Lynne Sherriff quickly breaks the ice by drawing a graph and explaining, "Wine tasting evaluation is 50% E, 40% M, 5% T, and 5% B." The equation is quickly solved: E= experience, M=memory, T=Talent, and B=BS! :-) For those of us relying on our talents, charm, and luck it became clear that it was time to get down to work and gain some experience in writing tasting notes and hone our memory skills. Ms Sherriff gives us a checklist of aspects to be included in each tasting note and says, "It is of vital importance that a tasting note has a systematic approach, with logic and a conclusion. Flowery journalese that sounds poetic, but gives no real description and evaluation of a wine is useless to consumers and branch employers alike and certainly not what the Wine, Spirits and Education Trust is looking for on your examination paper." Lynne laughs as she continues, "Be expressive, be descriptive, but keep that canned fruit salad out of your tasting notes!"

The WSET systematic checklist for wine tasting includes clarity, intensity, color, and other observations for the appearance; condition, intensity, development, and fruit character for the nose; and sweetness, acidity, tannin, body, fruit intensity, fruit character, alcohol and length for the palate. Examples of tasting terms for each of the criteria in the checklist are given. Lynne Sherriff explains that the evaluation of each of the criteria gives us clues and can be put together logically to come to a conclusion. For this conclusion, the WSET also provides a checklist that includes the evaluation of quality, maturity, age/vintage, origins, and commercial value.

After discussing what the various criteria in the checklist can mean and how to put them together for our conclusion, we are given 3 white wines and 3 red wines to taste blind. Following are my tasting notes for the six wines:

1. The wine is clear and shiny with a very pale greenish-yellow color. The viscosity is low to medium and no CO² is visible. The nose is clean, appetizing, and discreet with scents of almond blossom and apple --- shows no apparent use of oak. On the palate, the wine is dry, medium-bodied with perky acidity and more flowery and pale fruit flavors combined with minerals. The wine is elegant rather than voluptuous, the alcohol approximately 13%, and the finish is rather short (6 sec.) with a light, but not unpleasant, bitter tone. The pale appearance and youthful nose of this wine lead me to believe that the wine is young, probably 1999 vintage. This is an average quality wine from the mid-class price range that is pleasant to drink in its youth, but should hold well for up to five years after the vintage. The medium body combined with the aroma and flavor lead me to believe that this is a wine from Burgundy-family grapes, possibly a Chardonnay. Because the wine is unoaked and has a perky acidity, I would tend to place it in a cool European climate. The slightly bitter finish, almond components, and minerality let me guess at Friuli as the place of origin.
Key: Mario Sciopetto 1999 Pinot Grigio, Friuli

2. This wine is brilliantly clear and an extremely pale nearly colorless straw yellow. Viscosity is low to medium and no C0² is apparent. The nose is fresh, clean and distinctly fruity. Peaches, apricots, and rhubarb with a light Muscat component dominate the steely nose. On the palate, the wine is clean and faultless, off-dry and light bodied. The animated acidity is well-integrated and a pleasant balance to the residual sugar. The fruit is incredibly clear, remains reminiscent of stone fruit on the palate, and follows through nicely on a medium long finish. I know of no other region in the world that combines such clear stone fruit with this kind of play between sweetness and acidity and because there is no secondary bouquet and the color is quite pale, I believe this wine to be a 1999 Riesling from Mosel. The wine is of good quality with potential for aging 10-12 years quite comfortably.
Key: Egon Müller 1999 Riesling Kabinett, Saar

3. This wine is also quite pale with a greenish-yellow color. Viscosity is low, and no CO² is visible. The nose is clean, if somewhat reductive, and there is no apparent use of oak. Youthful green apple, grapefruit, and white pepper are the dominant aromas. The palate is bone dry with racy acidity and medium body. The alcohol content is also medium (ca. 12.5%). Citrus fruit and spicy peppery components are the dominant flavors. The finish is medium long with minerals and spice. It is only because I live in Austria and have tasted this rare variety often that I recognize it to be a Grüner Veltliner; the citrus fruit, racy acidity, and peppery spice are all good clues. It is likely from the Weinviertel and the 1999 vintage. It is a good quality wine from the mid-level price class.
Key: Roman Pfaffl 1999 Grüner Veltliner, Weinviertel

4. Clear, transparent, light ruby color with brick tones. The nose is clean and faultless with soft raspberry fruit and discreet compote, caramel, and toast aromas. The wine is dry with well-integrated acidity, medium body, medium-high alcohol (ca. 13%). The flavor components are mild in intensity and are reminiscent of red berries with soft spicy components. The tannins are fine grained and the finish simple and a bit on the short side. I believe this to be a simple wine in the mid- range price category. The color and aroma lead me to a wine with some bottle aging. It is the red berry fruit that makes me think of Gamay. I shall estimate this wine to be a 1996 Beaujolais Village.
Key: Campo Viejo 1997 Rioja Crianza
Note: The caramel and spice components should have made me more aware of oak maturation and with better evaluation of the color, I could have contributed the brick nuances to variety rather than age.

5. Clear, transparent garnet with distinct brick hues. The wine is clean and faultless and of mild intensity. The nose is reminiscent of red berries with soft earthy hues and a faint barnyard scent. The palate is dry with well-balanced, slightly perky acidity. The alcohol seems heady in comparison to the body, which is light. The flavors are more intense than the aromas; again with red berries and earthy components, but the soft vanilla spice and faint toasty attributes come through better and hold well on a medium long finish. The wine is of average quality in the upper mid-range price category. The color, red berry fruit and earthy components combined with high alcohol and light body lead me to believe this to be a classic, but simple Pinot Noir from Burgundy.
Key: Robert Chevillon 1997 Nuits St. George

6. This wine is dark ruby red with a watery rim. The nose is clean, faultless and somewhat closed. The dominant aroma is flowery and reminiscent of kitchen herbs. In the mouth the wine is dry, medium-bodied, and of mild intensity. Cherry and plum fruit mingle with slightly vegetal flavors. The acidity is on the racy side and the use of oak is present, but discreet. The finish is short. The color combined with the flowery-herbal and fruit components take me to Toscana and Sangiovese; the pale rim and vegetal aromas to a lesser vintage. The wine is still youthful, so I will estimate a simple Chianti or IGT from 1998.
Key: Ruffino 1998 Chianti Classico

Overall, I feel as if I am off to a good start. Lynne Sherriff does a fine job leading her students step by step to a logical conclusion while communicated exactly what is expected of us on our tasting papers. She never lets out the identity of the wines until we have analyzed them as a group. Each student has the chance to give their assessment and discuss points of disagreement. We get not only a lot of useful hints and information from Lynne, but also from one another.