Wine Tasting: This Unique Method Turns Everyone into a Pro
So it’s been proven, folks: tasting wine makes you demonstrably smarter. But how do you actually taste wine properly? We asked Master of Wine Cees van Casteren.
Let’s get straight to the point: to put the title ‘Master of Wine’ after your name, you have to be very good indeed. You don’t earn it just like that; there are only 409 worldwide, and just 3 (!) in the Netherlands who hold this prestigious title. Cees van Casteren MW is one of them. In his new book Tasting Like a Pro, he reveals the tasting method that helped him pass that demanding exam. He maintains that in just six steps, wine tasting becomes child’s play for everyone.
It’s actually very (il)logical
Cees: ‘I’ve taught a great many classes in recent years, and what has always puzzled me is the illogical way of learning to taste wine. With those inaccessible checklists where, for example, you have to assess a wine’s richness from medium-minus to medium-plus. I don’t think that’s a logical method. In my book, I’ve tried to explain as briefly and logically as possible how you can really taste wine and then draw a conclusion from it. Because if you perceive high acidity, what does that high acidity mean?’
KARAAT
Cees went looking for a mnemonic to provide guidance, and it forms the basis of this book: KARAAT. Cees: ‘With those six letters, I cover everything you need to know to make a tasting note and draw a conclusion from it. That is, in short, the secret of the book. By focusing on one letter, you learn to taste better.’
K=colour
A=aromas
R=residual sugar
A=acidity
A=alcohol
T=tannin
With Cees’s way of tasting wine, you follow two tracks: on the one hand, the natural order of wine tasting—from looking, to smelling, to tasting in your mouth. At the same time, you follow the way the wine gets from a grape into your glass. From the vineyard and the harvest to the winemaking process and how long the wine has been in the bottle.
Want to know more?
In short, you don’t need to have a natural talent for tasting well—and forget the clichés about egotistical wine snobs; with Cees’s method and knowledge, you can say something meaningful about any wine and talk about it confidently in company. Tasting Like a Pro will be available everywhere from 4 November and costs €29.95.
‘Damn, this wine is corked!’
Still, one more thing about those egotistical wine snobs… this video remains brilliant!
