The Court of Master Sommelier Deductive Tasting Method is at the heart of the two-day course and final exam. For level one certification, the curriculum in 2020 includes six (6) individual wine tastings designed to teach this very effective process for identifying wines. I’ve been preparing for this all of my adult life (ok… maybe even a little before), so how difficult can it be?

Swirl, sip, swish and spit. Repeat. Using the correct terminology, describe the color. Is it purple, ruby or garnet? Neither… it is red (as indicated on the bottle). Specifically, it is the color of a horse barn I remember from my childhood. Slightly faded, a little weathered, but still… red. Do I notice any secondary colors? That depends. Does adding an adjective to my description qualify as a ‘secondary color?’ No. So… bright red or intense red isn’t considered secondary colors? No. Secondary colors to look for in red wine are ruby, garnet, orange, brown and blue.

While we all have our unique–almost Shakespearean–ways to describe the characteristics of wine. It is important to learn the universal terminology. In fact, it’s a requirement. Instead of describing the smell of certain Bordeaux wines in the tasting rotation as something I remember from that horse barn, I need to call-out the presence of brettanomyces.

The entire premise of the Deductive Tasting Method is to use all of the information gathered from sight, smell and taste to determine a wine’s origin. This includes everything from varietal to vintage. It is a structured (and proven) process to quickly and accurately analyze wine. If nothing else, it adds another reason–albeit scientific–to open more wine. I might need another corkscrew 😉

Back to the books.

Next article in the series: Enthusiast to Sommelier: Right on Cue

First article in this series: Enthusiast to Sommelier: Getting Started