Learning to Judge Wine

Friday, 8 April, 2016
Carla van der Merwe
Carla van Der Merwe reflects on wine education, forensic tasting and evaluation, and ultimately judging a wine on merit.

The Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging Academy is an institution. Highly regarded, and the in to judging at the Old Mutual Wine and Trophy Show, it is the best place to learn how to judge wine. But, with only 18 spots per academy, it is near impossible to get into. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the academy last week (after 5 years and 4 applications) and my mind was blown.

The course is tough with around 120-150 wines to taste in a 12 hour day and after three days of intense tasting I'm pretty sure I have no enamel left! The group of attendees was a patch work of industry professionals from Cape Winemaker's Guild protégés to well respected sommeliers, winemakers, salesmen (and women) and marketing professionals. Starting from a base where each attendee has some prior training in tasting and evaluating wine, the academy takes on a quick pace. Academy participants are taught to taste wines forensically and to analyse the intrinsic merit of each wine.

We tasted wines that were old enough to be my parents and it was a great shame to have to spit these out! Industry leaders were invited as speakers to impart their knowledge to eager attendees, amongst these were Charles Hopkins - Cellar Master at De Grendel and Sauvignon Blanc savant. Charles taught us about pyrosenes and how these can be measured and how they should be judged and evaluated.

Mr Bubbles himself also gave us an indepth look at the differences between South African Méthode Cap Classique and French Champagne, how to identify yeast and lees contact and again to judge these differences on merit. Pieter Ferreira has a wealth of knowledge on the art of the bubble as Cellar Master at Graham Beck and was eager to assist in training more sparkling wine judges as this is a sector of judging that is currently in need of adequate judges.

An in depth evaluation of young (teeth-stripping) red wines was also in the curriculum from Gary Jordan who helped us look past the flair and fruit-forward appeal of young South African reds to see the potential, or lack thereof, for ageing. Christian Eedes stepped in to give us the lowdown on Chenin Blanc and other white wines that South Africa currently has to offer.

The main thing I took away from the course was exposure, we were collectively exposed to wines from many (dare I say all) the wine regions of the world at varying levels of quality and value. This reinforced the fact that we as a collective South African wine industry need to expose our palates to foreign wines to gain a better understanding of what is out there, and what we are competing with on a global market. Tasting international wines is not cheap, but it is ultimately worth it.

Should you be interested in applying to the academy next year, I urge you to expose yourself to as much wine as possible. There are many opportunities for this and some of these include:

Wine Cellar Events (http://www.winecellar.co.za/events)

Wine Cellar offers a selection of local and international tasting events throughout the year in both Johannesburg and Cape Town. Their upcoming events include wines from Sicily, the Loire and the Rhone valley.

Caroline's Fine Wine Cellar (http://www.carolineswine.com/wine-events-wine-tastings)

Caroline's also offer a selection of local and international tasting events with upcoming events including Brunello's and Super Tuscans as well as the annual red and white wine reviews.

Benguela on Main (http://www.bengueladining.com/capetown/events/)

New to the tutored tasting scene, Benguela on Main's Master Sommelier Denis Garret offers a selection of wine and spirits tastings that include whisky, brandy, cognac, champagne and gin to name a few.

Other ways of improving your palate and tasting ability is to learn more and further your wine knowledge. Both the Cape Wine Academy and Wine and Spirits Education Trust offer courses throughout the year in various regions of South Africa.