SPR – Wine tasting
How do you put a price on a bottle of wine? Apparently not on just whether you like the taste or not, although personal preference is important to what you might buy.

On Tuesday 22nd November 13 SPR members were taught an acronym which is widely used to assess a wine and when the elements making up the acronym harmonise together are considered to make a better quality bottle of wine.

BLIC - which stands for Balance, Length, Intensity and Complexity.

Balance depends on how well the components of the wine blend together and whether they complement or overpower each other? Balance is influenced by the quality of the grape to begin with, the level of acidity, the level of alcohol (the heat you feel at the back of your throat after sipping), the amount of tannin (which dries out your mouth making you thirsty for more) if any in the wine, the amount of sugar (if any) and whether the components are well integrated into the wine carrying the flavour well.

The Length of a wine is measured by how long the taste remains in your mouth after you have taken a sip and swallowed the wine.

Intensity is characterised by the strength of the flavours, and whether multiple flavours can be easily distinguished from each other?

And finally, complexity. How many different flavours can you identify?

The SPR members tasted five glasses of wine; two whites, two reds and a sparkling wine and were tasked within the pairs of deciding which was of better quality and therefore more likely to come with a higher price tag using BLIC as the basis for discussion and ultimately decision. The sparking was discussion in isolation on its merits. Whilst the challenge strangely seemed to get harder as the evening went on, the members were largely able to apply what they’d been taught and identify the premium wine.

The two whites that featured were Condrieu, Cave Merlin 2019 and Yalumba Organic Viognier. The two reds were d'Arenberg Coppermine Road McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 and Moss Brothers Moses Rock Cabernet Sauvignon. The sparkling was the Quartet Anderson Valley Brut, Roederer Estates NV.

This was the first in person wine tasting event held by the SPR and will likely not be the last. The event was held at Cromwell Property Group, and brilliantly run by SPR member Joanna Tano, and her husband Rob who holds a diploma in wine from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET, https://www.wsetglobal.com/) and is a qualified wine educator.

Alex Dunn