Last year was my first year and, armed with the knowledge I had gleaned from having taken my WSET Level 2, I thoroughly enjoyed the event. 

This year, with the news that I had passed my level 3 fresh in my mind, I had another wonderful experience.

One of the unexpected pleasures last year was bumping into some of my fraternity brothers from UBC (almost 40 years later) - including Phil, who I spent four months with travelling around the US back in 1982 (precise details elude me as the entire trip is shrouded in a haze of comradery, frat parties and alcohol). This year, we all met up at Al Porto in Gastown for a pasta dinner, and a chance to catch up, before wandering over to the festival. 

Once we arrived at the festival, we bumped into even more people I knew including first, yet another fraternity brother and his wife, a sorority sister from years ago, second, the son of our close neighbours as well as his friends and girlfriend (who, incidentally, also has her WSET Level 3), and, third, two of the people from my WSET 3 course that were in my tasting group (and who also successfully completed Level 3)!

The Wine Festival has a diverse and interesting crowd. Some of the people  sip, swirl and then spit each glass. Others just slurp back every wine they sample, a sure recipe for wobbly legs and sore heads. I take the middle path - swirl, sip, drink a bit, and then dump the rest. I do feel a little relaxed by the end of the night but am still able to identify and process the different tastes and aromas of the wines. 

The featured wine region this year was California. We spent some time in Napa almost eight years ago and enjoyed their bold, flavourful wines. Unfortunately, we did not end up purchasing a lot of California wine at this year’s festival as some of the wines we tasted (including the St. Supery 2014 Napa Valley Estate Elu) were not available in the wine shop while others were very pricey (such as the Stag’s Leap Artemis at $85). We did end up with two that we were very happy with.

 

The first was the Benziger 2015 Cab ($25.49). While having dinner and trading notes before the festival, Dave, another one of my fraternity brothers, showed me his notes on this wine and I am very glad that I visited their booth. This wine is a steal for the price. A fantastic, black fruit, aged and rich Cab that is going to be wonderful to drink. I would enjoy this one on its own, or with a rich meal.

We visited Hess a few years ago in Napa and I’ve always enjoyed their wines. The Hess 2015 Allomi Cab Sauv ($38.99)  was probably our favourite of the evening. I’m not sure why we didn’t buy more! It had rich black fruit including black currants and blackberry as well as a nice long finish, with a smoothness that is so California!

Just a little side note - you may wonder why we bought so many different wines. In all, we ended up with 17 bottles (some we bought two of) at a little over $500. This is not a common occurrence (believe me!). However, most of the wines that we bought are not usually available at the BC Liquor store. Even the ones from the Okanagan were only available for the festival or direct from the winery.  You might not find these at the BC Liquor Store but you may see them at Everything Wine or one of the many private liquor stores.

Moving up the coast, we ended up in the Willamette (rhymes with damn it) Valley in Oregon. We really enjoyed our visit there last year and loved the Domaine Serene Evenstad Pinot Noir we bought - although the $75 US price tag was a bit steep. Happily, we found the Elk Cove 2016  Pinot Noir ($43.99). The Willamette Valley style of Pinot Noir that we have grown to love is a fruity but minerally wine. Some of the Pinot Noir that we tried at the festival was almost too dry or too smoky or lacked fruit but this one had punchy fruit and was not overly austere. There were two other wines made by this producer that were specialty Pinot Noir but their price point was significantly higher.

Who says you can’t have reruns? Closer to home was the Wines of Substance K Vintners 2015 Motor City Kitty ($52.99) from Walla Walla, Washington). We had this one last year at the wine festival and ended up making an eight hour detour on the way back from Las Vegas a few weeks later so that we could buy this wine at the winery. Not only was this on sale this year but we found out that this will now be available at the BC Liquor store! Really enjoyed Motor City Kitty  (oh, that's what MCK stands for!) as it is a very tasty and bold Washington State Syrah.

We ended up with a few wines from right here in BC. That’s because a lot of the smaller wineries only sell their wines at the winery or only produce a small amount of wine each year. 

