Displaying items by tag: tasting techniques

Summary:

This webinar will explore wine throughout the ages: what it meant to people, what viticulture and winemaking techniques they used, and what it tasted like. Students will learn about the development of wine styles throughout history and discover contemporary wines which employ ancient techniques. By understanding the historical context of various historic winemaking methods, students can imagine what people throughout history might have tasted and how they might have enjoyed their wines! 

Presenter: Tanya Morning Star

Tanya Morning Star is a full-time wine educator and writer with nearly 3 decades of industry experience. Her school, Cellar Muse is the approved program provider for Wine Scholar Certifications (French, Italian, and Spanish) in the Seattle area. She is also a Certified Wine Educator, an approved WSET instructor for L1-L4 curriculums, an official Ambassador of Bourgogne Wines, the Official Educational Ambassador of Orvieto Wines, and a Vinitaly Academy Italian Wine Ambassador!

Tanya is deeply interested in the why and how of wine. Through her studies at the Sorbonne and New York University, coupled with her love of travel, Tanya became interested in history and cultural identity, which guides her work, and research, she has been teaching Wine History at the college level for 10 years, and developed an online course on Wine History.

Summary: 

This seminar explores the history, evolution and application of ‘minerality’ in wine tasting notes. In the rich lexicon of wine terms that have developed in the modern era, few have proved more important, and more divisive, than this one.

Justin conducted a content analysis of more than 20,000 tasting notes published in the UK’s Decanter magazine from 1976-2019, to chart for the first time the possible origins of the term, how and when it is used, and also which wine characteristics are most associated with ‘minerality.’

The presentation is derived from the findings in Justin’s Master of Wine dissertation, which was awarded the Quinta Do Noval Award for the best MW research paper of 2021.

Presenter: Justin Martindale, MW

Justin is an educator, consultant and wine judge based in Edinburgh.

After studying for a music degree at Leeds University, followed by a brief stint as a classical musician, Justin joined the wine trade with Majestic in 2008. He worked across some of London’s busiest stores whilst studying for his WSET Level 3 certificate, for which he was awarded a distinction and the Cálem Port Award scholarship. Since 2010 Justin has been based in Scotland, studying the WSET diploma during his time at Majestic, and winning the Derouet Jameson Award Scholarship which set him on the road for MW studies.

Justin became an MW in 2021, scooping the coveted Madame Bollinger Award for the best tasting paper, and the Quinta do Noval Award for best research paper.

Summary:

Why do we think that the vineyard soil is so important for the taste of wine?

The rocks and soils in the vineyard certainly affect how vines grow but these days they pervade writings on wine flavor; some commentators believe they are the overriding contributor to taste. There are restaurant wine lists organized not by grape variety, region or style but by geology: granite wines, limestone wine, alluvial wines and so on. Some say the rocks can literally be tasted in the wine. Clearly people love these ideas, not least because they chime with today’s yearning for our food and drink having a sense of place and being linked with the “good earth”.

But in none of this is there any indication of how these things actually happen, and scientific understanding of how vines grow makes it very difficult to see how they would come about. In this webinar I will explain some of the scientific difficulties and explore two reasons why the beliefs might be so strong. One is historical: the powerful and ongoing legacy of centuries of teaching that wine was literally made from the soil. The other is the way we use certain geological words to communicate our taste perceptions: slaty, mineral, flinty and the like. The words conjure a link between wine and the soil but, just like most other tasting terms, in reality they have to be metaphors.

Presenter: Alex Maltman

Alex has a long and decorated career in university teaching and research in geology, and for over forty years has grown vines and made wine at his home in Wales. Inevitably, all this led Alex to the much lauded but poorly understood relationship between wine and vineyard geology. He has talked about aspects of this around the world and published both in academic journals and popular magazines such as The World of Fine Wine and Decanter.

Alex has advised on the geological content of a number of wine books, including the Oxford Companion to Wine and the World Atlas of Wine. He is the author of the acclaimed book: “Vineyards, Rocks, and Soils: A Wine Lover’s Guide to Geology”, Oxford, 2018.

