Tip #64 – how to fairly assess wine
Tasting Pro Tips
How do you fairly assess a wine, without ifs or buts? – you may have asked yourself this question many times. Today you will learn about the BLIK formula for fairly assessing wine.
Become a tasting pro now. Apply the BLIK formula and taste wines blind. This approach was launched by the WSET, Wine Spirit Education Trust, in 1969 and is now represented in 72 countries and 17 languages.
There are 5 levels at the Wine Spirit Education Trust: From beginner – which is Level 1 – up to Master of Wine.
Naturally, all wines are tasted blind, and the BLIK method goes a step deeper than just: do I like this wine? The next question would be why?
“B” for Balance:
On the palate, we focus on the quality of acidity, tannins, sweetness, body, and alcohol.
- How do we perceive these on the palate?
- Is the acidity aggressive or pleasant?
- Are there green tannins or are they pleasant and fine-grained?
- Is the sweet-acid balance right?
- Is the body light or full-bodied?
- Is the alcohol pleasant or burning?
- Are the above-mentioned points coherent and pleasant in themselves?
“L” for Length:
Does the wine disappear immediately after swallowing or spitting it out, or how long does it linger?
“I” for Intensity:
Ask yourself how intense the aromas in the wine are. Do I recognize individual aromas, or are there many?
“K” for Complexity:
We distinguish between low, medium, and high complexity of aromas.
Apply a “scoring system”
Award 0 or 1 point per category and add them up.
4 Excellent I 3 Very Good I 2 Good I 1 Weak
So, now you are equipped for the next tasting. It's best to start with a wine at home so you can practice. Will you be the next Master of Wine? The more you practice, the faster you will advance to the next level.
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