Category: WSET Advanced

WSET Advanced

Hidalgo “Faraon” Oloroso Sherry

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, med amber
Nose: clean, med to med+ intensity, developed, meaty, nutty, touch of soy, raisin, light yeastiness, LIKE A BAKERY
Mouth: dry, med+ bodied to full, I got a med acidity but the instructor got low to med- acid, long length, high alcohol, med+ intensity, meaty, brine, nuts
All in all: Very good quality; drink now.

Oh my. I’m not sure if I’m just more partial to Oloroso Sherry, but DAMN this was good, and it was the favourite for everyone at my table. Such delicious aromas on the nose and flavours on the palate. Although we picked out some individual notes on the nose like raisins and an oxidized soy quality, I couldn’t help but go back to the whole bakery thing since it seemed like all the oxidized, yeasty, and nutty notes added up to that.… read more

WSET Advanced

NV Joan Raventos Rosell Cava Brut

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, deep lemon, bubbles
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, yeasty, funk, metallic, floral
Mouth: dry, med to med+ body, med- to med acid, med to med+ length, bubbles don’t really last
All in all: Good quality; drink now (this particular batch was losing its structure).

[Edit: retried this on November 13, 2013.]

What a great value. From what I remember, this guy had a decent amount of stinky yeast on the nose. A quick internet glance tells me people didn’t like this as much as I did, but I think it had a nice amount of complexity despite the agreed-upon falling structure. I would definitely buy this again to reaffirm my thoughts. It’s quite possible that I’m praising it for more than it’s actually worth, but then again it looks like I fiercely circled “yeasty” in my notebook.… read more

WSET Advanced

NV Yellow Tail Bubbles

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon, large bubbles
Nose: clean, youthful, med intensity, tropical fruit, fresher than comparison wine (Cava), grapey
Mouth: off-dry?, more aggressive bubbles, med+ body, med acid, med+ length
All in all: Very good quality; drink now.

Yellow Tail is such an interesting brand. It’s one of the only wine brands I knew before I started getting into wine (and more specifically, their Shiraz), and it’s probably one of the brands that is well-known in the wine world. Winecouver states it perfectly – I would say that the touch of residual sugar (in the wines I’ve had, most notably the Shiraz and Bubbles) makes it so welcoming to the non-wine drinking masses, and combined with (what I would guess is) inexpensive winemaking and marketing so brilliant that it makes its way into marketing textbooks, you have a success that angers no one but the wine savvy, who make a Shakespearean grimace into the distance and wonder why people aren’t drinking other wines.… read more

WSET Advanced

NV Breton Vouvray “La Dilettante” Crémant de Loire

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, lots of mineral, reserved fruit, touch of yeast, bitter edge, green apple
Mouth: dry, med bodied, med+ acid, med length
All in all: Good to very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing.

[Retried in February 2014]

So basically everything that was tasted during the latter half of this day was rushed, which resulting in the shittiest, most rushed (and incomplete) tasting notes ever (so messy that I can’t even read them). All due to the fact that our exam was right after our sparklings, anyways. 

I’m slightly disappointed I didn’t write more about this wine! In theory it’s interesting:
1) Having the “Vouvray” sub-region designation, we know that it’s 100% Chenin Blanc, which is my favourite white grape (for now, anyways).… read more

WSET Advanced

NV Mionetto Treviso Brut Prosecco

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon, large bubbles
Nose: clean, med intensity, youthful, bubble gum, cotton candy, pear drops
Mouth: dry with a sweet impression, med bodied, low to med- acid, med length, low alcohol
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

Prosecco is one of those bubblys that I feel has a bad reputation. More than often people assume that it’ll be sweet – which isn’t entirely false, but its unpopularity might be due to the fact that it has that less serious personality – especially if it has fun packaging like this (but that being said, it’s not so hard to find more serious Prosecchi. Usually.). 