The first wine we tried was the Time 2017 White Meritage ($22.99) in Penticton. This one was a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon and was one of the recommendations that Gismondi wrote about in the newspaper. Interestingly, when we were having dinner before the festival, Dave was telling me how he had spent time in a wine course in the 80s that was taught by Anthony Gismondi before he became famous! This white Meritage was delicious with tastes of pear and apple and had a nice acidity.

The Wild Goose 2017 Gewürztraminer ($19.99) was also another Gismondi recommendation and it is a fresh, spicy and slightly off dry wine that cries out for some tasty white meat, or fish…. or just a nice sunny patio! Their winery is located in Okanagan Falls. 

Roussanne is a grape that I’ve always wanted to buy as I have only tasted it in my WSET course - until now! I was excited to have the Lake Breeze 2017 Roussanne ($22.49) as it did not disappoint. Although not that acidic it had very nice stone fruit and apple flavours. Looking forward to having this accompany some tasty dish at home like chicken, pork or even salmon. This winery is also located in Naramata. 

My wife absolutely loves 8th Generation Winery and is a big Riesling fan. Their 8th Generation 2018 Riesling ($19.99) was crisp and a touch off dry. It would be a wonderful accompaniment to spicy foods or barbecued white meats.

Going a little more international, we went over the Uraguay’s lone participant. The Garzon 2016 Tannat $24.49 was another suggestion from Gismondi. I love Tannat and its super strong, tannic nature. Looking forward to popping this one with something really rich or fatty or, hopefully, both!

Italy is home to more grapes than anywhere else in the world. How many? Over 350 "authorized" varieties and another 500 documented varieties. I was keenly aware of that when I tried the Savian Lison Pramaggiore Refosco ($18.49). This  organic wine was a very interesting one because it was made from the Refosco grape which I have never had before. It had a taste of mostly red fruits like red cherry and raspberry, but also had some hints of dark fruit as well. An easy drinking wine, this would be great for pizza or pasta. Nice price, too!

Who doesn’t like Prosecco? Mionetto had four different Proseccos and we got to try them all. The Mionetto Valdobbiadene Prosseco ($22.99) was my favourite because of its crispness and hint of fruitiness with an overall dryness to the bubbles. This wine is a great sparkler that would go with just about anything!

The Italian wine with the most amount of body that I bought was the Nerube 2016 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva ($30.99). This wine, which is made from the Montepulciano grape, is very nice and would be a great one to bring to an Italian restaurant when you want to have a nice red wine to accompany your meal. Both red fruits and black fruits are evident along with some spice! It’s not one to age but it is one to enjoy!

I still think that France is one of my favourite - if not my very favourite - areas for wine in the world. There weren’t a ton of producers from France but I still managed to find some stunning wines.

The Haut Medoc is located on the Left Bank of the Gironde Estuary in Bordeaux - think Cab Sauv dominate with Merlot and Cab Franc. The Medoc is the general wine area with the Haut Medoc being the better part of that region. The 2015 Chateau Lachesnay ($31.99) was one of the four wines that we tasted from Ulysse Cazabonne (also a great year).  The company owns at least four châteaux and we had a chance to talk to the winemaker of this particular wine (notice the winemaker's signature on the bottle!). Although it was not a wine that is a cru , it was still very tasty and the price was quite good. The other wines that we tasted were also excellent but were a bit pricey. This one was a touch austere with lovely dark fruit flavours and aromas and a beautiful long finish. Probably a special occasion wine that could stand a few years ageing. 

Finally, the Chateau Pesquié 2016 Cote du Ventoux Artemia ($48.99) was a Syrah and Grenache blend. It was delicious with blackberry, black cherry, and other black fruits on the nose and on the palate. There was also some vanilla, tobacco, and even a hint of chocolate. Another excellent French wine that might deserve a special occasion or at least a special dinner. 

About to unbox our festival shipment!

Our wine ordered (the BC Liquor store will box and ship your order to your local liquor store for free - ours arrived less than a week later), my wife and I stumbled back to our hotel after having a late night snack along the way. We reflected, not only on the great wines that we had sampled, but also on the interesting mix of people, the friends that we had seen the we knew, and the conversations with the producers and winemakers. 

