Hi my name is constantin baum i’m a Master of wine and today i’m going to Take you back to one of the most Traumatic moments in my life I will take you behind the scenes of one Of the most difficult exams in the world I will show you how i pass the master of Wine tasting exam While also tasting some wines from that Exam so Let’s get it on [Music] So nice to see you again if you like my Videos and haven’t subscribed to my Channel yet Then please do it really supports this Channel and helps me Make more exciting wine content the Master of one is one of the highest Regarded qualifications in the wine World The exams were first held in 1953 and Today there are 416 masters of wine Living in 31 different countries i used To say that there were more people That went to space than people who have Passed the master of wine and that is Still true But it seems less impressive today as Every other billionaire currently goes To space There are so few masses of one in the World because the exam is very difficult They used to say that less than ten
Percent of all master of one students Eventually End up becoming a master of wine and That is also or maybe even mainly due to The very very difficult Tasting exam it’s the most extensive Tasting exam in the wine world as you Have to identify 36 different wines blind there’s no list Of wines that you have to know Everything is possible there was a Chateau la fit 1989 in an exam but there was also a Lambrusco in the lineup when i passed The exam You might get an ascertico from Santorini or Avioni from south australia that said Everything is possible Apart from the homebrewed plonk i made Last year the only way you can prepare For such a vast amount of different Wines is to taste a lot and focus on Your weaknesses There are hundreds of relevant wine Growing regions and you can’t be an Expert in all of them So you really have to concentrate on the Stuff you don’t know for me at that time It was South africa greece and fortified wines For example As a master of one student you start to Develop a map in your mind that should
Take you to the right wine We call it the funnel as you start off Broad and then get narrower and narrower For white wines for example i started Off by asking myself is this an aromatic Or a non-aromatic grape variety For red wines i asked myself is this a Dark colored Grape variety or light colored grape Variety then i went into Varieties wine making regions and so on And so on on the day of the exam you Have to develop a routine that prepares Yourself physically and mentally I went to bed early did not have any Aromatic or spicy food even though i’m Not really sure Whether that would have impacted my Tasting ability i did have coffee though As i always do in the morning after Brushing my teeth I primed my mouth with a dry Non-aromatic white wine in order to Prepare My palette for the tasting the next Important step is that you have to learn How to perform under pressure on three Consecutive days You have two hours 15 minutes in order To identify 12 different wines blind You also have to write a great Explanation on how you came to that Conclusion The questions are for example wines one
And two Are from the same country but from Different regions and different single Grape varieties for each wine identify The origin as closely as possible And grape variety for both wines compare And contrast quality and style With reference to winemaking easy You do not know anything about the wines They are put from numbered carafes so You don’t Even see the bottle shape and you will Not be able to peek onto your neighbor’s Exam sheet even if you wanted to Needless to say this is very stressful And you cannot start panicking as you Will not be able to smell or taste Anything So you have to learn to relax yourself i Did a lot of blind tastings in order to Prepare myself for the exam And i learned that failure is fine you Just have to stay cool And trust your senses i remember being Scared of the exam but when i sat down And had the wines in front of me I looked around and relaxed it’s quite Beautiful to watch a group of experts in Their field Doing something they’ve prepared for for Years Watching a group of master of wine Students do a blind tasting is a little Bit like watching
Nba players running across the field Shooting Passing and dribbling of course these Experts didn’t look like athletes and They were gurgling fermented grape juice Between their red wine Stained teeth instead of windmill Dunking a ball but You get the point you have to be aware Of time always as you have two hours 15 Minutes which is 12 minutes Per wine which is not enough time if you Have to make important decisions and Write Great tasting notes to give you a little Bit more context this is an example from A mock tasting that i did before the Actual exam the pale cherry red color With a hint of garnet evolution On the watery rim points to a thin skin Varietal The vivid notes of ripe red cherries Raspberries and blueberries along with a Floral lift and forest floor And mushroom notes points to pinot noir The perfume palette With medium light body and fresh acid And moderate tenons And silky texture is consistent with the Varietal The light spice aroma suggesting Maturation in french oak Is in line with the varietal’s affinity To all
