On Friday 21st November Rob Evison treated us to a masterclass in sparkling wine tasting.This was the 4th and last event of this type having previously tasted reds, whites and roses. It was, again, a fun evening that educated us about wine and the myths surrounding the subject. Sparkling wines from Italy, France and Spain. We tried six different wines and then were asked to blind taste and identify 3 of them.

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The event was held at St Saviour Church Hall running 7pm until 9pm. Rob Evison whose career was wine making in South Africa and Zimbabwe.   

 

Rob emphasised that this was a tasting Challenge; not a test to find out how experienced or accomplished individuals were at differentiating good from bad wine or identifying different styles of wine. Participants didn't even necessarily have to like wine (in fact the first such event Rob held many years ago was actually won by a pregnant teetotaller!!) Rather, it was a fun exercise challenging one to see how well they could remember or recognise tastes, smells and visual clues.

 

After a short explanation on how to taste wine and what characteristics to look for, Rob explained how to use his tasting sheet to help record impressions of six named wines (or elderflower-flavoured drinks) tasted one after the other. Thereafter participants were challenged to identify three of those six wines presented  'blind' using the tasting notes to help. 

 

During the evening Rob gave a very entertaining resume of his life in wine and managed the attendees extremely well. As the evening progressed the participants grew more boisterous as Rob had predicted. The winner of the competition, getting all three wines correct in the blind tasting was Graham Otter. 

We all agreed it had been an extremely informative and enjoyable evening. 

Thankyou Rob.