Advice on comparative wine tasting
I am conducting a wine tasting for a group of women in their late-20s. Experienced wine drinkers, each probably has tried many variertals, attended tastings, etc, but may not have any formal viniculture/viticulture training. I am interested in doing a comparative tasting to showcase some simple wine terms. In the past I have done very simple tastings- explaining "oak" using a stainless and oak aged Chardonnay. Explaining new versus old world with pinots from burgundy and California. Explaining acidity with Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay. This time I want to use a little bit more obscure wines- but nothing too obscure. Just something different for them.
My questions for you:
What varietals/country would you use to best illustrate
Acidity
Body
New versus old world
Flavor profiles- could be red berries versus dark berries, herbaceous versus fruity, etc.
And other ideas for comparisons?
Exact wine recs would be appreciated to $25 and under.
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Midlife
May 9, 2011 03:20 PM
If you can get your hands on a copy, Marian Baldy's University wine Course contains a lot of very simplified "experiments" on these subjects. She uses actual fruits, herbs and related items in most of them. I think that may be a lot more instructive than searching for specific wines to represent these profiles.
›1 Reply-
re: Midlife
Bill Hunt
May 9, 2011 06:41 PM
Along these lines, Andrea Immer's (now Andrea Robinson) "Great Wines Made Simple," also offers many suggestions for most of those terms. One will need to update the particular suggestions, as the book mentions specific wines (usually three per concept), and some will no longer exist, or perhaps a better example will now be available. With her list, any good wine shop should be able to provide current substitutes.
Enjoy,
Hunt
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