Sommelier School: Educating the Senses
By Amanda Barnes
Everyone and their grandmother believe that they know something about wine, especially in Mendoza. Even I thought I did. But everyone and their grandmother also know that there is a large gulf between being an amateur wine lover and a sommelier.
I learnt the names of the main grape varieties in my teens, I learnt at University not to drink a wine when the cork smells funny and since arriving in Argentina six months ago I even know that you should gurgle the wine in your mouth before glugging it.
When I found out about the short courses taught at Escuela Argentina de Sommeliers (EAS), I enrolled on one in the hope that I could learn more about the world’s greatest juice in all its glory (I also figure it might bolster my credentials at any pretentious dinner party).
I started the eight-week course on Wednesday evening at the school in Hipólito Yrigoyen. Trainee sommeliers, restaurant workers and mendocinians who simply like wine formed the small group.
For our first lesson we were welcomed by Sommelier Bárbara Jones who gave us a short introduction on what we would be covering in the course and took us through a brief overview of Old World and New World wines. We touched on the important French heritage in wine and the interesting reason behind Mablec’s name (so called because in France it was a bad wine and in French, Malbec means a bad nose).
Bárbara then taught us the main three steps of wine tasting: the first impression (looks and smells), experience in the mouth (flavors, aromas, tannins, alcohol and acidity) and finally the finish (aftertaste and length). After happily learning the theory in an approachable and unpatronizing way, we moved onto the best part of the lesson: the practical.
Now I am not sure whether it is a ‘waste not, want not’ attitude or perhaps a minor alcohol addiction, but either way I am not accustomed to spitting out my wine. In fact, to me spitting out a good wine is almost sacrilege. However Bárbara informed us that spitting was the only way to go at EAS and so holding back from my British tendency to guzzle everything in front of me, I restrained and learnt the hardest lesson of the day - how to spit out delightful "vino".
We worked our way through three whites and then three reds in a blind tasting, trying to pick up on different aromas and tastes. We could smell fruit and flowers and our teacher was encouraging about our (probably incorrect) guesses, but I think we are still very far off from detecting anise and leather. After revealing the wines, there was a chance for us to finish our tasting cups – this time we were allowed to swallow, joy!
I left happy, intrigued, eager for next week and thirsty for another glass of wine.
EAS is located at Hipólito Yrigoyen 242 and runs short courses as well as two year sommelier courses.
For more information visit www.sommeliers.com.ar or call 261 424 6602.
Amanda Barnes is a freelance writer currently living in Mendoza. For more information, visit www.amandabarnes.co.uk or click here to see her profile.
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