Our first meeting post D4, no blinds, all fun. We had studied hard for months so we celebrated accordingly. The spit glass was our stomach.
The evening started with a pink Port, moved on to a white Pinot Noir and then to a naturally blue Verdejo/Chardonnay blend, an “original wine from the Mediterranean area.” The short of it: pigmentation extracted from Nebbiolo skins that was introduced to the aged Verdejo before blending with Chardonnay. Not my cup of wine, but our waiter made an excellent point that it could make a fun blue sangria.
Then we got serious. The Paolo Conterno 2016 Barolo quickly received a Purple Heart upon tasting. The finish pulsates with concentration, an integration that demands contemplation. It was beautiful.
The D4 Sparkling Wine exam was a doozy. I had expected to be more uneasy about the theory than the blind tasting, but au contraire. Theory might just be what pushes me through. A traditional method Argentine sparkling, really? A closed-up Trentodoc? At least I nailed the Sekt…
More on my process for studying sparkling wines to come! Cheers!
