We’ve been determined to fast track our wine knowledge by any means possible. So when we received an invitation from Virgin Wines to a press tasting of their latest portfolio in London, we jumped at the chance. We’ve attended many drinks tasting events in the past, but when it comes to wine, we’re novices – this felt like a dive into the deep end.
We were also offered the chance to chat with senior buyer Dave Roberts, who has worked in the industry for more than 25 years and, according to the Virgin website, has a “highly attuned palate”. Besides testing our own palates on a wide range of wine styles this gave us the opportunity to learn from a professional how we should be tasting them.
Impressive spread
The event is held at a swish Shoreditch hotel, a far more luxurious venue than the hotels we usually book (we don’t recall Premier Inns hosting wine tastings). With some apprehension, we’re led to a small, brightly lit room at the back of the hotel. Light glints off rows of wine bottles and ice buckets which are arranged along three sides. In the centre, a long table boasts an impressive spread of snacks: grapes, naturally, along with expensive-looking cheeses and biscuits.
Most of the other attendees appear to be media types – predominantly female influencers, dressed in their finery to impress for their social media posts. We feel completely out of place, gatecrashers at a formal gathering in jeans and checked shirts, knowing no one. The first person we speak to politely inquires about the origins of our regional accents.
We each take a small glass and booklet from the friendly Virgin Wines representative and, while we wait for Dave to become available, sample a few wines at random.
Testing our taste buds
As an exercise in testing our taste buds, we try sniffing and sipping “blind.” This involves jotting down notes on what we think we’re smelling and tasting before comparing them to the descriptions in our booklet. We’ve done similar exercises with other drinks but, without any wine-tasting background, we lack the confidence to properly assess what’s in our glasses.
Throughout the experiment, we managed to match a single word – “lemon,” in an Austrian white. However, our “old cheese and bitter lemon rind” note was a far cry from the booklet’s “lemon, lime, and ripe stone fruit, rounded off with a hint of spice.” Clearly, it was time to seek guidance from the expert.
Wine tasting tutor
Dave is nothing like the kind of person we imagined would be the tutor for our first wine tasting session. Like us, he’s sporting jeans and a checked shirt and introduces himself with a broad smile and a regional accent. We immediately feel at ease.
Before tapping up him for knowledge on how to approach wine tasting, we wondered how the wine world might take to two middle-aged outsiders with very little wine pedigree. Was the industry as formal, intimidating and stuffy as we feared?
“I would say that wine still definitely has a stigma attached to it in terms of being elitist,” Dave admitted. “But over the time that I’ve been working, I found that it isn’t as stuffy as people think.”
This is a relief, but if we manage to change our perception about the industry, where do we begin with actually tasting the stuff? How do we know what to buy and if what we’re buying is any good? Thankfully, Dave has a refreshingly simple philosophy.
“There’s a pretty simple rule” he tells us. “Do you like it? Do you enjoy it? Is it palatable to you? Do you like it as a glass of wine with food, or do you like it on its own whilst reading a book or watching TV or chatting like we are now? Do you enjoy it? Does it taste nice to you? In my humble opinion, it doesn’t matter whether that wine costs you six pounds or 60 pounds. The 60 pound bottle will have had more care and attention paid to it – harvested in smaller yields, produced in a more meticulous manner – which equals expense compared to the six pound bottle. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to give you any more satisfaction.”
Vast choice
This is exactly the kind of advice we want to hear, but part of our frustration with wine is the vast range of choices available. What is it about wine that makes it so mind-bogglingly diverse? To explain, Dave focuses on a single grape: Sauvignon Blanc.
“Sauvignon Blanc is an international variety, produced in almost every wine-producing country in the world. You have Sauvignon Blanc in France – in the middle of the Loire – and then you’ve got Sauvignon Blanc that’s produced 150 miles away, but they’re really quite different. Take that grape variety and plant it somewhere like Casablanca in Chile and it’s different again. Go a little bit north from Casablanca into Layda and it’s completely different again, even though it’s the same grape variety.”
And if that isn’t mind-boggling enough for us, he goes on: “Then you’ve also got wine making techniques to consider: do they ferment it in stainless steel? Do they add a little oxygen? Do they ferment it in barrels? Do they ferment in stainless steel then age it in barrels? Do they let it go through a second malolactic fermentation? I mean, where do you start?”
Looking baffled
Dave is brimming with enthusiasm. We, on the other hand, are starting to look increasingly baffled. Clearly, we need a foothold in the basic skills of tasting and describing wine. To help us in this matter he briefly nips next door and swipes a bottle from under the noses of the influencers. It’s a wine from a producer called Cubardi in southern Italy, made entirely from Primitivo grapes.
Following a brief explanation of how to taste wine – from swirling it to release aromas to sniffing and sipping – he advocates finishing the routine with a spit. This unsavoury looking act doesn’t diminish the tasting experience: the alcohol still reaches the back of your mouth, where it does its work. “That’s the best way to taste wine,” he affirms, “and it gives you the ability to taste more and more without getting completely annihilated.”
