Normally, there is a theme, like a region or a grape variety and we all bring a bottle of Collioure or a Sauvignon Blanc, or whatever has been chosen. The wines are all pooled together and we taste all the wines. The rules are that no-one expresses an opinion until we have all tasted and tested each particular wine. It usually starts off timidly with people shyly expressing their opinions and by the end of the night, everyone is clambering to be heard after a few glasses of vino.
Last night, they tried a different formula .. they provided 6 mystery wines and we had to associate the wines with images. It's a brilliant ice breaker idea and instantly got everyone talking and thinking about wine from a completely different perspective.
There were some very interesting and funny comments ; some wines tasted of dirty beards and cats piss. Others were sweet and Christmas cake-like, some wines were missing something like the headless statue, others sharp like a pierced nipple. What it did was bring everyone down to the same level and there was no wine snobbery involved which can be intimidating for wine tasting amateurs like myself.
They will be trying out this new tasting technique at Vinisud, "the flagship wine event for Mediterranean wines and spirits" in Montpellier 20 - 22 February. An event not to be missed.
A name for this method of wine tasting has yet to be dreamt up ... "Vino pour L'Image" peut être?
