With everyone staying safely at home during the pandemic, there have been a few interesting zoomable events, and one that translate swimmingly well is the blind tasting by sommelier Alison Christ. We speak to her to find out more about how she has managed to make this zoom event work so well.
Blind Wine Tasting From The Comforts Of Your Home
While blind tastings are usually conducted in person with the guidance of a sommelier, this one is conducted over zoom in a group. What you would assume would not translate well into a zoom setting actually worked very well as it is carefully planned out, yet highly casual, enabling you to experience and learn a bit more about the wine. From colouration, to nosing to its effect on the palate, the session is great and as Christ puts it… “everyone’s palate is different, there are no wrong answers.” The session also includes an optional add on meal, this time from the delectable plates from Troika Sky Dining as a pairing for the wines. The other interesting element would be the the winemakers themselves, all the way from the winery, from New Zealand to France.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Alison has been a professional sommelier for 15 years, was was certified by the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2009. (a lot longer in Food and Beverage). In the wine business I’ve done it all from fine dining to fun wine bars in Hong Kong to import/export, sales, winemaking, most recently wine educator specifically using blind tasting as an impactful and fun learning tool.
Can you tell us about your blind wine tasting?
One of the fundamentals of being a professional Sommelier is being able to blind taste wine. Just poor a glass and you should be able to tell the grape, where it was grown, how it was grown, the climate, the soil the grapes grew in, the alcohol level and the vintage, the appellation and country. It can be a very intimidating thing to pass in professional exams. I love doing it for fun and teaching wine lovers how to do it. Mostly I enjoy teaching people how to get in tuned with their senses. Specifically, their sense of smell. Your smell memory can bring back the happiest of memories buried deep in your subconscious. For instance, another Sommelier once suggested a Pinot noir we were tasting smelled like cherry pez (a popular kids candy in the United States). I put my nose in the glass and all of the sudden I was a happy 10-year-old I kid sucking on a cherry pez. When I detect that very unique pez candy smell I know it’s a Pinot. And it always is.
What can participants expect to experience from the blind tasting?
I send three 750ml bottles of wine to everyone (you can share with 2-3 other people) wrapped in foil and numbered. It’s usually 1 white and 2 reds. We all gather on zoom and blind taste the wines together to get to the place of origin. Once we have decided on the wine, we unwrap the wine and a special guest from the winery joins us on zoom to answer questions and talk about the winery. It’s a really great format because we can have 3 winery guests join us from around the world. Something that’s not possible any other way at the moment. The tasting is meant to be educational but most importantly fun. If some people are camera shy, they can just sit back and watch and listen. I always offer an optional food pairing usually provided by Troika Sky Dining, my old stomping ground.
What are some key points to look out for when tasting a wine?
When blind tasting a wine, you first examine the site. The colour and rim colour can tell you a lot about a wine. Next you smell the wine. On the nose you can detect all kinds of things, like fruits, spices, soil type and oak usage. Finally, we get to taste the wine (our favourite part). The palate should be enhancing what we’ve already learned from the sight and the nose while adding other confirmations on dryness or sweetness levels, tannins, body and alcohol – all of which can help determine what the wine is.
Can you tell us a bit about the 3 bottles of wine we tasted in this session?
The last session together we tasted Kumeu River `Village’ Chardonnay, Kumeu, New Zealand, 2018 (RM145). Paul Brajkovich joined us from the winery in New Zealand. It’s a family business and his brother Michael is the winemaker and also a Master of Wine. Their chardonnays are world class and can compete with some of the best burgundies. Next, we tried Two Paddocks `Picnic’, Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand 2018 (RM185). This is one of my favourite Pinots ever. Truly is a picnic to drink. The owner Sam Neil was probably off filming a movie and was unable to join us. The final wine was from a little know region called Cahors in France where they only produce red wines made from Malbec. Château du Cédre ‘Extra Libre’ Malbec, Cahors, France, 2018 (RM145). Geraud the export director for Cédre joined us from the vineyards in Cahors. All the wines we tried are organic and/or biodynamic and are available from me for private home delivery sales.
What’s in your private cellar?
In my cellar I always have Scarbolo Cabernet from Friuli, Italy stocked as my everyday drinking wine (RM147). The wine is unoaked and expresses the true flavours of the two Cabernets; Franc and Sauvignon. I’m in love with Raventos i Blanc di Nit sparkling rosé from Conca del Riu Anoia, Spain (RM200). We blind tasted this recently and almost everyone though it was Champagne. Of course, I can’t forget my absolute favourite grape; Nebbiolo. I have 2 stocked for different occasions. The Clare JC from GD Vajra in Barolo (RM170) is a light and fresh, young and ready to drink with or without food and the more complex, aged (2017) Bruno Rocca Barbaresco is for a more serious meal (RM260).
Are any of the bottles mentioned above available for purchase?
All of the wines I mentioned here are on my current list for sale, you can offer your readers a discount if they order any of these wines from me. To sign up for the next blind tasting, the price is RM495 and includes 3 bottles of wine, delivery and my class. (I can’t offer a discount on the zoom though only on home delivery for regular wines.)
To sign up for the next session in the next session, you can message her directly to find out when the next one will be.
Alison Christ
+6018 236 3952
@christthesomm
| PHOTOGRAPHY: NICHOLAS NG & ALISON CHRIST |