Adapt the Tasting Room to Get the Best Experience While Practicing your Wine Tasting Skills 

There are as many “tasting rooms” as there are occasions to taste wine. The setting of the tasting room is more important when one wants to be serious about the outcomes of the tasting: 

• For example, as a student, you want to have the best conditions to evaluate the wines and memorize their different sensory attributes without being influenced by all the possible tasting errors. 

However, 

So let’s talk first about the “serious” wine tasting environment. Later on, I will suggest some tips to be more objective in social contexts, as much as this can be possible.

Create a Tasting Room Enhancing the Wine Experience

The room can be sober as the sensory evaluation laboratories I usually work with or more playful to create a pleasant social environment . 

However there are 3 rules to follow to prevent insidious tasting errors to challenge the tasting outcomes. 

1. Find a quiet space where tasters can focus on the task
2. Limit all sensory stimulations other than those in the wine glasses: no music, no flashy posters on the walls, no perfumes, no coffee pot nearby. 
3. Prevent tasters interactions: wine tasters love to talk. However, sharing opinions or perceptions while tasting can influence one way or another what one actually perceives. Mutual suggestion, especially coming from more experienced tasters or senior managers or professors can be detrimental to mislead your sensory perceptions and make you think you are wrong. (Remember you are never wrong; believe your senses as long as they are not distracted).

There are few ways of limiting interactions: build partitions (permanent or temporary) or place people in such a way they don’t see each other faces and they can’t see each others’ notes, like if they were taking an exam.

The more handy among us can build temporary partition with poster boards sold at your favourite office supplies store.

All sensory textbooks cover a chapter on the requirements to build a sensory lab.  If you are interested in building a tasting room with sensory evaluation standards, I would recommend reading the ISO guidelines written to that effect.

Set up the Tasting Room to Enrich the Social Experience

I am always impressed when I see wine writers tasting and making notes while they attend wine events, going from one wine table to the next. Impressed but doubtful of the validity of the process and the fairness to the wines. It’s quasi impossible to eliminate any of sensory interactions with your wine perceptions. The winery staff talk to you and provide as much information as they can on the wine making and the winery philosophy.  Power of suggestion, error of expectation.

These places are usually noisy and immersed in lovely food smells. 

In such a wine tasting environment, make sure you keep a consistent process if you are willing to compare wines based on their sensory attributes.

• You will likely see the wine labels, but ask the staff not to give you her pitch until you have completed your notes.
• If you expectorated wines before, do it for all...yes all the wines. 
• If bread is available, eat some to absorb any remaining flavors between wine samples and to give you some fuel to go on. 
• Rinse your palate with water and drink a lot of water to prevent dehydration. Using the washrooms will help you pace your tasting by offering natural breaks.

One last thing: It would be unfair to the wines to compare the notes you took at such events with notes for other wines taken in better tasting environments. 

Another last thing: Social events are orchestrated to create enjoyment and leave you with great memories. Go back to serious tasting at a later date.

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