Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/913027
{ SOMMjournal.com } 61 A FEW DEDUCTIVE TASTING TIPS FROM THE MASTERS IN LUXICON LAS VEGAS Sight There's a term called "water white," which usually means lack of color, that we use and is acceptable for the grid. —Ira Harmon Color is something that I used to just brush under the table when I was studying to pass the tasting portion because I just wanted to get it over with and get to the nose and palate. However, I learned after failing the tasting portion how impor - tant sight is and really how many clues you can get from those first five or six points. —Gillian Ballance Secondary color or hue for me is the outer colors I see when I tilt the glass and look at the very core. In white wines you can see silver hues; typically these are grape varietals that are low in pig - ment or you can have some greenish hues. That could be wines from cool-climate regions. There are also copper hues—grapes like Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, or Muscat that turn a little pink on the skins at veraison can give you that copper hue. —G.B. The green normally to me can suggest that it's a young wine less than three to four years old, and bottled very fresh. —I.H. Nose Most people gravitate to smelling down low in the glass, but go up to the top of the glass for the secondary and tertiary aromas. —I.H. Fruit condition is usually an indication of climate or ripeness of fruit at the time of picking. It's a very important part of your deductive tasting. —G.B. Palate Master Sommelier Reggie Narito would say to me, "Just count to four," and based on where the acid hits you when you're counting is where it lands on the scale. For instance, if I get that immediate sensation of watering, it'd be up in the high part of the scale. —G.B. Texture has never been more relevant than it is today. We're starting to teach that now at the Advanced level. We haven't been stressing texture at the Master level quite yet, but all the future Advanced sommeliers will have to name creamy, round, or lean. —I.H. Valley Pinot Noir, Australia; Franz Haas 2015 Pinot Nero, Trentino Alto-Adige, Italy; and Escarpment 2014 Pinot Noir, Martinborough, New Zealand. The day culminated in a leisurely Treasury Wine Estates walk-around tasting. Somms and distributors nibbled on hors d'oeuvres, sipping on a few gems from the TWE portfolio—the Penfolds 2012 Grange, Stags' Leap 2014 The Leap Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chateau St. Jean 2014 "Cinq Cépages" Red Blend, to name a few—as Ballance announced the winners. Master Sommeliers Gillian Ballance and Ira Harmon, Business Development Manager of Fine Wine for Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, at the Luxicon Treasury Wine Estates deductive tasting seminar in Las Vegas. He may have had to leave early for work, but he still left a great impression: Rivea Sommelier Norman Acosta, the third Las Vegas participant to win the Luxicon Treasury Wine Estates scholarship, follows along carefully during the tasting seminar. PHOTO: MONA SHIELD PAYNE Posing with Master Sommelier Gillian Ballance are two of the Las Vegas blind tasting winners: Peter Plaehn, Wine Specialist/Key Accounts at Négoce, and Kirk Peterson, Beverage Director of Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group. PHOTO: MONA SHIELD PAYNE PHOTO: MONA SHIELD PAYNE