I was invited for a charity event couple of month ago. I was part of an "expert" panel who was to confuse people about what was in their glass. If they managed to pick, identify the right variety, they collected some points. At the end the winners got some gifts in exchange for the hard work.
And hard work it was.
The wines were of a good quality in general, but that also meant it would be much more difficult to pick up significant differences. There were no extremes, no outstanding bottles. It was all perfectly sound, good quality wines, and that made the quest nearly hopeless.
It would have been difficult even for an expert to tell apart a Spanish Sauvignon Blanc-Viura blend to a generic French Sauvignon Blanc blend from Languedoc, a simple South African Cabernet Sauvignon to a simple South-Eastern Australian Shiraz. It was all part of the fun, and it was a mission impossible, even to the well-trained tasters.
To be fair it was not really the point. It was a spirited event, but we possibly managed to break the enthusiasm of many budding wine connoisseurs.
Photographs by The Tannin Addict