Want to make the most of your trip to Napa and Sonoma Valleys?
Start out your tasting adventure with a two-hour class, “Tasting Like a Professional”
at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA)
at Greystone. The setting for the class
is an impressive amphitheater in the Rudd Center
for Wine Studies, an old stone structure overlooking the vineyards of Charles
Krug winery. This semi-circular room is complete with individual stations
equipped with tasting sinks, viewing lights, and rows of stemware.
At the class on a Saturday in late
September, we had couples and singles from Iowa, Texas,
California, New York, and Tennessee with us. Each
attendee had his or her own personal goal. Some wanted to enlarge their palate.
“I always drink chardonnays,” said the woman from Cedar Rapids. Some were veteran Napa Valley
visitors that wanted to increase their wine knowledge. The guys from New York said, “We only
drink red wines and would like to understand how to appreciate rosés and
Sauvignon blancs”.
Traci Dutton, our instructor for
today, is the CIA’s
sommelier and chief wine and spirits acquisition manager. One of her main lessons focuses on helping us
increase our “sensory Rolodex”. She stresses note-taking, too. “Can you
imagine remembering everything about this wine after tasting 100 of them, much
like wine judges have to do at wine competitions?”
And
Traci should know. She has been a competitive judge at the Dallas Morning News
Wine Competition and the Los Angeles County Fair “Wines of the World”
Competition, two of the largest in the country. She lead us through appropriate swirling for
aromas, tasting for palate flavors, and assessing the wine’s finish. We received a proper wine-spitting lesson then
as well.
Following an overview of
wine-making basics, Traci leads us through trying to identify aromas with Le
Nez du Vin olfactory wine essence bottles
- black pepper, raspberry, cigar box, cassis, bell pepper, flora, strawberry,
and plum. Our class gets the correct
answers as a whole but, individually, we are not as accurate.
As
we proceed to the blind tasting
At the conclusion of the class,
Traci reminds us that sensory detection is a practice sport. Now we’re heading
back down California’s Highway 29 for our wine-tasting weekend. According to
the Napa Valley Vintners Association, there are 325 wineries and numerous winery
brands in Napa Valley.
We’re now ready to hit those practice fields prepared for tasting like a pro.
The Culinary Institute of America
2555 Main Street
St. Helena, CA 94574
Wine Enthusiast Classes - Wine Explorations
800-888-7850
For schedule information contact: concierge@culinary.edu
$95.00 for the two hour class. Class size is limited to 36.
Classes are offered almost every Saturday and offered at 10 AM and 2
PM.
Directions: The CIA is located off Highway 29 at the north end or St.
Helena
About the author: Tricia Conover, a 15-year McKinney, Texas resident,
is a C.W. P. Certified Wine Professional designation. She is the former
Chairman of the Board, McKinney Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Comments