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A lesson on blind tasting
Trade Tastings Sophia Longhi Trade Tastings Sophia Longhi

A lesson on blind tasting

Picture the scene: A sommelier has a glass of wine in front of her. She eyes the wine carefully; looks at the colour of it, watches how it moves in the glass. She takes time to assess the weight of it, the potential age of it, the approximate alcoholic strength of it. She sniffs it, takes in the aromas, stage by stage. Eventually, she tastes it. She pushes the wine around her mouth, sucks some air over it, chews it a little and swallows. After making some mental calculations, she speaks. ‘Syrah. Côte Rotie. 2004.’ And then, after a pause, ‘Domaine Jamet.’

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Sud de France Annual Tasting 2018
Trade Tastings, France Sophia Longhi Trade Tastings, France Sophia Longhi

Sud de France Annual Tasting 2018

I love visiting the South of France and there are three things that never fail to make it a wonderful trip – the weather, the food and the wine. Visiting small local vineyards is always part of it; making an afternoon of it and taking a tasty, inexpensive bottle (or three) back to enjoy with a home-cooked supper and friends. The charm of this part of the world keeps its devotees coming back time after time, living their dream of buying crusty baguettes in the morning and local wine in the afternoon, but now it seems they have even more reason to stick around (and sip around), as the region’s reputation for high quality wine is skyrocketing.

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