Sommelier Insight for hospitality professionals and wine connoisseurs.

IN THIS ISSUE:

A. Feature: When Sommeliers Refuse to Blind-Taste
B. Event Highlights: Upcoming Wine Tasting Dinners and Seminars
C. Wine Elite Philosophy: The Most Important White Wines 


This is Sommelier Insight, the Wine Elite's update for wine aficionados, meetings & event professionals, as well as restaurant managers.

Each month, we deliver event ideas, a schedule of upcoming wine appreciation workshops, and objective information on wine from the perspective of independent sommeliers.

We are Your Central Resource for Private Wine Tasting Events, Wine Education and Sommelier Expertise.

www.WineElite.org

You can reach us anytime by writing to [email protected] and 310 467 5582.

This newsletter reaches you from Bandol in the French Provence, where we are touring and tasting this iconic region of Mourvedre wines this September. Purple colors dominate:





A. When Sommeliers Refuse to Blind-Taste in front of their Audience

We are much looking forward to moderating the sommelier tasting panels at this year's Newport Beach Food & Wine Festival

Many festivals show off local sommeliers who taste and discuss a flight of wines in front of an audience, and share useful tasting commentary. However, rarely you'll see that sommeliers are put on the spot in front of that audience to taste and identify the wines on hand blindly, without knowing producer, region and grape varietal. 

Coming to completely wrong conclusions in the blind-tasting process happens very often, and some sommeliers see the risk of being exposed in front of consumers, and therefore decline invitations to blind-tasting panels.

We believe that tasting skill and unbiased evaluation of the fluid in front of us are some of the qualities that sommeliers should be able to demonstrate.

It's perhaps the best way to connect with the audience authentically in a live tasting. Pretense of expertise without proof is not a good route to becoming trusted advisers of a wine drinking public.

 

 


B. Upcoming Public Wine Tastings in Southern California

The Wine Elite Society hosts an ongoing series of sommelier-guided wine tasting dinners for the public, often in our signature blind-tasting format. Email for info and reservations.

-- Wine Elite Society public tastings in Orange County and San Diego.

Sign up for these groups if you live in the area, and join dinners that include the greatest wines of the world.



C. Wine Elite Philosophy: White Wines That Matter

There are more than 10,000 different white wine grapes in the world. Most of them don't reach distinguished and consistent flavors.

This overwhelming abundance is not helpful when learning about the essential knowledge needed to enjoy this hobby. 

Here's a short and complete checklist of wine styles, expressed as combinations of grape type and region, that actually matter. This month we're listing the white wines, red wines were covered in the August 2014 newsletter.
  1. Albarino from Rias Baixas
  2. Chardonnay from Burgundy or Napa Valley
  3. Chenin Blanc from Loire Valley and Stellenbosch
  4. Gewurztraminer from Alsace
  5. Pinot Gris from Alsace
  6. Riesling from Mosel River or Alsace
  7. Sauvignon Blanc from Loire Valley and Marlborough
  8. Torrontes from Salta
  9. Viognier from Northern Rhone
You will notice no Italian white wines are mentioned. We blind-tasted many white wines extensively over the last few years and didn't see enough clarity, complexity and consistency in the wine styles that are not mentioned above, even if exceptions may of course exist.
 





 

Overview of our Resources for Your Use:


Catalog for Corporate Wine Tasting Events

Catalog of Wine Elite Programs for Restaurants

Topic Suggestions for Private Events

Private Wine Event Checklist

Whiskey Tasting Tips

GrapeRadio Interview

Speaker Profile at GigMasters

Public Speaker Program on Wine One-Sheet

Wine Elite Corporate Event Video

Essential Wine Tips 2pager

Special Events Idea One-Sheet

Program Brochure for Team Building Events



Browse All 12 Past Newsletters Here

 






 
Jörn Kleinhans, CSW
Certified Sommelier, Public Speaker on Wine, and owner of The Wine Elite.

The Wine Elite is an independent sommelier and wine expert company -- your central resource for guided tasting and wine consulting.

Our sommelier network spans across all 50 states.

Our clients are corporate event planners, top hotels and restaurants, Fortune 500 companies, high-end wine collectors, and students of wine.

For more information, go to www.WineElite.org.



 
Dwight Furrow, CSW is amused by the most ridiculous assertion from the world of wine we have heard recently... that 'wine enthusiasts are ruining the sommelier profession'.

Take a look here how simple logic proves the opposite.






























 
    



 
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