That’s it so now let’s see what i still Got it my wife went through some old Tasting papers And bought some wines that were included In past exams i don’t know anything About the wines apart from the fact that Two wines are from paper one which is White wines Two wines are from paper two which is Red wines and two wines are from paper Three Which is a mix of different styles i Will taste the wines and we’ll see Whether i can identify them i have a bit Of a blocked nose Which of course ranks number one as the Most frequently used excuse when you’re Expecting To fail in a blind tasting but let’s go Wow how does this always happen So one of the most important things in The master of wine tasting is that you Number your glasses i Numbered my glasses before pouring the Wine to be sure That number one stays number one the Worst thing That could ever happen is that you Identify the right wines but have them In the wrong order So do number your glasses so the first Thing i did in the exam was i smelled All of the wines In order to find bankers ones that i
Could identify Pretty easily and i think one number two Wine number five and maybe even one Number six Could be considered bankers ones that i Can Probably even identify just by smelling Them alone But then i still have to taste them in Order to be sure That i was right with my first Impression okay so wine number two Is very aromatic it has flavors of Gooseberries Cut grass a little bit of cat’s pee There’s also some passion fruit flavor Here So i think some of you might already Know Where i’m going for me this is pretty Classic Sauvignon blanc from marlborough in new Zealand So it combines a lot of fresh flavors a Lot of different Components on the palette it also Reminds me Of marlborough sauvignon blanc the Acidity is piercing Quite sharp but there’s also texture Richness And body there so i would say this is a Marlborough sauvignon blanc Probably from the 2020 vintage because
It’s still very fresh Very young so let’s see whether i’m Right this would be quite Embarrassing as i was so convinced or i Am still so convinced but This looks pretty good so this is the Villa maria Sauvignon blanc reserve clifford bay From A watery i almost said a watery because It’s so fresh and crisp crisp And crispness and freshness is for me Very much associated with a southern Watery valley in marlborough so why Number five is the next banker for me For me this smells very much of lemon Zest but you also have Strong yeasty flavors on the palate this Is really Rich and concentrated a lot of body not A lot of acidity And this feels like it has something Like 15 percent of alcohol And this style for me brings me directly To Sherry i would say this could be a fino Or a manzania Manzania in my opinion has a little bit More Saltiness to it so i would actually say This is a fino from the sherry region But let’s check so Wine number five and it is It is it is drumroll drumroll
A manzania so it is from the cherry Region But it is actually a manzania and it is A pretty good manzanilla so the next one I have strong feelings about Is wine number six it has a pale color But you can see bubbles coming up so This is a sparkling wine It smells of green apple very fruit Driven you don’t have the yeastiness That would be associated with champagne Carver or for example a great winter’s Act from germany So i think i know where this might be Coming from On the palette this feeling is confirmed As this is quite a juicy Wine with lots of freshness it doesn’t Have a lot of Alcohol but there’s some residual sugar There so i would say maybe 15 grams of Residual sugar so i would say this is Probably an extra dry Wine from prosecco from prosecco Docg congliano valdobiadena because it’s Really high quality it could also be a Prosecco dock But overall this is a very classic juicy Complex vibrant fresh prosecco so Let’s see so sparkling wines can be Really tricky because a lot of them Are actually made after the role model Of champagne so Quite a lot of them taste very similar
