You have to admit, David, those were brilliant deductions. It was about as close as you get. I was quite impressed, especially when you picked up the mint and eucalyptus on the Martha’s!
Not that I know everything in your cellar, Tim, but I did have the advantage of knowing you’d brought them.
Exactly. Most, though, don’t understand that. I do fairly well blind if the general region is specified and the wines being tasted are those I am familiar with more or less. Otherwise, it can get pretty ridiculous.
State of mind during the blind tasting is also quite important, I find (in my case, anyway). If I’ve rushed to the tasting from a hectic day of work, I need some time (and some bubbly helps) before I can begin to start tasting worth a damn, even with the above stated parameters.
What I find somewhat amusing (or frustrating, depending on my mood) are people who have just recently “gotten into” wine who expect to do well (and act as if they are expected to do well) at blind tastings.
I’ve often been asked if I can consistently identify wines (including producer & vintage) tasting blind. My standard answer is “Nobody is that good; and anyone who claims they can is bullshitting you.”
Best,
N
It has been pointed out to me that a person who sells wine yet only drinks what he likes does not possess sufficient information to attend a blind tasting. So if there is a blind tasting, Carrie does the descriptors and identification. I drink or spit, depending, but out of the blue I have nailed a wine or two. (I may have brought them)
Irritatingly, I don’t think this is the case. I have one friend who once identified vintage, producer and vineyard/AOC for 11 Raveneau Butteaux, 09 Mugneret Gibourg Vosne and 09 Clos Rougeard Poyeux blind, then guessed 1992 Chave Blanc as 1989 Chave Blanc. That doesn’t happen by accident. I think it’s a combination of a natural gift, discipline and practice. I can’t do it myself, but having seen it on more than one occasion, I believe it’s possible.
Of course, the other thing to remember about blind tasting is that folks generally only remember when you get it right.
Different because it’s not the same grape. (There’s actually 3 Argentine Torrontes grapes, but two of them are supposed to suck. All 3 have Pais as a parent, the good one and another have Muscat of Alexandria as the other parent.)
Exactly. In blind tasting, good guesses come with general experience and good deduction skills. A strong track record of perfect hits, or getting pretty close, comes with having direct experience with the wine in question, a very good palate and exceptional memory.
For my part, I have rarely participated in blind tastings. I do not avoid them, but most of my tasting groups have not been interested in such events.
My worst miss ever was thinking 1999 Chateau Pavie was 2000 Mouton. I had never had Pavie before, and I had not yet tried 2000 Mouton, so that perhaps gives me some small excuse- but still, it was a big miss to me since I had a lot of past experience with Mouton. And given my Pavie experiences since, I remain astonished I could ever confuse that wine with a first growth- even if Mouton which has undergone many stylistic experiments since the late 80s.
But the one I cringe over most was one where I got real close, yet missed on the vintage. It was one of the most spectacular dinners I have ever attended, and mid-way through our host declared he was going to serve a surprise wine blind that was not on the tasting list, nor necessarily related to the evening’s theme. I guessed 1975 Haut-Brion, and it ended up being the 1955 (a vintage I had not tried at that point.) It was a pretty good guess in retrospect, but it really rankled me at the time to get everything but the vintage right and then be off by 20 years.
Oh, definitely, there are people much better than others at this. I’ve had good days myself; but the operative word is “consistently” (boldface above supplied). What I meant by that is “at least more often than not”.
Oh, and to answer the OP’s question, the furthest off I recall going at a blind tasting was a 2003 Pavie around 2 or 3 years ago. I emphatically stated: “I’m not sure what this is, probably an overwrought Napa; but, for sure, this isn’t from Bordeaux.”
If that’s your worst miss I’d say you were close to infallible. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I’m not a skilled blind taster at all, and suffer badly from the over-thinking and second guessing problems. I’ve failed to get even the grape on wines I should know well more times than I can count.
I’ve only once in my life nailed a wine blind, but it was a goodie. I was drinking alone at the bar at the old Veritas in NY. I knew the bartender and we’d been chatting. I also participated a bit in conversation with a few guys sitting next to me and pontificating about wine. They were so full of themselves and condescending, though, that I quickly decided my book was more interesting. Later, one of them bought a blind wine for the group. They were loud and pretentious and all over the map in their working through of the wine’s characteristics. The bartender suggested they give me a taste, and they did. I swirled, sniffed, sipped and said, “That’s '90 Chave.” It was. I thanked them for the taste, and went back to my book.