An extraordinary event. I already can’t wait until next year!

Cheers!

WSET 3 Final Results! Woo hoo!

The cherished Green Pin indicating I passed Level 3

So....got the final results for my WSET 3.

Not just that fancy green pin..... I also got my results for the two components of the test.

Just to refresh:

There was the blind tasting - which was two wines, a red and a white.

I was really, really, worried that I bombed the tasting. I did OK on the red but the white (which was a Sauvignon Blanc) tricked me.

Bad Sauvignon Blanc!

The second part was the knowledge tests.

The knowledge was split into two parts - the multiple choice which was 50 questions and the essay part which had four questions, each worth around 25 marks.

I felt that I passed the knowledge part - the multiple choice was pretty easy but the essay questions were hard - even though I had studied a lot.

How'd I do?

For the tasting, I got a Pass. No surprise there. I was really worried that I failed this part so to get a Pass was a relief.  It is a lot harder to taste and comment when you are in a room with a bunch of other people doing the same thing and the stress level is very high. And there's no cheese and crackers...

For the knowledge, I got Pass with Distinction! That means I got over 80%!! That was a surprise. I thought I'd maybe get Pass with Merit but had no idea that I'd nail the knowledge portion so well.  I guess all that studying paid off. Helps being a teacher and actually teaching kids how to study.

Overall, my grade was a Pass with Merit.

And I am happy with that. Really happy!

To get Pass with Distinction overall, I would have had to nail the tasting completely and I would have a difficult time doing that, unless the wines were, say, Beaujolais Nouveau and a Spätlese Riesling. Considering that I was off base with the Sauvignon Blanc, I am actually ecstatic that I did so well overall.

I will say it again - I am very happy with my results and am even happier that I am done!

Now, on to some nice wine....

Cheers!

WSET 3 results - are in!!!!!

I passed!

After waiting over two months, I opened an email today from Fine Vintage that told me that I passed my WSET Level 3 - both tasting and theory!

There's no breakdown of marks telling me how I did in each section - but I don't really care! I've got my level 3!

I was pretty certain that I had passed the theory but I was not certain about the tasting - it was a true challenge. But it all worked out in the end. I will find out more when they send out my results in the snail mail.

Now, off to find a really nice bottle of wine to celebrate!!!!!

Mini Wine Tasting - Four wines under $30 from around the world

Wine and Plein Air DO mix!

Ah, my WSET course is a faint wisp of smoke that has gone. It's been over a month since I've written my exam.

But I still don't know if I passed!

One thing that I did during my WSET course was weekly wine tastings with my friend, Keith, usually after a plein air painting session. We have continued to do so and have tasted some pretty interesting wines, as well as paint3ed some fairly good little studies. We taste two different wines each week and the last two weeks have had us taste some of the best.

So I thought I'd share them....

Last week was my week - and I picked two wines from two very different places.

The first was a 2013 Unanimé Gran Vino Tinto ($30) from the Uco Valley in Argentina. This was a Bordeaux-ish style blend of 60% Cab Sauv, 15% Cab Franc and 25% Malbec and was a delicious wine. It definitely had some strong tannins but also had enough fruit to back it up. Medium plus acidity, black fruits, and a nice long finish. Incidentally, this wine was a present from the parents of a student I taught for two years - and I think this wine was from the first year. Vivino rates it as one of the top 1% of wines in the world and I'm not surprised with its aromas and tastes of blackberry, plum, cassis, tobacco, and leather.  This wine would age well for a few more years but I liked the boldness of it right now! A complex, intense wine, I would rate this as Outstanding.

Unfortunately, for some reason, I didn't take a photo of the next wine. That's too bad because this wine is a bit hard to track down.

For taking care of their dog, my daughter and son-in-law gave us a bottle of Jabulani (not 100% sure of the year) MCM blend ($25?) from Ottawa in Ontario. This wine was very interesting because it is a blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv and Marquette grapes. Marquette is a hybrid grape which means that it is a hybrid of Vitas Vinifera (the wine grape species) and another, North American grape. This is like crossing  a wine grape like Merlot with Welch's Concorde grapes.

