Master of Wine

Master OF WINE BY RICCARDO TARABELSI

As I sit in my restaurant looking for inspiration to write a wine article, I stare blankly at the massive wood beams, and my eyes are drawn to my Level I Sommelier certificate. Suddenly vivid memories flood my mind. It’s been 13 years since I tested for my certification, yet I can remember almost every wine I tasted through the two-day event. A memory that will never leave me is that of Randa Warren. I had the privilege of being taught by her. She is a Master Sommelier. In 2007, she became the 16th woman in the world to be a Master Sommelier and one of 96 men and women in the U.S. to be a Master Sommelier and 167 total men and women in the world. She is a master of wine.

By definition, a Sommelier is a waiter who takes charge of the wines in his/her service or a wine steward. Today, a Sommelier is a respected expert of wine who has gone through rigorous testing and blind tastings. In 1998-1999, Randa Warren passed the Certified and Advanced WSET programs, as well as the Introductory Sommelier course at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park through the Court of Master Sommeliers. In 2000, she went on to pass the grueling Advanced Sommelier Exam on her first attempt and in 2001 Randa passed the final, 2-year WSET Diploma program that is a prerequisite to the Master of Wine program. The same year, she became a Certified Wine Educator through the Society of Wine Educators.

She led me and about thirty others in a blind tasting. We tasted five total wines: two whites and three reds. She taught us how the Masters taste wine and how to use something they call the Deductive Method. This process is how a Master Sommelier takes clues from the sight, smell, and taste of a wine to come to a conclusion as to what its identity might be. Now, we’re not just talking about concluding that a heavy red wine is Cabernet. No, we were to ascertain not only the grape varietal in each wine, but also the country it came from, the region it was grown in, the level of quality, and the vintage.

Here is the Master’s way of blind tasting a wine:

Deductive Method Sight

Assess the wine’s clarity, brightness, color, and viscosity. Look for clues that might tell you how much alcohol is in the wine. For example, if the legs or tears are slow to form and stream back into the bowl of the glass, this will indicate a high alcohol concentration.

Deductive Method Smell

Look for obvious flaws, intensity of smell, and try to pick out fruit, earth, and wood aromas. Here’s a tip from Randa when smelling wine: after you’ve inhaled the aroma from the wine glass with your nose, open your mouth for a second and let in some air. This technique will heighten your senses and allow you to pick out more flavors.

Deductive Method Taste

There are lots of things that are happening on our palates, but here are just a few things to look for: sweetness, body, fruit, earth, wood, alcohol, acidity, tannins, and finish. Deciphering what each of these are in your blind glass will give you lots of clues as to where the wine might be from. For example, a wine that literally makes your mouth water has high acidity. Wines that are high in acid make your mouth salivate, which is an indicator that the wine is from a cool climate like Italy. Typically, wines that have a low acidity are from warm climates like California.

Once you have completed these methods, you should have enough data to draw a conclusion as to where the wine is from. Is it a New World wine or an Old World wine? Old World refers to Europe while the New World encompasses North and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. As a rule, fruit-driven wine is from the New World, and earth-driven is from the Old World.

For example, a light-colored red wine with high acidity and a musty nose, prominent rustic flavors, and salient cherry flavors is almost just enough information to guess that the wine is Old World (not fruitdriven,) from a cool climate (high acidity,) and is probably a Sangiovese (cherry flavors.) In fact, this was the third wine we tried, and it was a 2006 Chianti.

Blind tasting is one of the quickest ways to learn about flavor profiles and varietal tendencies. It also teaches you to be very descriptive. In fact, the more descriptive you are when taking the Master Sommelier exam, the better. They take points off for not describing the wine enough, and as Randa told us all: you learn more from the wines you identify wrong, than the ones you guess right. Sounds like a good life lesson to me. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and Carpe Vino!

Riccardo and Marybeth are the owners of R Wine Bar & Kitchen, Maribella Ristorante, Brix Wine Bar, and R Catering. They have created places known for their warm hospitality in Downtown Sioux Falls along with their incredible team and their three sons, Dante, Berent (fiancée Molli,) and Jaxon. For all of your wine questions, feel free to contact Riccardo at riccardo@rwinebar.com, riccardo@ciaomaribella.com, or riccardo@brixwine.bar.