The Lafite Laureate is a wine tasting competitors for people within the Netherlands. It’s organized by the Verenigde Vinologen Nederland (Dutch Affiliation of Vinologists). “Vinologist” is a Dutch title for somebody who has handed the Dutch wine data SDEN examination at stage 4 (roughly much like the worldwide WSET). It was once a contest for vinologists solely, however as of this 12 months anybody can take part. The primary sponsor is Lafite, and the grand prize for the winner is a go to to Château Lafite Rothschild in Bordeaux, France, with a lunch and tasting on the chateau with the winemaker. To get to the semi-finals, it’s important to be among the many greatest 20% of the preliminary rounds. One of the best 10 within the semi-finals go to the finals. The finals for this 12 months had been in Oldenzaal on the premises of the opposite sponsor: De Monnik Dranken. The competitors has been organized yearly since 1997. I’ve been taking part since 2018, largely to study and practice my wine tasting abilities. On the finish of every spherical, the tasting notes and the way you could possibly have provide you with the right reply are mentioned intimately, which is a good studying expertise. I’ve a drawback in comparison with contestants that work within the wine commerce, as a result of they get rather more apply in tasting completely different wines. I largely drink wine at dwelling and in eating places, with a bias in the direction of the sorts of wine that I like. Regardless of that, it was on my bucket listing to win this contest at the very least as soon as. I already managed to get to the finals twice earlier than, and even got here in third in 2020. (It additionally occurred that I used to be overseas throughout the semi-finals and needed to drop out. This 12 months there was one contestant, Bernard Witzel, who was snowboarding in Austria, and flew again to the Netherlands only for the day to take part within the finals. It’s a good factor that he did, as a result of he got here in third.) I’m proud to inform you that this 12 months I’ve received the Lafite Laureate and might name myself Vinologist of the 12 months 2025!
Blind tasting is about recognizing a wine simply from tasting it. There isn’t any blindfold concerned, as a result of the looks of the wine can also be essential. The “blind” half is that you don’t get to see the bottles. To be good at this competitors, you want tasting abilities, data, and analytical abilities. The tasting abilities embody assessing the colour of the wine, smelling and recognizing the aromas, assessing the acidity, alcohol stage, and sweetness of the wine, in addition to the feel of the wine and the tannins. The data contains the traits of all the principle grape varieties and wine manufacturing areas on the earth, in addition to wine making methods. Due to completely different winemakers and vintages, not all wines of the identical grape selection and wine manufacturing space are alike. And lots of winemakers attempt to make wines that the general public likes, so the identical tendencies happen everywhere in the world. So even when your tasting notes, data, and analytics are fairly good, you possibly can nonetheless find yourself on the incorrect reply. All of this makes wine tasting a humbling expertise.
The choice of the wines and the drafting of the questions for this 12 months’s finals of the Lafite Laureate was carried out by two Masters of Wine: Cees van Casteren (on the far left within the photograph above) and Job de Swart (on the far proper). Cees has been doing this for years, and he has received the competitors himself twice in 2001 and 2004, earlier than turning into MW in 2012). I’ve realized rather a lot from him by taking part on this competitors. The wines had been supplied by sponsor De Monnik Dranken. (In concept it could be potential to coach for the finals by shopping for and tasting all of their wines, however with lots of of wines of their portfolio, that’s not actually possible.)
These had been the 12 wines that we needed to style and assess. A kind was supplied for our tasting notes. (It’s a good tactic to style the wines first with out trying on the questions, as figuring out the query can ship you down a tunnel that makes you understand the wine in another way.) There have been 25 questions we needed to reply concerning the 12 wines, divided into 5 flights.