The result is a fruit forward, easy drinking, interesting wine. Unlike some other non-wine-grape grapes, Marquette is not 'foxy' or musky in it's taste - it is just fruity! This wine is low in acidity with medium tannins and is great to slurp away, despite its shorter finish. I'm not sure you can buy this outside of Ontario but if you find it, grab a bunch! It's a lovely red patio sipper.  A Very Good wine.

This week was my friend's turn. He picked a couple of excellent wines. Interestingly, they both tasted quite fruity and I mistook the first one for a new world wine.

The first one was an 2016 Zabu Il Passo Nerello Mascalese from Sicily in Italy.($23). The il passo might refer to the passito method. In this wine, the grapes are left on the vine to wither and raisinate, which concentrates the flavours and sugars. As a result, this wine is a little sweet (although I had a hard time telling if it was fruity or sweet), and quite rich in flavour. The Nerello Mascalese grape is one of the two main grapes in the Mount Etna appellation but it appears that this wine is made in the Sambuca di Sicilia area which is on the west side of Sicily while Mt. Etna is on the east side.

There were aromas and tastes of blackberry, plum, and black cherry as well as vanilla and some tobacco. This had medium tannins and medium minus acidity. The finish was medium and it was a fairly intense wine. This would go well with a number of dishes from steak to duck to pasta with meat sauce. I commented to my friend that I would prefer this with a pasta dish over many of the Chianti wines I have tasted! I would rate this wine as Very Good.

The other wine that we tasted this week was a 2014 Gerard Bertrand Saint Chinian from Languedoc, France ($24). The Languedoc region has a bit of a bad name for wine as it is part of the 'wine lake' of France where an ocean of cheap wine (like Fat Bastard and Arrogant Frog) is made. There are, however, some areas of really good wine and the region is making progress towards reinventing itself as a quality region. Saint Chinian is the name of the village and also the appellation so this is better quality wine. The grapes used to make this wine are Syrah and Mourvédre which are destemmed, pressed, and then a third of the grapes are aged in oak for nine months.

This was another wonderfully fruity wine although a bit more austere than the Sicilian wine. You could definitely taste the Syrah but the Mourvédre added some complexity to the mix. There were aromas and flavours of blackberry, plum, and black currant and, perhaps, some cherry. There was also tobacco, oak, a spiciness - including pepper - and some earthy, leathery characteristics with this wine. It had medium tannins (a bit surprising as Mourvédre can be a tannin bomb), medium plus acidity, and a medium plus finish. I really enjoyed this wine and felt it performed above its price point. I would rate it as Outstanding.

Continuing to swirl, sniff, sip, and slurp after my WSET is done is an important way to keep up the tasting skills I have (hopefully) developed. And, no matters how the painting goes, I always have something to look forward to!

WSET Celebration Dinner - with a Brilliant Bordeaux!

My WSET 3 exam is done - and now it's time to celebrate!

It's been an exciting 15 weeks - I've learned so much about wine making, grape growing and wine regions, I've tasted a whole variety of exceptional wines and I've met and befriended some wonderful people.

I've also studied harder than I ever have before and I've written a test that is as tricky as they come.

On the weekend, I decided to get a really nice wine to celebrate as well as a tasty meal. Off I went to Everything Wine and I picked up a Bordeaux wine and then went to a reputable butcher to get a couple of New York steaks.

I realize that some people would have a bottle of Champagne to celebrate and others would have a Burgundy or a pricey Napa Cab, but I love Bordeaux blends.

Courtesy AllFranceInfo

The Left Bank is famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon driven blends which have grippy tannins and include some Merlot for smoothness and Cabernet Franc for fruitiness. The Right Bank wines are predominantly Merlot with some Cabernet Sauvignon and/or Cabernet Franc added in. In all of Bordeaux, there can be three other grapes added in by law - Petit Verdot, which is only added in during warmer years as it needs a lot of heat to ripen, Malbec, which is not used a lot, and Carmenere, which is rarely used anymore.

