The SOMM Blinders Blog

Blind wine tasting is an important skill to have for anyone working in wine. Blind tasting allows you to fine-tune your palate and determine which flavors and characteristics mark particular varieties, from particular regions.  The ‘deductive tasting grid’ is often used by professional sommeliers, or for those going through tasting exams. It is the process of identifying the wine by sight, smell, structure and taste, in that order, to come out with an end result of the wine in question.  Sight - What Does the Wine Look Like? First, take a thorough look at the wine. Determine its clarity, its...

A wine’s terroir can often be used as a way to describe the nature of a wine and how it tastes. But what is terroir?  Terroir is made up of many things when creating wine including the soil, the climate, the environment and the way the vineyard is grown.  As a descriptor, it is a term used to describe the way the wine tastes based on where it’s been grown and the factors that influenced its flavors. As an example, you’ll often taste eucalyptus in Australian Shiraz, which is a reflection of the eucalyptus trees that the vineyards would typically...

Pinot Noir is described by Sabato Sagaria as one of the most sought after grapes from wine lovers and wine makers around the world. The chances are that if you ask a winemaker what they love to drink, or what wine they love to make, they’ll say Pinot Noir.  Pinot Noir Origins Originally grown in Burgundy, France, Pinot Noir grapes are now found growing throughout the rest of France and around Europe; in Germany it’s known as Spätburgunder or Blauburgunder, and in Austria, Klevner. Pinot Noir is now also very popular within Australia, New Zealand and Argentina, among others. Today,...

What Are Sulfites? Sulfites, sulfur, or sulfur dioxide, are preservatives that winemakers use to keep their wine from oxidising, allowing the wine to age and stay fresh for years to come, for people to enjoy. Adding sulfites to wine is actually actually needed in order for a wine to age over a long period of time. Do Sulfites Cause Hangovers? All wine contains sulfites, due to the naturally occurring sulfur dioxide that comes from the fermentation process. It’s a long-winded myth that wine without added sulfites will not give you a hangover. Sulfites are not the cause of hangovers, rather...

National Drink Wine Day is today, Thursday the 18th of February! Paired with many other National Drink Wine Days around the world, we may as well call it Global Drink Wine Day today.  Given today's occasion, it seemed very appropriate that we continue SOMM's top 40 wine countdown of 2020. Two weeks ago, we went through Bottles 40 to 31. Today, we're giving you the next 10. 30. 2017 Nuits-St-Georges ROUGE On Thanksgiving this year me and my two close friends had Peking Duck and Peking Chicken (NO TURKEY) so we had to pair the perfect wines. One of which...