If that’s the only hit I ever get, I’ll be okay with that.
Several years ago I experienced first-hand how important state of mind can be in blind tasting. A friend had an annual blind tasting for our tasting group and I normally did fairly well. This time, though, I was tired and under a lot of emotional stress having just learned upon returning from a trip that my cat had an inoperable tumor. My performance was dreadful. I missed on almost every aspect of almost every wine and ended up with around half the points of the next lowest scoring taster, even though I was familiar with many of the wines poured. I was a mental and emotional wreck that day and it annihilated my ability to discern what was in the glass.
On the other hand, one of my finest blind tasting moments came at the same event a few years later. I pulled out a victory by earon maximum points from completely nailing the last wine which completely stumped the runners up. The wine was a 2013 Dirty and Rowdy Familiar which Rowdy had poured for me at a trade tasting a few weeks before.
Over the years I have called more wines wrong than I can remember. I always mess up on Chianti, I don’t drink it often, but I think I’ve guessed it right once out of probably 100 times…
One of my worst calls, after we had been “tasting” wine for a few hours I called a Beaujolais as as an Argentinian Malbec. It was a basic Beaujolais too, not some fancy Cru.
Probably my best call was on a E. Guigal Condrieu. I had never had it before, but it tasted like perfume that was aged in an oak barrel so I Guigal Condrieu, DOn’t remember if I got the vintage right but was pretty proud of myself.
I remember hosting a blind tasting a few years ago with what I thought was a relatively easy premise. Five Bordeaux wines, five years in vintage between them, ranging from a 1985 Leoville Barton to a 2005 Brane Cantenac. Just had to guess the year. I managed to only get two out of five, which I think is probably slightly worse than I’d expect picking at random.
Fortunately since then I’ve had a couple of lucky guesses which have redeemed my reputation somewhat. I find people tend to remember the times you nail it far more often than the times you fail. It’s a bit like playing pool- doesn’t matter how often you miss if you can sink the odd trickshot.
I do find it odd that blind tasting is so revered though, since it’s a bit of a parlour trick. Most of the people I know in the wine industry are terrible at it. It’s a very specialized, and arguably pointless skill as far as I’m concerned. But of course that might be because I’m no good at it.
Depends on the person’s job in the industry. Some aspects of blind tasting might be a bit silly, sure. But, I know some winemakers who are very good it at. Listening someone break down and segregate various aspects of a wine and provide insights and feedback is more important than calling the wine. Aren’t those skills you want from someone who’s making picking and blending decisions, among many others?
Not an easy premise at all!
…> I do find it odd that blind tasting is so revered > though, since it’s a bit of a parlour trick. Most of the people I know in the wine industry are terrible at it. It’s a very specialized, and > arguable pointless skill > as far as I’m concerned. But of course that might be because I’m no good at it.
I think your earlier comment shows (as does much of this thread) the mild self-delusion we are all capable of, unless we have a regular blind tasting practice.
When I taste with people who don’t blind, I often find their descriptions of wines have no connection to reality - which is perfectly fine in an appreciation context, but certainly limits conversation. Almost all of the “misses” in this thread are either humble brags, or cases of not understanding laterals (which styles can be easily confused for one another).
Consider this a friendly call to arms: Blind more, everyone! It will sharpen your perceptions and understanding for when you taste the wines you truly love and are curious about!
Absolutely. Being able to describe a wine is a useful skill. Being able to guess it, not so much.
But as I say, this may be colored by my bitterness at not being able to do it.
I love this. If ever there was the perfect time to hit a home run!
In the 1980s, there was a wine festival at the Desmond Americana in Albany. On the Saturday, the importers threw a blind tasting party for the trade.
Everybody brought a bottle and there were no restrictions. A noted winemaker was going to be there, so I brought an older wine of his.
Well he tasted it, and said it was disgusting, and the winemaker had no business releasing this. Certainly my most embarrassing moment in the industry, nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.
I used to be a decent blind taster and nail Montrose 1990 every time. But as I tend to drink traditional wines, put most modern wines in front of me, and I would not be much use.
My most recent swing and a miss was calling a 1976 Ravenswood Zin as a 1971 left bank Bordeaux.