I love wine and after recent visits to Burgundy and California  I have become fascinated  with how everything from pruning through to bottling will affect the final wine. I completed the Wine Society and Education Trust (WSET) level 2 exam in 2012 and then embarked on the Level 3. However, just before the exam Nadia gave birth to our first daughter, Athena, and my wine studying had to go on hold. I hope to take the exam later this year.

How I taste:

All wine is initially stored in a cooler at 12^◦C. White wines are opened straight from the cooler; further cooling may be required for some wines.  Red wine is decanted before tasting and I try and ensure a tasting temperature appropriate to the type pf wine, 13^◦C for light bodied and between 15^◦C and 18^◦C for medium/full bodied reds.

The wine is tasted in an ISO glass using the WSET systematic approach. If possible I do this blind so that I am not steered by knowledge of the grape.

The final notes are, of course, just my opinion and the more research I do the more I see opinions on wines differ widely, but I hope to give options of how to drink the wine if it is at first not to your taste. Temperature and food make a huge difference to how a wine tastes.

Hope you enjoy

Cheers

Nick Stokes (nick@eastmedfood.com)