On Tuesday, September 12, Armada Wine & Beer Merchant will offer a chance to taste several mystery glasses of wine — and see, smell, and think of the drink in an eye-opening new way. Led by sommelier Carlos Mascherin, The Secret to Blind Tasting will serve up a series of blind tastings that make for a delicious, informative, and enlightening guessing game. Based on the deductive tasting methods of expert sommeliers, Mascherin’s class follows the format of the Court of Master Sommeliers exams and can help you better discern what to look for in a wine — and why you like (or don’t like) it.
Mascherin, a certified sommelier, will offer examples of two reds and two whites, using visual, aromatic, and flavor traits to determine their varietal, appellation, vintage, and quality level. “People who attend the event actually get to experience what even master sommeliers go through during their exam,” he said. It’s a class to help you “broaden and activate the palate” — a way of expanding your understanding of an activity that Yale neuroscientist Gordon Shepherd recently proclaimed is more cerebrally engaging than math or just about any other human activity.
“The world of wine is so immense and broad and profound and vast, it’s mind-numbing,” said Mascherin. The art of blind tasting, he said, “is more than a trick at parties. The sommelier who can look, smell, and taste a glass of wine that is unknown to them and tell you what it is is a sommelier who truly understands the nature of wine grapes.”