Tasting Like a Professional at the CIA

Opportunities for wine and food education abound in the Napa Valley. Many wineries and wine shops offer informative tastings and have very knowledgeable

staffs. (Remember, however, both of these groups of people are trying to sell you something!) Additionally, the local college offers community education culinary classes and even has its own cooking school. At the top of the hierarchy is the Culinary Institute of America ("CIA"), which has a campus and a restaurant in an old winery building in St. Helena.

I had always been interested in taking a community education or "enthusiast" course at the CIA, but never had the time. So, I registered for a couple of the less-expensive wine-tasting options. Unfortunately, there weren't any good cooking courses available in my timeframe.

The first of these courses - "Tasting Wine Like A Professional" - was slated for two hours yesterday morning. It ended up being a good introduction to an organized and easy-to-follow process for tasting wine and very similar to the way we tasted and discussed wines at the store where I used to work. Below is a quick summary of some of the highlights and useful information from the course.

Setting and Instructors

The CIA's Napa Valley campus is located in the beautiful town of St. Helena, which is in the northern part of the Valley. The campus has a small building dedicated solely to wine education -- the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies. The class took place in a well-appointed and cozy seminar room, which included sinks for spitting and lights for evaluating a wine's color at every seat. Additionally, the instructors were very knowledgeable, engaging, and patient.

Helpful Tools and Tips

The course began with a warm-up exercise which included smelling samples of certain common wine aromas, like grapefruit and green pepper. One tool that my wine store manager gave me when I first started and which the instructors provided is the aroma wheel. It can be very helpful in facilitating your descriptive vocabulary. I am terrible at describing wines, and I found a re-introduction to the aroma wheel helpful.

A second important tool that the instructors mentioned is a notebook or pad to record your impressions for the wines you taste. I have been very bad about keeping such a log, but it will only help to improve one's sense memory and tasting skills. Plus, it makes it easier to remember those good bottles of wine the next time you go to the store or to a restaurant.

Wine Tasting - Step-by-Step

Although it seems cumbersome and too time-consuming, going through a glass of wine's different elements will really help you to taste, identify, and evaluate the wines you drink. It might not be practical for drinking wine in social settings, but it can be a fun way to learn with friends who are also interested in learning more about wine. In my opinion, it will also give you a greater appreciation for the variety and nuance of different wines from around the world. So, here are the 3 big elements to focus on when keeping your log:

1) Appearance - clarity of color? color? bubbles?

2) Nose - intensity? fruit flavors? non-fruit (spice, floral, etc.) flavors?

3) Taste/Palate - sweetness? acidity? texture? alcohol? tannins? fruit flavors? non-fruit flavors?

The answer to each of these questions can tell you a little bit about different aspects of the wine, such as the quality of the vintage, how the winemaker manipulated the final product, how the wine is aging, and how well it will pair with certain foods. In this summary of the course's content, I can't go in to all the details - but, if you're more interested you should get a good wine education book. Kevin Zraly's Windows on the World Complete Wine Course is the gold standard in this respect. Check it out.

Although it was a little pricey ($95), I'd recommend this course if you have a morning to spare in Napa, especially early in your trip. It will be helpful not only as you move around the Valley, but also enhance your wine tasting experience at home.

Finally, in addition to the helpful tips, we got to try some pretty nice wines (9 in all) throughout the class, including a tasty Merry Edwards Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast and a big and bold Whitehall Lane Reserve Cabernet from Napa.