In between the Left and Right Banks is an area called Entre Deux Mers - literally, Between Two Seas (although it's actually between two rivers - oh, those French!). The particular wine that I bought was from this area which would make it Merlot driven and a lot cheaper than the Left or Right Banks.

The wine was a 2011 Chateau de Reignac Grand Vin Cuvée Special ($50 from Everything Wine). I thought that it was a pretty fair price for a seven year old wine from Bordeaux. I opened it and decanted it for about 40 minutes, leaving the small amount of sediment that I saw behind.

The aroma of this amazing wine was complex with wonderful black fruits like cassis and blackberry with black plum, tobacco, and vanilla as well as some savoury notes of leather. This wine was still developing. On the palate, it was not overly dry with balanced acidity, silky smooth tannins, tastes of leather again as well as the other flavours mentioned for aroma, full body, with a glorious long finish. It could age for a few more years but was definitely great to drink now. I rated this wine as Outstanding.

It was even better with the food pairing! A grilled steak with a simple rub and baked potatoes were the perfect complement for this wine as the acid and tannins of the wine did a great job of cutting through the fat and saltiness of the steak. The pre-dinner glass, though, was pretty damned good as well!

I'll be honest - I wasn't sure where in Bordeaux this wine was from and might have passed it up if I'd known it was in the Entre Deux Mers region. Now that I've tried it, though, that region is going to be on my radar for (relatively) reasonably priced Bordeaux wines.

Oh, and I got an email from Fine Vintage today - I only have to wait 12 weeks for my exam results! Twelve weeks!

I think I need a glass of wine....

WSET 3 Exam - The Day of Reckoning

Celebrating the end of the WSET 3 course and exam

I really do believe that it is all about the journey rather than the destination. But yesterday was a BIG destination.

It was the day of my WSET 3 Exam and I was appropriately stressed out. Our teacher, Lynn, had done an excellent job of making sure that we were taking this completely seriously. The tasting guru from our tasting group, Andrew, had taken his WSET 3 a couple weeks ago and said it was really difficult. I have spent the last three weeks studying pretty hard and lamenting the fact that I don't have an eidetic memory. I was s t r e s s e d!

I arrived in Vancouver super early - I did not want to be late and miss out. I had my final dinner at Pokerrito (which I have done most nights through both courses) and then went to the BCIT building to - well - study some more.

It's amazing to be thrust into this kind of exam stress after so many years. Yes, my WSET 2 did require me to study but I ended up with 96% and felt very confident going into it. This exam was different.

There is so much material, so many grape varietals, so many geographical and environmental and winemaking and vine growing things to know that there is no way that I could remember every bit of information. I was very worried that some of the parts that I didn't study that much (Southern France, Argentina) would have major questions but I had to focus somewhere.

I really think that I haven't studied this hard since I was in university - so... 35 years ago! Hell, most of the people in the photo above are much younger than that! I have written my fair share of tests as a teacher and it was rather humbling to be on the other side.

It's a different kind of test than I would ever give - as a teacher I have been moving towards projects and in class assessments where students can access the information they need but how they present it and process it is what gets assessed. That's because there is so much information out there that it is crazy to get students to memorize scads of information. Students of today need to know how to manage the giant repositories of data that are out there.

However, there are still lots of tests like the WSET where you are required to memorize a lot of facts. And memorize is what I tried to do.

Before the test, members of the class gathered together. We were all anxious about the coming test and sort of resigned ourselves to the fact that it might be extremely hard.

Then, it was time.

The first part was the blind tasting. I'm not sure what the wines were and I wanted to blog about this before I find out. The white wine started off smelling like peaches and stone fruit to me, then become citrus, and then came back to peaches. I always struggle with white wines and if I fail the blind tasting, it will be because of the white.

The red was more in my bailiwick. I could pick out the black fruits in it quite easily and I am confident I nailed most of the components - although it's hard to know if, for example, a wine has medium plus body or medium.

If  I do, in fact, fail the blind tasting, I would take it again.

After that, we had the written.

