The truth about blind tasting. Is it really just a party trick?

Do sommeliers really need to blind taste to do their jobs? Here’s the inside scoop.

If you’re a wine person or generally interact with wine content online, you’ve probably seen sommeliers blind taste wine on camera. There is something fun about it; Will they get it right? Are they as smart as they say they are? Or, worse, when you get to my level, you listen to their tasting notes and try to deduce what the wine is, then feel a selfish sense of pride when you guess right and they don’t. I’m cruel, I know.

But what is the point?

Blind tasting isn’t something you have to do to actually do the job as a sommelier. It’s kind of like telling someone they need to be a master at calculus when their job is accounting.

While blinding is not something we specifically do to succeed as somms, it does train a mustache that is rather necessary for the job: honing in on your palate.

In general, the point of blind tasting is to strip away stereotypes and preconceived notions about a wine/producer and to taste the wine for what it is. While sommeliers can generally taste the difference between a cheaply made wine versus a higher quality one, every now and then you can be surprised. It’s fun to discover a wine that delights for under $15, or to even discover that a wine that retails for $100 actually doesn’t stand up to that kind of value. It’s part of what makes wine so interesting.

Yes, it’s fun to watch a sommelier get the blind tasting right on screen. But it’s also equally satisfying to watch a somm incorrectly guess a higher end wine, be surprised by the actual bottle, and claim that the wine is, in fact, very good.

Blind tasting is also a means of studying and categorizing taste. Yes, every wine and region is distinct and unique. However, blind tasting helps a sommelier to categorize wine based on acidity, body, tannins, alcohol, and general flavor and tasting notes. This practice comes in handy when a guest says they like a type of wine (“I drink a lot of Sancerre!”) and you can go through your mental rolodex and recommend something similar.

I enjoy blind tasting for the sake of practice and exercising that muscle, but honestly, I have no desire to enter competitions anytime soon. I’d rather keep my boots on the ground and let a wine surprise me when I get it wrong.

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Wine of the week

I was in the mood for an Oregon Pinot Noir this week, but the sommelier over at Gramercy Tavern convinced me of The Eyrie Vineyard’s 2021 Oregon Pinot Meunier, and I am not mad about it. It’s rare to find this grape as a red wine, and Eyrie perfected it with such beauty. Pair with the Tavern Burger. An ✨experience✨ to say the least.

Tasting notes

• Appearance: Clear, moderate intensity, ruby color, developing

• Nose: Peanuts, wild strawberries, white pepper, violets, no evidence of oak, developing

• Palate: Dry, medium-plus acidity, silky tannins, light alcohol, light body, lots of crunchy red fruits on the palate, long finish

Final conclusion

Nutty at the start, but as she opens, she’s juicy, crunchy red fruit and velvety tannins on the finish. The kind of red wine you want to luxuriate over.

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