The primary flight was three glowing wines. We needed to decide by what technique they had been made, and from what international locations. The one clue supplied was that two wines had been from the identical nation. Crucial strategies for making glowing wines are the charmat or martinotti technique (second fermentation in a tank) and the standard technique (second fermentation within the bottle). Probably the most well-known charmat technique wine is Prosecco and probably the most well-known conventional technique wine is in fact Champagne. The standard technique could be acknowledged by what known as autolyse aromas, that are developed by yeast cells that disintegrate because the wine rests after the second fermentation within the bottle. This autolyse aromas scent like brioche or toast. The primary wine had solely a really faint whiff of toasty aromas, and from the acidity and fundamental high quality I believed it could possibly be Crémant de Bourgogne and thus conventional technique from France (which turned out to be appropriate). The second wine had aromas of pear and yeast, and a distinct mousse. Due to the yeast I puzzled for a second whether or not this could possibly be a wine the place the yeast of the second fermentation is left within the bottle (pétillant naturel or méthode ancestrale). However because the wine was utterly clear quite than cloudy, I concluded it must be a (good high quality) Prosecco, and thus Italy and martinotti technique (which additionally turned out to be appropriate). For the third wine, I had little question that it was a conventional technique due to the sturdy aromas of toast (which turned out to be appropriate). It was a top quality with a really persistent mousse, however there are prime quality conventional technique wines from France, Italy, and Spain. Due to the elevated acidity, I made a decision it must be Champagne and thus France (which turned out to be appropriate).
The second flight was three white wines from France. We needed to decide the grape varieties and manufacturing areas (figuring out they had been all French). The primary wine had a impartial aroma with buttery notes (pointing to malolactic fermentation), some oak, and medium acidity. The primary ‘impartial’ grapes utilized in France are Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Gris. As a result of malo and oak are commonest in Burgundy, I made a decision it must be Chardonnay from Burgundy (which turned out to be appropriate). Actually, it turned out to be Chablis. Chablis is thought for its excessive acidity, however this was a Grand Cru (from one of the best vineyards with southern exposition) and from the nice and cozy classic 2022, so the acidity was solely medium. I’m glad that we solely needed to decide the area and never the appellation. The second wine had an aroma of bruised apple and better acidity than the earlier wine. I instantly acknowledged Chenin Blanc, which is dangerous as a result of it may well trigger tunnel imaginative and prescient, however it turned out to be appropriate. Loire is the principle manufacturing area for Chenin Blanc, so I put that for the area (and turned out to be appropriate). The third wine was the simplest of all twelve wines, and I consider everybody had this one appropriate. Golden shade, very fragrant with lychees and roses, that would solely be Gewurztraminer from Alsace (which it was). To make it much more clear, the wine had vital residual sugar (which might have made it straightforward to differentiate from Gewurztraminer from Alto Adige in Italy, however we already knew it was France).
The third flight was two wines from the identical producer in the identical nation, one white and one pink. We needed to decide the nation and grape varieties, the place it was specified that the pink was a mix of two. The white one was fragrant and a bit inexperienced in each aromas and shade, with medium plus acidity and comparatively low alcohol. I instantly thought it was a Sauvignon Blanc, which as I stated is harmful as a result of it’s onerous to get out of such a tunnel as soon as you might be in it. The pink one had very ripe jammy fruit aromas and aromas of eucalyptus. Only one sniff and I used to be in Australia (which turned out to be appropriate). (Reds from Chile may have a eucalyptus aroma, however the fruit is extra perfumed.) The white could possibly be a Sauvignon Blanc from Australia, in order that match with the image and I didn’t contemplate different grape varieties as I used to be positive it wasn’t a Riesling or Chardonnay (the most typical whites in Australia). Nonetheless, that was incorrect, as a result of it was a Viognier from Australia. I’m very aware of Viognier from its most well-known manufacturing zone: Condrieu within the Rhone Valley, France. I’ve tasted Australian Viognier solely a few occasions earlier than, and to me it doesn’t have the standard apricot aromas. For the reds I believed I acknowledged Shiraz and Grenache. I did marvel about this, as the same old mix in Australia is Grenache with Shiraz and Mataro (Mourvèdre). The Shiraz was appropriate, however the second grape was a Cabernet Sauvignon. In Australia the mix of Shiraz and Cabernet is kind of widespread, however I didn’t discover any aromas that I affiliate with Cabernet.