The first part was 50 multiple choice questions. I whipped through that pretty fast. There were maybe 5 or 6 questions that I wasn't sure on and had to make an educated (not wild) guess but, overall, I was really confident.

The second part was the written test - the most feared part of the evening. I do not intend to rewrite the test if I fail so I put all my effort into this difficult section.

For reasons of not wanting to piss off WSET, I will be very general about the four questions.

The first question was about a famous German wine. I think I did well on that although there were parts where I was reaching for an answer. There were labels to interpret, varietals to describe and winemaking processes to discuss and I certainly didn't get everything but I think I did pretty well.

The second question was about a wine area in the US. Most of the questions I found pretty easy except for one table that you had to fill out that related to its geography and environment.  Still, I did quite well, overall.

I thought I would do really well on the third when I found out it was an area in France. Unfortunately, some of the grapes that they focussed in were ones that I wasn't solid on so I did just OK on this section.

The final section dealt with sparkling and fortified wines. The syllabus on the course does say that they will be examined in the written questions so I am glad that I studied this area. I think this was my best section.

I answered every question to the best of my ability, even if I had to guess or make up what I hoped was the answer. I did not have a question where I couldn't write anything, much to my relief.

It was a pretty fair test, overall, and I think I passed - but three months from now, when I get the results, I will know.

Afterwards,  a bunch of us (the people in the photo) went to the St. Regis Hotel for a drink - a place I probably haven't been in for 35 years as well! We talked about keeping the tasting group going and doing one in January which I think is a brilliant idea.

Back at the pub, the server asked what I wanted. I thought of all the different wines we had tasted and learned about over the past 15 weeks. We had sipped and spat around the world with some wonderful, strange and new wines. I pondered my choices.

So what did I order?

A beer!

This ain't gonna be a walk in the park - WSET 3 - first class

After doing really well on my WSET level 2 last year, I thought that it would be a good idea for me to  complete my WSET 3. After all, I got an amazing 96% on my exam so I thought that It would be a fairly easy jump to get my next level.

Wrong.

Our instructor from Fine Vintage, Lynn, was clear. I am going to have to WORK to pass this course. Really hard. Don't get behind or that's it!

One good thing is that the part I was most worried about, the blind tasting, apparently isn't as hard as I thought. So, one silver lining....

Other than scaring the  crap out of us in the first five minutes, Lynn also went over a few things but did not get too in-depth as we just received our materials. Luckily, I borrowed my son-in-law's WSET 3 materials at the beginning of summer and I have at least a good background on what we are doing.

Topics covered included the art of tasting (appearance, nose, and palate). She also discussed the different wine faults that you can come across. The whole concept of food and wine pairing was also discussed, although this is pretty much the same as in level 2. Finally, she went over the new tasting grid for level 3.

Basically, it builds on the level 2 grid. There are the same categories with a few extra (e.g. mousse- for champagne, ageability,  three kinds of flavour characteristics) as well as a slew of new aroma and flavour descriptors.

I sat with another just-retired gentleman, Owen, and a bright, young woman, Verity. We got along really well and think alike - especially when we unanimously got the first two wines wrong!

I also knew two people, well, sort of. Kelly works at Blackwood Lane (I think my favourite Fraser Valley winery) and is taking the course. I see her almost every time I take a tour there. Beside her was April, a young woman who works at the same place my youngest does, Brewery Creek. Somehow she put two and two together and figured I was the dad!

Onto the wines:

All of the tastings are blind tastings. This evening all of the tastings were in pairs.

The first pair were two bubbly wines - a tank style and a traditional Champagne.

When you hear 'tank style' it means that all the wine is put into a giant tank and yeast is added to the tank after wine has been made to provide the fizz. Prosecco is a tank method wine and sometimes gets a bad rap - although I really like Prosecco. This wine wasn't really close to Prosecco - in fact, our group thought it was the Champagne!

The wine was a non-vintage Von Buhl sparkling Riesling from Pfalz, Germany ($36). It had some nice fruit aromas which were pronounced and very pleasing. It was a high acidity, off dry wine with medium flavour intensity and medium finish. Interestingly, the bubbles didn't persist on the palate - they escaped rather quickly - and so, this is called 'aggressive' in terms of the mousse! Ready to drink. Vivino gives it 3.8 stars.