Summary:

The third in our series of tastings like a Master of Wine. This session follows on from the previous two episodes of WSG Live : Taste Wine like an MW I, Taste Wine Like an MW II.  No problem if you missed those, there will be a short recap on how to approach wine tasting in an MW way. This will then be followed by a tasting of two wines using an MW Exam style question.

Expect a festive theme and you do not need to be an MW student to attend, just turn up with an open and enquiring mind.

Matthew will be tasting two wines during the seminar to illustrate the MW approach, 
Manzanilla or Fino Sherry
20 year old Tawny Port
If you can find them to taste along with him…great! If not, no worries you can still follow along with a dry tasting.

Presenter: Matthew Stubbs MW 

Matthew has more than 30 years of experience in the wine trade, from importing and distribution to running a supermarket wine department. He passed the Master of Wine exam in 1996 achieving the Bollinger Medal for the best-tasting paper and the Listel Scholarship for the best Vinification paper. He has been actively involved with the Institute ever since, either as Practical Examiner, seminar lecturer or mentor.

Since starting his own wine education business in 2008 the majority of his time is spent teaching and sharing his extensive knowledge of wine.

He has been a mentor to many MW students over the years and continues to help them fine-tune the tasting skills needed to succeed in the Practical exam.

He is now a regular on judging panels for wine competitions, Panel Chair for the International Wine Challenge and co-President of the Sud de France Top 50 in China. Matthew is also the current Practical Chair of the MW Education Committee.

Summary:

Following on from the Taste like a Master of Wine session in May this will be another chance to test your tasting skills using an MW style approach. A quick recap on how to taste in an MW way will be followed by a tasting of two wines which will be used to answer an exam-style practical question.

No preparation is needed, the session is open to all.  Just turn up with an open and analytical mind!

Matthew will be tasting two wines during the seminar to illustrate the MW approach,
White : Adelaide Hills Chardonnay or any cool climate Australian Chardonnay
Red : Rioja Reserva
If you can find them to taste along with him…great! If not, no worries you can still follow along with a dry tasting.

Presenter: Matthew Stubbs MW 

Matthew has more than 30 years of experience in the wine trade, from importing and distribution to running a supermarket wine department. He passed the Master of Wine exam in 1996 achieving the Bollinger Medal for the best-tasting paper and the Listel Scholarship for the best Vinification paper. He has been actively involved with the Institute ever since, either as Practical Examiner, seminar lecturer or mentor.

Since starting his own wine education business in 2008 the majority of his time is spent teaching and sharing his extensive knowledge of wine.

He has been a mentor to many MW students over the years and continues to help them fine tune the tasting skills needed to succeed in the Practical exam.

He is now a regular on judging panels for wine competitions, Panel Chair for the International Wine Challenge and co-President of the Sud de France Top 50 in China. Matthew is also the current Practical Chair of the MW Education Committee.

Summary: 

A session aimed at those who are curious about what tasting like a Master of Wine actually involves. How does it differ from other established methods and can anybody do it? We will look at how to build on your existing wine-tasting knowledge and try two wines during the session to illustrate the approach.

Don’t feel you need to be an MW student to register for this webinar, it is aimed at all levels!

Matthew will be tasting two wines during the seminar to illustrate the MW approach, a Sancerre white and a California Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley or Lodi).
If you can find them to taste along with him…great! If not, no worries you can still follow along with a dry tasting. 

Presenter: Matthew Stubbs MW 

Matthew has more than 30 years of experience in the wine trade, from importing and distribution to running a supermarket wine department. He passed the Master of Wine exam in 1996 achieving the Bollinger Medal for the best tasting paper and the Listel Scholarship for the best Vinification paper. He has been actively involved with the Institute ever since, either as Practical Examiner, seminar lecturer or mentor.

Since starting his own wine education business in 2008 the majority of his time is spent teaching and sharing his extensive knowledge of wine.

He has been a mentor to many MW students over the years and continues to help them fine tune the tasting skills needed to succeed in the Practical exam.

He is now a regular on judging panels for wine competitions, Panel Chair for the International Wine Challenge and co-President of the Sud de France Top 50 in China. Matthew is also the current Practical Chair of the MW Education Committee.