For many, there has always been a specific image and a pompous connotation attached to blind tastings.  Scenes of an older gentleman sniffing a long stemmed glass next to a brown-bagged bottle and then confidently claiming, “New leather, tobacco, cassis and two day old morel mushrooms…this is quite obviously the 1986 Chateau Petrus.”

Now of course there are people who think blind tasting is silly and simply a way to show off.  Let me clear this up…that is NOT the intention of blind tastings!   That does not mean people don’t use blind tastings as a way to show off, but as I said, it’s not the intention…at least not for us, anyway.  They can actually be very useful.  When you sample and taste as many wines as we do, our palates can often become biased towards certain producers, regions, styles, varietals, or even prices.  Blind tastings are a way for us wine buyers to stay impartial.  One can’t look at anything but quality, and whether we think our customers will like it when they try it.

Here’s an abstract music-related analogy that supports blind tastings:  Many songwriters do not like to discuss their personal meanings behind the songs they write because once the song is released, it can mean anything to anyone.  It may be sad to one person and incredibly uplifting to someone else.  The songwriter does not want his meaning to turn someone else off to his song.  Without context, all you know is whether you like it or not.  It’s a good way to tell whether a song moves you on its own volition.

But there are valued wine people who write blind tastings off entirely.  One of my favorite wine quotes comes from the hilarious Kermit Lynch in his amazing book, Adventures on the Wine Route, where he states, “Blind Tasting is to wine drinking what strip poker is to love.”

Perhaps Kermit simply meant that blind tastings are embarrassing and ultimately humbling.  More likely, however, what Kermit meant when he described blind tasting is that it really has nothing to do with drinking wine.  Kermit believes that in order to enjoy drinking wine, you should know everything about how the wine was made.  The producer, the tradition, the vineyard, the ageing, etc.

Here’s a similar music-related comparison for Kermit’s side of the argument:  Was Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” as moving when you didn’t know the story behind it?  Knowing the circumstances of the song, and what the musician put into that song can’t help but change how you feel about it. 

The importance of blind tastings are a hot topic in the wine world, and I see the truth of both arguments.  There are many who believe they’re absurd and pointless while others believe they’re educational.  In my opinion, they are a valuable tool in assessing wines impartially, but when I’m just drinking wine, I want to know as much as possible so I can have an understanding of what went into this product.  Often you’ll be surprised at what you like, what you write off, and what you thought would happen.  One things for sure though, like strip poker, blind tastings are fun!