The fourth flight was two reds from the identical producer, identical grape selection, and the identical manufacturing space. We needed to decide the grape selection and nation, in addition to which of the 2 wines was the upper high quality. The primary wine had a comparatively gentle shade, earthy advanced aromas, excessive acidity, and really excessive grainy tannins that had been very astringent. The second wine was additionally a comparatively gentle shade however extra purple, decrease acidity and tannins, however nonetheless aggressive tannins, and candy-like fruity aromas. It was clear that the primary wine was the upper high quality, because the second was made for simple consuming (which turned out to be appropriate). The grape selection was tougher. There are only some grape varieties with the mixture of sunshine shade and (very) excessive tannin, as each shade and tannin come from the pores and skin of the grapes. Normally a darkish shade coincides with excessive tannin (Cabernet, Syrah, Tannat, Aglianico, Sagrantino, and so forth.) The exceptions with gentle shade and excessive tannin are largely in Italy: Nebbiolo, Nerello Mascalese, and generally Sangiovese. It’s the latter that didn’t happen to me throughout the finals, as Brunello is the most typical Sangiovese that has such excessive and grainy tannin, however I had not tasted Brunello in a very long time and Sangiovese wasn’t actually on my radar as a grape selection with gentle shade and excessive tannin. And so I wrote down Nebbiolo, though particularly the second wine had aromas that aren’t ordinary for Nebbiolo and so I used to be not assured about my reply. It was actually Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino, and so I didn’t rating very effectively on this query. As I already talked about, this isn’t only a contest but in addition a studying expertise. I did really feel a bit silly because it was revealed this was Sangiovese, as Italian wines often give me a bonus (as a lover of Italian wines).
The ultimate flight was two Coteaux du Layon from the identical producer, however completely different classic, with comparable sugar and alcohol ranges. Coteaux du Layon is a candy wine from the Loire Valley in France, of late harvest Chenin Blanc. We needed to decide which of the 2 wines was the oldest, and the sugar stage, alcohol stage, and classic of the primary wine (selecting between 1995, 2005, and 2015). I gauged the alcohol stage shut sufficient (it was 13.5% and I had put 12.8%, so throughout the 10% margin), however the sugar too excessive (it was 90 grams/liter and I had put 113 grams). What was tough about these wines, was that the primary wine had a lighter shade than the second wine, whereas the primary wine had extra developed aromas and tasted much less candy than the second wine (though it was acknowledged that the sugar stage was comparable). The fruit aromas of the second wine had been extra fruity and fewer developed. White wines darken with age, so from the colour the oldest wine must be the second. However candy wines style much less candy as they age, and the aroma turns from fruity to developed. So for the style and aroma, the oldest wine must be the primary. (Cees and Job talked about that this problem was not on function; the colour had been a shock for them as effectively.) I made a decision that the aroma and style are extra essential than the colour, and put the primary wine because the oldest. I put the classic as 2005 because it was developed, however not as developed as I’d anticipate from a 1995. Each turned out to be appropriate. The second wine was from 2011.
I didn’t have an ideal rating (and I don’t suppose it’s cheap to place reaching an ideal rating within the finals of this competitors as the subsequent merchandise on my bucket listing), however I did have the best rating of all of the finalists with 20 out of 25 factors. And so I will probably be going to Château Lafite with my husband, and I’ll undoubtedly write a weblog about that. (I heard final 12 months’s winner solely went to Lafite just lately, so it might take some time.) Due to the VVN, Cees, Job, Andrea, Linda, and naturally the sponsors for organizing this nice occasion.
If you wish to study extra about wine tasting, I can strongly suggest the guide “Anybody can style wine” by Cees van Casteren (out there in English and Dutch).
