Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/931490
january/february 2018 / the tasting panel / 9 It was a picture-perfect November afternoon in Houston's Museum District when Ballance and fellow Master Sommelier Jack Mason of Pappas Bros. Steakhouse arrived to lead another Deductive Tasting seminar on the final stop of the Luxicon tour. The more than 30 wine professionals in attendance— mostly buyers for the city's top fine dining destinations— took in sweeping views of the city from the 11th floor of the swank Hotel ZaZa as Ballance and Mason led the group through the nuts and bolts of how to prepare for a blind tasting exam. Many of the guests were Advanced Sommelier and Master Sommelier candidates who were present not only to absorb the insights the two veteran sommeliers had to offer, but to vie for one of three $1,200 scholarships. Following the seminar, each guest was invited to take part in a blind tasting of four red wines selected by Ballance, with the top tasters taking home a check from the Guild of Sommeliers Education Foundation (SommFoundation). Just as she did in Miami, Ballance devoted the first 40 minutes of her talk to the Court of Master Sommeliers' famed "Deductive Tasting Format," a finely-tuned tasting methodology that allows the sommelier to hone in on the country, appellation, grape variety, and vintage of the wine in question. Through the evaluation of "sight," "nose," and "palate," sommeliers who sit for exams can eliminate a series of incorrect answers as she or he identifies clues to the wine's origin and character. For example, Ballance noted that ripe fruit might point to a New World country, while under-ripe notes could be an indicator of Old World origins. To demonstrate the process, Mason walked the group through a blind tasting of a white wine (he handily pegged the wine as a California Chardonnay from the 2015 vintage). To follow up, Ballance then offered her colleague a second wine—this time, a red—to be tasted "on the clock" like a real examination. After humbly pointing out that he had to repeat the blind tasting three times before he obtained his Master Sommelier pin, Mason was heartily applauded by the group as he identified the wine as a 2013 Chianti Classico. Following the seminar, guests attended a Treasury Wine Estates walkaround tasting where Ballance and Mason announced the scholarship winners: Monica Townsend, Sommelier at Camerata at Paulie's; Menno Ozinga, Wine Buyer at La Griglia; and Steven McDonald, Sommelier at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, each received a check to support them in their pursuit of higher educa- tion in fine wine. It was a "win-win-and-win," noted a Houston-based wine writer in attendance, "even for their restaurant guests." The winners of Houston's blind tasting: Monica Townsend, Sommelier at Camerata at Paulie's (second from left) and Menno Ozinga, Wine Buyer at La Griglia (second from right). They're pictured with Jack Mason, MS, of Pappas Bros. Steakhouse and Gillian Ballance. Not pictured is third winner Steven McDonald, Sommelier at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse. A "Win-Win-Win" in Houston Wine professionals took in sweeping views of the city from the 11th floor of the swank Hotel ZaZa as Ballance and Mason led the group through the nuts and bolts of preparing for a blind tasting exam. by Jeremy Parzen / photos by Felix Sanchez