So, after a couple of months of planning and revving up the engine, it’s time to get down to business . At this stage, this is largely pure studying and tasting, with the idea to put in the long hours to start moving past the WSET Diploma level and get more into the mindset of taking the MW exams. The last couple of months have been more difficult than expected, with a heatwave that looked nasty in northern European countries and was almost unbearable in Spain; I don’t think I absorbed a shred of information during those 3 weeks. Nevertheless, I’m well underway with book studies and tasting, with the idea to have moved past the WSET Diploma in both content and style, ready for a trip to Argentina in December (theoretically a holiday to visit family in Buenos Aires, but I have 4 days to whizz around Mendoza by myself; hurrah!) and then a recalibration at the beginning of 2019.

It’s also given me a chance to get to grips with tasting opportunities which, it turns out, are going to see me flying to London and back an awful lot to attend trade tastings. If you read my first part of this journey, which was a horrifyingly real look at just how expensive the overall cost of this education is, you’ll have noted that I planned around €1,800 a year for travel and accomodation costs, €3000 a year for wine purchases and €1000 a year for wine trips. I got some great feedback on these numbers, mainly being that the total number was about right, but that the weighting was wrong, but probably less to be spent on wine itself and more to be spent on study/tasting opportunities. Predictably, they were right! Whilst I will certainly need to continue tasting (and hopefully occasionally drinking!) wine at home, from a financial point of view, it makes far, far more sense to do this in London, with the sheer quantity of trade tastings there an embarrassment of riches for a wine student.

This is a good time to introduce the WSTA Trade Diary, which is where the vast majority of tasting events, wine dinners, wine-maker presentations and so on are to be found. No real tasting experience with Chilean wine? There’s an entire days tasting with various masterclasses and opportunities to meet the wine-makers and decision makers every September. Want to taste through the most recent vintages of Bordeaux? You need to be considering the Union de Grand Cru Bordeaux tasting (if you do, you’ll see me there, spending my 30th birthday demolishing my teeth enamel). Whilst it’s certainly not cheap or convenient to fly to London and back continuously, even if you manage the brutal there-and-back trip within a day, it’s an awful lot better than trying to access these wines yourself in Spain, and no doubt elsewhere. Better still, many of these events are manned by brand ambassadors, wine-makers, export managers and so on, making them a gold-mine for gathering first-hand examples and really digging into a producer/region/style of wine.

As I build up towards beginning the Masters of Wine course, I’ll be trying to get to London every month to attend these tastings, potentially more often in particularly busy months such as January and September. Plane tickets booked in advance come to around €100 to get there and back within the day, meaning that I could visit every month and be well within budget. The only exception to this are my days judging with the IWC, where I have to be in London for a few days at a time.

Last Tuesday 18th September, I gave this a try for the first time to visit the Liberty Wine Autumn Portfolio tasting, where they lay out bottles of the producers they represent and sell for the wine trade to taste. It’s a self-pouring event and wines are laid out by regions, grapes or styles throughout a very large room at the Kia Oval, meaning that there’s not a lot of producer interaction, but it is truly a remarkable tasting opportunity, particularly as you just grab a few glasses and work it out yourself. Better yet, I managed to snag some more time with the wonderful Natasha Hughes MW who, despite my nagging cold, gave me almost a full 2 hours of her time to practice blind tasting. We focused on the two glass technique, which I’ll go through in more detail another time, comparing and contrasting wine styles. “These two wines are from different varieties from the same country. Identify the grape(s), the country and the region as specifically as possible, giving supporting evidence for your answers”. Barolo vs Chianti Classico, Mosel Riesling vs Clare Valley Riesling, Barossa Valley Shiraz vs St Joseph Syrah…. a hugely informative exercise, and one that I’ll continue to practice as often as possible. The format follows the style of the MW exams, making it not only a great learning tool for any wine student, but a must for anyone planning to take their 2nd year exams.

I spent around 2-3 hours practicing this, comparing all sorts of examples. Comparing quality levels is a really useful one; what’s the difference between a Chablis, a Chablis Premier Cru and a Chablis Grand Cru? Comparing Langhe Nebbiolo vs Barolo. Chianti Classico vs Brunello. Then stylistically, pick a grape and find 2-3 examples from around the world to compare them against. Garnacha from Priorat vs Chateauneuf du Pape and Australian Grenache. Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir vs several examples from New Zealand and Chile. Cabernet Sauvignon from practically anywhere vs anywhere else. A hugely useful exercise.

The rest of the day was spent pretending I wasn’t hungry in order to taste through lunch (Fresh bread with Fontodi’s olive oil at a stand in the corner was a big help here) and doing some individual tasting on wines I’d always wanted to try. By around 4pm my palate was practically fried, having tasted somewhere near 80 wines, and I had to run to catch my plane back. I’m not usually able to sleep easily on airplanes, but after waking up at 4:15am to catch the first flight out of Barcelona and charging around all day, it was possible to get an hour on the flight without too much trouble. My flights were delayed both there and back, and the entire train was disembarked one stop before Heathrow on the way back for no apparent reason, making for a stressful but worthwhile day, in spite of my nasty cold. I hope to be back for their January tasting and probably every event from that point forward. A huge thank you to Liberty Wine for allowing me to attend despite not being part of the British wine trade, as well as to Natasha Hughes MW for once again giving up her free time to mentor me.

Here are some tips and things to be aware of for students looking to do the same:

• Take the time to go through the WSTA Trade Diary in some detail. It’s a brilliant tool and worth an hour of your time to plan your tasting trips.
• Don’t be afraid to ask permission to attend – most of these tastings require an invitation of some sort and you get invited by….asking! The organiser of the events are usually listed in the details of the WSTA Trade Diary; send them an email and politely ask for the chance to come and attend.
• If you’re planning the day-and-back trip, know that it’ll be awful. Book the earliest ticket in you can and schedule to arrive 1-2 hours early. Something will go wrong along the way and you may even still arrive late!
• Ask for information. If you’re talking to a producer/brand ambassador/whoever, make sure you dig into the details and record anything important. If they’re very busy, ask for a card and if they’d mind if you send them a couple of questions later on.
• Grab 2 glasses at every tasting you go to, if at all possible. Whilst tasting is always useful, comparative tasting really helps drive home the differences between wines, and exposes elements that didn’t see as prominent before.
• Have a big breakfast. If you need to maximise your time at an event, you’ll want to taste when everyone else is eating. The quietest time of the day!
• Don’t get distracted by all the buzz around you. No doubt you’ll bump into friends, colleagues or classmates, but do stay focused. You’ve come a long way just to taste some wine – get tasting!

*If you’re even thinking of going to a trade tasting in London, you should be attending our monthly blind tasting sessions in Barcelona. Keep an eye out for the new events every month!