Several of you are loyal followers of our “Vintage Pairs” blind tasting sessions that happen every other month, so we decided to add in an additional blind tasting series that will happen on Saturday afternoons. We will feature a different topic each time, but no pairs to guide you. All you get is the theme with no other clues. The tasting will include ten wines all tasted blind; we will taste in flights of five wines each. The selection isn’t just from our inventory, so studying our list won’t necessarily help. But, don’t be intimidated as I will still be helping to guide you through. This blind tasting session is for all, both the expert and the beginner. We will proceed through the tasting together in an analytical way to uncover the answer of wine region, producer and vintage.

Our theme for our second session of Blind Tasting Saturdays is Syrah From Around the World. Here are the areas we will cover: the Northern Rhône, California, Washington State, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Italy, for example. The idea behind this tasting is that we learn more about Syrah and the unique characteristics that different areas of the world bring to the expression of this grape.

For the first session, the theme was Pinot Noir From Around the World, and the big discovery was that Germany is the region to watch as Spätburgunder (their name for Pinot Noir) has gotten better and better. The overall favourite wine of the day was 2015 Deutzerhof – Grand Duc Reserve Spätburgunder ’30 Monate Barrique’ Auktion. Those that joined me on the 25th loved the minty note and savoury elements they found in this wine as well as its pleasing rounded texture on the palate. In case you want any of the wines from our Pinot Noir From Around the World session, below is our available stock.

Come join me on Saturday, 20 July, with your nose and palate ready to learn a bit more about Syrah.  Which wine will be your favourite?