And ironically enough, this was like sparkling white Beaujolais Nouveau and happened to get a solid 2.5… read more

WSET Advanced

NV Duval-Leroy Brut Rosé Champagne

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale orange, bubbles
Nose: clean, pronounced, developing, more ripe fruit, bready, red fruit (strawberry), smokey/mineral
Mouth: dry, med to med+ body, med+ acid, long length, med+ intensity, med- alcohol
All in all: Very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing.

Tasted against the NV Lugny Rosé Crémant de Bourgogne.

I’m not going to deny a glass of (rosé) Champagne. Because number 1: that would be stupid; number 2: rarely do you get that chance unless you’re rich as balls; and number 3: it’s really an experience in itself, no matter how ephemeral. And the pinkness makes it more interesting.

And yes – I do admit that the differences between this and the Crémant were almost indistinguishable unless you *really* stuck your nose in there and got a real sense of the characters of the wines – but perhaps the non-vintageness of the wine was at fault.… read more

WSET Advanced

NV Lugny Rosé Crémant de Bourgogne

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale orange, bubbles
Nose: clean, pronounced, youthful, yeastiness, light strawberry/watermelon notes
Mouth: dry, med body (delicate bubbles), med acid, med+ length, med- alcohol, med intensity
All in all: Very good quality; drink now.

Tasted against the NV Duval-Leroy Brut Rosé Champagne.

This taste comparison was obviously set up to show the differences between a rosé Crémant and a rosé Champagne. Disappointingly enough, it was hard to pick up those definitive toasty notes in one of these wines and not the other. Amusingly enough, what this comparison showed was the potential for great Crémants to exist, something which is apparently not a common thing. Plenty of delicate bubbles, and there was some stinky yeastiness on the nose, along with some light red fruit notes.… read more

WSET Advanced

2007 Lammershoek Pinotage

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, deep ruby
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, smoky, meaty, black cherry, leather, medicinal
Mouth: dry, med bodied, med acidity, high intensity, med tannins, med+ length, high alcohol
All in all: Good to very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing

My goodness, what a wine. I tasted the exact same wine a year ago in my WSET Intermediate classes, and I seemed to be more intrigued by it the second time around. Right off the bat, the nose is both repulsive and interesting – notes of charred meat and pungent spice attack the nose, with a balanced intensity and rather good quality on the palate. Fruit takes the backseat role on this one. At first I was turned off by the unconventional nose, but it intrigued me more and more as I went back to smell it.… read more

WSET Advanced

2010 Joseph Drouhin “Laforet” Chardonnay

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, sweet, peaches, tropical fruit
Mouth: dry, med- body, med to med+ acidity, med length
All in all: Good quality; drink now; not intended for ageing.

Tasted against the 2006 Louis Jadot Chardonnay Meursault Genevrières.

Initially the really ripe fruits had me guessing a New World Chardonnay from a hot area (unfortunately I didn’t pick up on the acidity), but lo and behold, this was an entry-level Burgundian Chardonnay that borders on that New World ripeness.

Although this is a good entry-level Chardonnay on the lower end of the mid-price range, I feel like I wouldn’t go back to it because there are either wines with a bit more complexity for the same price point or cheaper wines with just-as-ripe fruit.… read more

WSET Advanced

NV Henkell Trocken

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon-green
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, fruit (peachy), mineral, sweet, light notes of tropical fruit
Mouth: dry, more aggressive bubbles, med- bodied, med- to med acidity, med length, med intensity, med- alcohol
All in all: Good quality; drink now; not intended for ageing.

Compared alongside 1999 Lanson Gold Label Champagne.

I have used Henkell Trocken as a wine for a wine tasting I held once, because it’s a cheap and fun almost-all-purpose bubbly. Personally, I find it boring, but for the price, it’s a great and cheap bubbly. The intensity and “tropical fruit” you see in my tasting notes were really more of the class consensus – I wrote down that I found it had a light to med- intensity with a predominant mineral and green fruit nose.… read more