The next wine was a non-vintage Pierre Peters Blanc de Blanc Grand Cru Champagne (made from Chardonnay - $104).  I felt it was rather light on the nose but this may have been my nose confusing lightness for complexity. It was fresh and a bit off dry with medium acidity and medium plus length. There were stone fruits and biscuit on the palate as well as delicate mousse. I still can't believe we got it so wrong - and i don't think I'd pay the $104 -  but this one was ready to drink now, I felt. Vivino gives it 4.1 stars which surprised me.

The next two wines were made from Chardonnay grape. I'm getting better at guessing the grape and I did that with these ones. 

The first was a 2015 Louis Jadot Macron-Villages Chardonnay from Burgundy ($34). It had a pleasant nose with apple, peach and pear with a medium plus intensity. On the palate, it seemed a bit off dry and was fruity with peach, apricot, and honey as well as some vanilla denoting oak. It was a good wine - balance was just OK and had a bit of a short finish and is ready to drink now. Vivino gives it 3.6 stars. 

The second was a classic Burgundy Chardonnay - s 2015 Jacques Prieur Clos de Mazeray Mersault ($135). The nose was less intense - a medium - but had some complex aromas including orange peel, apple, and peach. It was less fruity on the palate - there was lemon zest - but there were other rich tastes including mushroom and toasted nuts. At first, I thought this was not that flavourful and then I realized that the flavours were complex and subtle - an outstanding wine that could age for another 10 years! Vivino gave it 4.1 stars. 

Our next two wines were both whites which we had to compare. I guessed the Riesling and Owen guessed the Pinot Grigio, for what it's worth. 

The Pinot Grigio was a 2017 Tolloy Piniot Grigio from Italy ($26). It had quite the nose with aromas of honeysuckle (I think), peach and pear. On the palate, it had high acidity, included flavours of citrus like lemon and lemon peel, and had a medium finish. We rated it as good and ready to drink. I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of the Pinot Grigio style (I prefer Pinot Gris style with this grape) and this did not change my mind. This got 3.9 stars on Vivino.

The Riesling was a 2015 Fritz Haag Spatels Riesling from Mosel, Germany ($52).  The nose was pronounced - oh my! There was a strong petrol smell as well as nectarine. On the palate, it was actually medium sweet with peach, apricot, honey, and high acidity. This wine was balanced, intense, complex and had a long finish - outstanding! It has definite ageing potential. Vivion gives this one 4.1 stars.

The last two wines were a rosé and a red. We did some cool stuff including sucking a lemon, eating a chili cracker, or having goat cheese to see the effect on the taste of the wine. Very cool!

The first was one of my favourite Rosés, Joie Farms - a 2017 made form Pinot Noir and Gamay - from the Okanagan ($26). It was not as pronounced on the nose (I only got cherries), but there were lots of flavours on the palate including grapefruit, cherries, and strawberries. This was definitely a dry wine with low tannins (like most Rosa´s). I rated it very good - could have been a bit more balanced - and Vivino gave it 3.7 stars. 

The final wine of the evening was a 2014 Stack House Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa ($92). This dark wine - purple, in fact - had lots of aromas including primary (from fermentation - plum, black cherry), secondary (from the winemaker - cedar), and tertiary (from ageing - mushroom and earth). This was repeated with the palate with the addition of bell pepper, cocoa, and wood. There were high tannins and high acidity and full body. This was considered very good by the group and earned a rating of 4 on Vivino. Disappointingly, the price in BC (must be at a private store) is $92 but the average price on Vivino is $44. Sigh.

Well, onto my homework. What homework, you may ask? Read chapters 1 to 7, do a tasting note using the grid, and then do the homework assignment we received in our email yesterday. Here's the intro to one of the questions...

For each of the below scenarios, discuss which vineyard management techniques should be considered to achieve quality grapes for wine production and two examples of wine regions that fall into the climate category.

Sigh.

This definitely ain't gonna be a walk in the park!