He then goes on to describe the wine we’re drinking. “A prune or dried fruit element, and a slightly floral note… like violets or lavender or something. Primitivo, for me, will always have those two things.”
Keep it simple
Keeping tasting notes simple, accessible, and based on universal flavours is something he sees as important. “One thing I’ve learned after years of tasting a lot of wine, is that if someone starts reeling off fifteen different characteristics, they’re probably talking shit. I always try to keep it fairly on point.”
“Some wines are more complex and have more character than others – that’s a fact – because your six-pound bottle of Merlot is only going to have, hopefully, some signature characteristics of Merlot. And Merlot, regardless of how expensive it is or how good a value it might be, should always remind you of plums. The difficulty then is: what kind of plum is it? Plum jam? A red plum? A white plum? The scope within ‘plum’ becomes quite deep. And that’s something I try to avoid, really. I try to be a little broader.”
After another nose of the aroma and a sip of the Primitivo, we offer “Christmassy” as our tasting summary. The suggestion isn’t greeted with enthusiastic approval, but it isn’t dismissed either. We also remark that, to us, this particular wine seems to be loaded with tannin. This time, we get confirmation that our senses are working properly. “Yeah, you’re getting tannin from the grapes because they have quite thick skins, and you’re also getting it from the oak. So you’re getting double tannin, in fact.”
Drink more
Dave’s enthusiasm for wine is infectious, and he’s full of encouragement for our efforts. “Drink more. Taste more. Practice. How do you get better at playing the guitar? You practise for fifteen minutes every day. Eventually you can hold a tune. It’s the same with anything. So just practise.”
And the best way to practise? As we’d already been doing – blind taste without checking the information on the bottle – and write down our notes. It doesn’t matter if they’re right or wrong, because they’re our tasting notes. Over time we’ll build up our own personal profile of what each style means to us.
Our confidence is rising. The tasting technique we deployed earlier in the day is clearly a sound one, we just need more practice.
More practice
Just as we think our chat is over, Dave disappears again – and it turns out we’ve already got more practice in store. This time it’s a Cabernet Sauvignon from America’s Napa Valley which, at £50, is the most expensive bottle at the event. We go through the prescribed tasting motions and concentrate hard, hoping to detect something suitably impressive from such a costly glass of wine. We also feel a little pressure to reward Dave’s guidance with a tasting note that rings true.
With some trepidation, we offer that the wine isn’t battering our mouths quite as much as the Primitivo – that it’s smoother, less peppery, and has a suggestion of vanilla. Dave seems to agree. “One thing that makes this one quite different compared to the last for me is that it’s much more drinkable. There’s more acidity, so it’s fresher. It feels fresher. My mouth is watering a little bit, which is what you want. I’m not doing the last wine a disservice at all, because it’s brilliant, but this – if I can use a wine word – is more elegant. A little more refined, almost silkier.”
We’re definitely in agreement here. It’s deliciously drinkable and, in our humble opinion, fully worthy of the word elegant. We finish our glasses – this time without spitting out the pricey portion we’ve been swirling around our mouths – and thank Dave before wandering back into the tasting room for a few more sips. More practice with our newly acquired tasting techniques.
Wine tasting success
Looking back at our notes, we can see we really enjoyed a sparkling French wine made from a grape we’d never heard of, with lovely dry, yeasty notes that reminded us of fine Belgian ales. We were amazed at how much flavour a rosé can have – including, perhaps predictably, strawberry. And we were mightily impressed by a boozy, spicy red from Chile, with a wonderfully strong, fruity aroma. Perhaps we’re starting to get the hang of this after all.
As we leave, each of us collects a tote bag emblazoned with a huge Virgin Wines logo, containing a small bottle of “Savvie,” described in the booklet as “our signature Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc.” We consider opening them on the late train home – one last tasting for the day – but our taste buds have had enough. The Savvies stay put. There will be plenty more wine tastings to come; this one can wait.
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How to approach a wine tasting event
Five tips for wine drinking success
1. Make notes
Go armed with a pen and note book. Make notes on everything you drink. Not least because slurping on multiple wines can lead to memory confusion.
2. Lighter wines first
Big heavy reds can quickly overwhelm your taste buds making it harder to detect the more subtle flavours in delicate whites. Sample the delicate whites first.
3. Spit
Getting pie-eyed after 20 minutes isn’t a good look at a wine tasting event and too much booze may also reduce how many wines you can taste. Don’t be shy – take advantage of the spittoons. (But don’t deny yourself an occasional swallow of the wines you really like).
4. Drink blind
Try wines without reading the description on the bottle. This allows you to assess each wine on your terms and better understand the characteristics that you like best. Compare your notes on the wine to those on the label after tasting.
5. Talk to people
Sharing thoughts on wine with other tasters can help you glean more about what you’re drinking and give you the confidence that your opinions are valid. If someone representing the wine you’re tasting is available, ask them questions. Learning more about a wine from those who know it best gives you a greater appreciation of what you’re drinking.
