My poor website. It’s been a good three weeks since I wrote anything of note, mainly due to the fact that my last three weeks have seen me turn into a sort of hunch-backed troglodyte whose main goal was to memorize the differences between the various sub-regions of Champagne, Lambrusco clones and the importance of acidic backwash in Bourbon production amongst pages of other detail concerning sparkling wines and spirits. Studying for two separate exams to be taken on the same day is something that hopefully I’ll never, ever have to do again. However, they’re done and dusted now and short of failing them (My spirits tasting wasn’t fantastic, but not that bad I hope!), I can now look forward to a long, slow study towards my final exam in January 2018 and get back to doing what I love most; learning, talking about and drinking wine!
With that being said, here’s what I’m looking forward to the most:
Maestrazgo Wine Club: I’m really looking forward to our weekly tastings over the spring and summer and due to my progression towards the final exam of the WSET Diploma, you can expect to see a large amount of international tastings taking place, as well as numerous blind tastings. Spain won’t be neglected as every month we are doing a tasting of a top quality producer, at a slightly lower cost than our international tastings, and I will be sure to sprinkle in some surprise tastings on topics I’ve always wanted to do, as I slowly acquire the wines necessary for them ( I’d love to do a ‘Big 5’ tasting on the founding pioneers of Priorat, for example. My kingdom for a heavily discounted bottle of Clos Erasmus!). Whilst the tastings are fully booked for this month already, April is just around the corner so keep your eyes peeled on the 1st of the month!
Barcelona Wine Culture: I will come up with a better name for this, but it’s an idea I’ve wanted to go through with for about a year now. The idea is to start profiling some of the best wine bars, restaurants and wine shops in Barcelona, meet some new people and of course, enjoy a glass or two along the way. I have a list of around 25 locations I intend to start with, but looking forward to venturing out to new locations and hopefully finding some new gems to recommend.
Tasting videos: Whilst I have a face better suited for radio, I also dislike writing long tastings notes as I find them to look quite cryptic on paper and completely meaningless to anyone who doesn’t understand the language of wine (Tar, dried roses, wet leaves…. sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Welcome to wine-speak!). As a result, I think that a webcam purchase is in order and Wine Cuentista will take to Youtube on a semi-regular basis, to walk through some of the wines I love to drink! It also gives me a brilliant excuse to drink a lot of new wine from around Spain and do some bargain-hunting in the process. First step; figure out how to make a video… it’s a work in progress!
Blind tasting: I haven’t done a practice blind tasting for well over a month now, which is criminal considering it’s my favourite activity in the world. Looking forward to not only getting back to Monvinic but also catching up with my blind-tasting group and continuing my studies in the best way I know how; tasting wine!
Becoming a Father: There are those who feel this should technically be the first thing on my list, but it’s still another 3 months away which is allowing me to do a remarkably good job at pretending it isn’t as close as it actually is. If all goes to plan, Dante will say hello to the world on the 14th June and I can say goodbye to any small amount of free time I had left, as well as any thoughts of sleep. Does that sound negative? Probably but I’m a realistic guy and the truth is I couldn’t be happier about it. Another chapter, and one worth raising a glass to.