Tasting
- If you believe a wine is simple make sure you write the word “simple” in both the nose and palate sections, it’s worth a mark
- Ensure you comment on all aspects of palate – sweetness, acidity, alcohol, body, finish and flavour characteristics; create a mnemonic to ensure you remember them all SAABFF so you don’t give away potential marks
- Ensure you use the correct terminology, for example pronounced intensity, not high intensity
- Write at least 5 aroma and at least 3 flavour characteristics, remember there is no negative marking; but be reasonable, it is unlikely that a wine smells of lemon and blackcurrant; however if it smells of lemon then it may well have an aroma of lime too
- If you detect a characteristic then write it in both the aroma and flavour sections
- Make it easy for the examiner to give you marks by clearly separating the different parts of your answer
- Where you use (-) or (+) put them in brackets so they don’t get confused for a hyphen or ampersand
Theory
- The manual is called “Explaining Style and Quality”, there is a reason for that. Read what the question wants and don’t just state facts, say what their impact is on the style and/or quality of the wine. For example, don’t just say “the climate is cool” say “the climate is cool which means the grapes retain freshness and acidity”; don’t just say “fermentation is in stainless steel” say “fermentation is in stainless steel in order to retain the primary fruit character”. Think about using the phrase “which means that …”
- Look at the marks available and ensure you make at least that number of relevant points
- Learn the sequence of winemaking from harvest to bottling and apply it to your answer if relevant