The SOMM Blinders Blog

Blind tasting can be incredibly difficult, unless you have SOMM Blinders, this blind wine tasting card game we came up with, allowing anyone to blind taste wine from the comfort of home, with friends and family. However! We have some tricks to help you if you’re studying for your WSET exams, or studying to be a sommelier, or if you just really want to win your next hand. In SOMM TV’s Episode 2 of Study Hall, Master Sommelier, Jill Zimorski, walks us through some of her tips for blind wine tasting. Color of Red Wine The color of red wine...

Smoke taint in wine is something that has been a big issue over the last few years, and 2020 was particularly bad. Thankfully, there’s less concern about the vines actually being burnt as they’re not very flammable, however the heat from the fires can kill the vines, and the smoke can affect the grapes, therefore affecting the wine.Fire smoke has two parts, there’s the smoke particulates which is what you can see in the air and there’s the smoke vapors which is what you smell. The smoke particulates have no effect on the grapes, but the vapors are what what...

This week we’re focusing on the Oaked and Unoaked cards, found in the SOMM Blinders Original Deck and the Red Deck. What does Oaked vs Unoaked even mean? How can you tell if the wine you're drinking has been oaked or unoaked?  If you're drinking an oaked wine, it simply means that the wine has been aged in an oak barrel for any length of time. If you're drinking an unoaked wine, it's probably been stored in a stainless steel barrel, so as not to give off an oak taste. If you're trying to work out if the wine you're drinking...

Chardonnay is often passed on, and for no good reason. It’s grown all over the world and is often said to be the winemaker’s grape, because it is a grape that is so neutral, and its taste and profile can completely depend on where it’s been grown and what winemaking techniques have been used.  A warmer climate will give it more tropical fruit notes, like a very ripe apple. A cooler climate like Chablis, will give it a more tart taste and will be incredibly high in acid. The tastes also depend a lot on whether oak has been used...

A common question when playing Blinders among beginners is, “What are tannins?” Firstly, most of the wines that have a presence of tannins are going to be red wines.  Think of tannins as something you feel in your mouth, rather than something you’ll taste. It’s that gritty, dry feeling you get once you’ve had a sip of your wine; your teeth stick to your gums and the roof of your mouth feels fuzzy and dry. If you experience all of these things at a pretty high level, then you’re drinking a wine that’s high in tannins. If you experience it...