There is no arguing about taste, but all the more about quality. That is why, at online wine shop De Wijnbeurs, every wine is tasted blind by eight experts. Using a 20-point system, they assess the quality and send inferior wines inexorably back home. How do you stay sharp and objective when tasting? We asked vinologists Chantal Driesen and Gerrit Swart, together accounting for 27 years of tasting experience.
Suppose you have already had a tough life as a grape. You have been put through the wringer, squeezed out. You went through an intense biochemical process. Not to mention the harsh weather conditions you had to endure in your area of origin before being picked bare. Are you finally chilling out on a wooden bed, or in a room with ceiling-high windows, you are sent on a journey.
And then there are very serious people in Hilversum waiting to test you. They are The People With Taste. They will assess your
on colour, smell and a whole host of other qualitative factors. The fact that your family has previously prospered makes no difference to their judgement. If only you had squeezed out everything that was in it. Because only if you score a lot of points with The People With Taste can you be sold. If not, you will be sent away without mercy.
Text Marjolein Schuman
You can read the full article in Winelife 68-2020. Order this edition here.
Text Marjolein Schuman
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