After two blind tastings (see posts #12 and #17 for results), and some reflection on what we got out of them, Talented Amateur will be changing direction for the next two upcoming tasting events. Short story: next two tasting events will focus on education and experiential learning, and not on evaluation of wines. Starting out, I had hoped to use ratings and scores from TA events to learn something about the expert evaluations of wines. Nothing personal to any of the participants in the first blind tastings (including me!), but I do not think that as a group our palates and wine-tasting skills are developed enough to do useful scoring of wines. I think all of us need to focus more on developing our palates and learning about wine first.

The next two events will focus on learning about different varieties of wine, and exploring some traditional food pairings.

• TABT#3–Wine & Cheese, 4:00pm on Sunday, August 13. This tasting will feature an array of four or five wines and cheeses. The goal of the tasting is to allow us all to explore the wines, the cheeses, and the pairings.
• TABT #4–Wine & Chocolate, 4:00pm on Sunday, September 10. Similar to TABT #3, but with chocolate, and maybe a non-wine beverage thrown in.

For these next two events, some things be like the first two:

• Invites will go out to the TA email list, and some guidance and references will be provided in a post prior to the first event. If you do not receive an invite, contact me at: talentedamateur. bg@gmail.com.
• Tastings will still be blind. I strongly believe there is a value to not knowing what is in our glass beforehand, and focusing ourselves on what we are actually tasting and how we feel about it.
• Tasters’ impressions of the wines we taste will still be recorded, tallied and shared. Tallying up the results and sharing via blog posts is a way of spreading the experience to those who were not able to attend.

A few things WILL change:

• Tastings will be structured to help us experience, and learn about, wine. How do different wine varieties compare to each other? What are the characteristics of common varieties of wines? What wine and food pairings really work (or not)?
• At each event, a some sort of expert guidance will be provided. I am not totally sure what that looks like yet. It may be as simple as a written summary of the expert guidance on a topic. It may be as complex as a guest expert “guide” to walk us all through a tasting.
• Talking and sharing will be a bigger part of the events. So far, the events have emphasized independent tasting and evaluation, with sharing as an afterthought. Sharing what you are experiencing, whether it is a really strong impression, or a question or confusion you are feeling, will have a bigger place in the upcoming tasting events.
• No more “TJ Test” and “Settle a Score”. Honestly, I learned something from this, but it has run its course.

Hope to see you at one or more of these events!