Aragon’s Blind Tasting 1 June

Watching some of the world renowned wine experts take a sip of wine and correctly regurgitate the grape varietals, the location, and the year can be akin to watching the stage magician cut the volunteer from the audience in half! Wow, what a good trick, almost seems like magic.Everyone at a blind tasting, or confronted with a mystery bottle wants to “play the game,” to correctly guess everything coming out of that unknown bottle of wine. Yet the vast majority of us have a better chance of picking winning lotto numbers. So if the odds are so against you why bother?Because it’s important! Here’s why, part 1.There are two separate things happening when you take part in a blind tasting or attempt a guess on some mystery wine, an exercise and a game. You MUST do the exercise first, otherwise you will probably fail at the game.The exercise is to actually think about what you are tasting. DO NOT try and start guessing! Just think about if you liked it, didn’t like it, and why. That’s the exercise, the Why. Could you taste fruit, if so what? Was it acidic, did it leave you with a dry mouth, was it amazingly smooth? Think about what you are actually tasting, flavors and feel! Once you have done that, the exercise, then you can begin to play the game.It’s amazing how much, and almost instant, pressure that one feels when trying to guess a mystery wine. That pressure can really throw you off!  But if I were to come up to you and just say “Hey, try this and let me know what you think,” then the pressure is zero.By doing the exercise first, the “try this and let me know what you think,” then the analytical part of your brain is working without pressure, allowing you to formulate what you are tasting.Now when you start playing the game of trying to guess what that wine is you will have a much better foundation to play from. The more you exercise the better you will be at playing the game. Duh!Tuning in your awareness of what you are actually tasting. That’s the key! After a while you will probably find yourself no longer guessing; at that point you will answer because you know what that wine is, and won’t that be magical!