Swatting Up and Spitting Out

Having enrolled on to the WSET Level 3 course to start at the end of October I have started to get a bit nervous regarding my wine tasting ability. I am very good at wine drinking but am beginning to understand the difference between casually appreciating a glass of good wine and why I like or don't like it, and how to properly distinguish one wine from another. The more I read on the subject the more confused I get. Blind tasting is highly recommended for all sorts of reasons; more concentration is required, there are no preconceived ideas of what the wine will be like and there is a requirement to discover distinguishing features which should help you remember how to identify a similar or the same wine again in the future. But then I read that it depends on your palate, how you are feeling and that it is too subjective. It is a minefield, yet one that if I want to pass level 3 and go on to do the diploma, I need to overcome. In order to do that the consensus is that I need experience and lots of practice!