Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Blind Wine Tasting


Yesterdays evenings blind wine tasting was a lot of fun! Got to try some very interesting and tasty wines. I learned a lot and realized that there is so much I still have to learn. This time C came with me as it was a couples evening and not just for the actual members of the Americans women´s club. I had a great time talking to everyone as well. We met another couple from Alabama of all places in the world. They were very exited to meet us. It was just a perfect evening. The sun was even shining making it feel like summer had finally arrived in Basel. The blind wine tasting was hard, very hard but a lot of fun as said.


The hosting couple for the evening has set up a beautiful table with lots of yummy small bites. They had a very beautiful home that I fell in love with. The apartment was very modern and light. A fantastic place.

It was really really hard but so much fun! I did learn a lot. Each bottle was given a number and then we got a sheet to fill in grape, year and country for each of the wines of the evening. 13 couples here tonight and 13 wine bottles to taste and make your best guess. For my part it was mostly about wild guessing. The only bottle I could be sure I knew was the one we brought ourselves. We brought a Pino from Switzerland that I bought at the wine tasting boat. 


Some very creative and beautiful bottle covers. Loved this cute bottle kimono. We all had to try to cover up our bottles as much as possible. The shape and even the weight of some bottles can be something that can give away what kind of wine it might be. 

This was one of my top favorites for the evening. This Italian Primitivo had so much character and flavor. Loved it. There were two other wines that I also liked a lot but they will be hard to get as it was personal imports from California. It was kind of funny because when the wine tasting was started my mind was set on European wines and then I hear someone talking about it possibly being a California wine. I then realized that this blind wine tasting was going to be even trickier than I first expected as the wines could be from all over the world. 

Well it was a great evening and a lot of fun. Something I would love to do again. I was lucky and got a few points. This just makes me eager to learn more about wine and grapes. I think it is excellent for me to be part of this wine tasting group. I am actually being the hostess for October so I am trying to learn as much as possible.


I am so happy because today the sun is shining here in Basel. Clear blue skies and sunshine. There is a summer feeling in the air and I am going to make sure to enjoy it. Today I am going to hang out on my porch doing my studies. 

I am so looking forward to tonight as well. It is F´s birthday and we are going to a great restaurant tonight. It will actually be very exiting. They have a surprise menu so all you choose is weather you want the fish, meat or vegetarian menu and then you have to leave the rest in the hands of the chef. 

6 comments:

Annika said...

Vilken trevlig kväll.
Jag förstår att det var skitsvårt.
Jag skulle inte få många rätt på en sådan.
ROLIGT dock!!
KUL att du är värdinna i oktober, den perfekta vinmånaden dessutom.
OCH så är jag glad att solen skiner på er igen. Äntligen!!
Kramar!!

Desiree said...

Annika, ja kul men ack så svårt. Jag har köpt en bra bok om vin så jag får se till att läsa på tills oktober. Ska bli kul men också lite nervöst att hålla i en vinprovning. Just vinklubben är nog det jag tycker bäst om och tycker är roligast bland aktiviteterna som Amerikanska klubben anordnar.
Kram!

Anne-Marie said...

Novisen betr. vin (alltså jag ;)) kan nog inte säga så mycket alls. Jag dricker ju ingen alkohol.
Men det ser fint och trevligt ut och att du blir värdinna låter spännande.
Får kommentera mer om Ricolas örtodlingar. Men vad spännande att få se dessa odlingar. Jag har ätit Ricolas halstabletter under många år - både i Sverige och i USA. Läste (tyvärr) innehållsförteckningen och den var inte så bra - här i USA i alla - fall så jag får nog hitta något annat. Det var allt mellan high fructose corn syrup och aspartame.
Så otroligt vackert det är. Efter allt regn exploderar väl naturen nu.
Kramar!!

Katta said...

Åh, vad roligt! Vad roligt att få lära sig nytt och mer om vin. Jag är också mycket intresserad av viner och det provas en hel del nu då jag är åter i Europa! Ni ser ut att ha ett bra liv i Basel. Kram

Desiree said...

Anne-Marie, ja det var jättekul med vinprovningen. Jag kan ju inte heller så mycket än så länge men hoppas på att få lära mig betydligt mer. Angående vad gäller Ricola så tror jag att man får ta att det innehåller sötningsmedel som aspartam om de är sockerfria. Man äter ju ändå inte mängder av dessa så någon ibland tror jag inte man tar så mycket skada av.
Kram!

Katarina, ja superkul! Vi trivs otroligt bra och känner också att vi fått till ett bra liv här på kort tid.
Kramar!

Anne said...

Vad kul det låter, samt annorlunda med just blindprovningen. Även jag, som inte ens deltog utan bara läste om träffen, tog liksom omedvetet för givet att det var europeiska viner. Så förstår att även du tänkt i de banorna.
Spännande du ska vara värdinna i oktober. Vad innebär värdskapet? Är det vare värd/värdinna som bestämmer upplägget, som t.ex. denna värdinna som bestämde det skulle vara en blindprovning?

KRAM!