But this is different So let’s see whether i was right and I was right it’s the usually Prosecutor extra dry it has 11.5 percent Of alcohol And i assume it will be around the 15 Grams of residual sugar mark so now that We have the easy stuff out of the way Let’s move on to the more Tricky ones wine number one for me Is difficult sometimes it really helps To give the wines a little bit more air So that they can unfold their flavor Profile But well the wine doesn’t tell me that Much more Now than it did before so now i really Have to funnel so the wine has quite a Lot of exotic fruit flavor But there’s also a lot of oak here so You can Really sense that the wine was matured Or even fermented and matured in bariks And small oak berries and some of them Were definitely New on the palette it’s rich and Concentrated Has quite a lot of body but there’s also A real nice Freshness and acidity there for me this Seems more like an old world Wine flavor profile wise i would maybe Put this Into bordeaux white bordeaux it could
Also be Something like country just from the Smell but the texture Is much more vibrant and fresh country Would be more fat and rich So i would rule that out it could also Be a white rioja White rioja tends to be aged in oak Barrels this has quite a lot of oak Flavor And there’s also some coconut and sweet Oak flavors Coming through so this might point more To rioja where they use American oak barrels that have these Flavors it definitely has some age so it Could be five to six years old And i will decide that this is A white rioja but i’m not really Convinced Let’s have a look so This bottle could be bordeaux from the Looks of it but Um let’s see Oh allende rioja It is quite an aromatic rioja but it’s a Blend of viewer and marvazia I have tasted white riojas that tasted More like white riojas in my opinion But this is pretty good red wines tend To be a bit more difficult in my opinion White wines you can often judge by the Flavor Alone so you really have to feel the
Wine on your palate Judge the tannins and the structure in Order to decide Which grape variety this was made from Or which region the wine could be coming From so the next one i’m going to tackle Is wine number four It has a pretty pale color which already Points me Into a direction it could be pinot noir It could maybe also be grenache i mean It smells of Cherries blackberries there’s some Smokiness as well which suggests aging In barricks Or maybe big wooden casts This is quite classic for pinot noir So this points me kind of in the Direction of pinot on the palette it’s Rich And concentrated velvety there are not Many Tannins tasting it again and again I am more and more convinced that it is From the old world Um but i don’t really i’m not 100 sure Where to put it I think it could actually be from the South of burgundy Um it’s definitely not a super high end Wine it’s not like a premier crew or Wine in my opinion it’s more of an entry Level Maybe village of wine
But it could also be from germany i Could see this Coming from baden from the south barn For example But it’s tricky but in the end you have To make a decision And i would probably say This is pinot noir from baden Let’s find out whether i’m right Okay boom Oh okay So i’m halfway right So this is pinot noir but from the mozo So it’s maximin Greenhouses pinot noir um it’s the Entry-level pinot noir so i was right With this It’s a pretty good wine but a bit of a Surprise moselpino Is not that widely available So i didn’t even think about mozopino to Be honest And it has 14 of alcohol which is quite A lot so now on to the final Opponent the last wine in the tasting Wine Number three and i’m still not really Sure what to do with this This is really not easy for me this Smells and taste of the old word New world wines tend to be a little bit More pleasure more precise maybe This is a bit more wild for me it smells And tastes like something from the south
Of france but it doesn’t really have the Body And concentration of the southern french Wild so it could maybe be Something from caror which is Made from malbec and is very much Influenced by the atlantic ocean So yeah i really am not sure but if i Have to Say something then i might just go it’s A coward Let’s see so wine number three The last one and it was definitely not My best performance But let’s see what uh oh Freaking hell i’m completely wrong This is just so well I’m really wrong here this is rubycon 2017 from merloust from south africa And as i said earlier south africa Wasn’t my strength when i Practiced for the master of wine and it Apparently still isn’t So this is stellenbosch and i believe This is a bordeaux cuvee but i’m not 100 Sure So r was completely wrong Not even in the right hemisphere and as You can see here Even a master of wine messes up from Time to time blind tastings Are really difficult and sometimes you Just Get it wrong thank you for watching if
You like this video then please like it Down here subscribe to my channel if you Haven’t done so already Thank you thank you thank you to all of My subscribers All of the people who are commenting on A regular basis you are great My question of the day is what kind of Blind tasting should i do next let me Know Down below i hope i see you guys again Soon until then I’ll be tasting more south african wines And you Stay thirsty cheers [Music] You