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So You Want to Talk and Taste Like a Wine Pro
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items So you want to learn to talk and taste wine like a pro. These are some tools that will help you on your way!
Sections
4
Books
Accessories
Wine Maps
Wine Courses
Books
These books will help guide you to being in the know.
You'll need a tasting journal, or two to write down all the wines you drink. Even the ones you don't like so you can see if it is the region, the grape or what. You want to learn from each wine!
Wine Journal: 200+ Tasting Notes & Terms
This book is a great read if you are wanting to taste like a pro. You will want to understand the science behind it and he does a fantastic job at explaining things!
Anyone Can Taste Wine: (You Just Need This Book)
If you want to get a lot more in the weeds with tasting and try your hand at blind tasting, this book is a great one for you.
Concise Guide to Wine & Blind Tasting
If you want to save money and skip wine certifications, this is a great starting point book to deep dive into wine.
Kevin Zraly Windows on the World Wine Course
Another wine book that is essentially a wine course in and of itself. This is great for those that don't want to do actual certificates but want to learn as much as possible.
Wine Folly: Magnum Edition: The Master Guide|Hardcover
This is my favorite wine learning book. It is concise, precise and easy to digest but not annoying.
Wine A Tasting Course: From Grape to Glass|Hardcover
Accessories
Some essential wine accessories to help your tasting journey be a lot easier.
Not only is this probably going to come in handy a lot with your wine. But it also gets blood, coffee and all other insane stains out of everything.
Wine Away Stain Remover 12oz
A wine glass polishing cloth is essential. You don't want watermarks or anything that will alter the taste of the wine. Annoying, yes, essential, yes.
Riedel Lint-Free Microfiber Cloths Set of 3
When you first get into tasting and learning about wine, tasting is the most important thing. Taste, taste and taste more. But do NOT drink it all. Get a coravin *this is the cheapest* and just pour a taste, go back in a month pour another and so on. The goal is not to be an alcoholic but to respect wine.
Pivot+
If you want to get real fancy, an aroma kit is such a huge help for you to be able to pick out aromas in wine. It is not essential, but can be a great learning tool.
Renoir 56039 Le Nez du Vin – 54 Flavours
If you want to taste a bottle over a 3 day period, this is the wine stopper system for you.
Vacu Vin Winesaver
A spittoon is an essential tool when learning more about wine. Again, drinking excessively is NOT okay. You want to respect wine and alcohol. Taste and spit, taste and spit.
True Stainless Steel Spittoon for Tasting
This is an ISO tasting glass. A great glass to learn to taste wine with. It is the standard glass when tasting, so get your nose deep in there and take a sniff!
Final Touch ISO INAO Wine Glasses Set of 6
Wine Maps
Like it say, wine region maps!
I am a visual learner so I HIGHLY recommend wine maps, lots and lots of wine maps. You will trace them, study them, memorize them and love them.
Wine Maps of the World – The Boxed Set
Different wine maps but same benefit. These will make you truly understand a region so much better.
Wine Folly - Complete Wine Map Poster Set
This is a great visual to help you with wine aromas. This can be a really subjective part of tasting, so don't get too in the weeds.
A. C. Noble - Wine Aroma Wheel Duo
Wine Courses
A few courses that will help have you tasting and talking like the wine pro you want to be.
Start with the basics. This is a super easy comprehensive start to your wine journey. I highly recommend taking it through Virginia Wine + Spirits Academy. It is online!
WSET Level 1 Award in Wines - Online Course — Virginia Wine & Spirits Academy
The next step in your WSET journey should be level 2. This will give you a much deeper dive into the world of wine, tasting, regions and grapes. Highly recommend this class if you really want to be on your way to knowing a lot more on the subject.
WSET Level 2 Award in Wines — Virginia Wine & Spirits Academy
Wine Scholar Guild offers professional and novice wine courses in various regions around the world. I highly recommend their classes!
Certifications
GuildSomm makes taking deep dives into wine regions and subjects easier. It is a paid membership but there are definite perks to nerding out on information and articles.
GuildSomm International