Taster training
What about brushing up your wine tasting knowledge and skills? Training courses available!
Once registered and accepted, tasters are offered training.
The main goal of the training session is to learn how to mark samples. This sometimes requires a bit of practice. At the training session everyone has an opportunity to become familiar with the marking scale that will be used on the day of the tasting.
Both professionals and amateurs can sign up to practice marking samples at a competition.
During the training session each step in the tasting process is examined in detail (visual, olfactory and gustative qualities along with overall harmony) as well as the technical terms used to express sensorial perceptions.
At the end of the session several samples are tasted under the same conditions as in a competition, using the marking scale.
To make marking more homogeneous, a 100-point scale is used to assess each aspect of a product before calculating its final mark. Tasters receive a copy of the marking scale so they can familiarise themselves with it before the tasting.
Where to get training
To participate in France, simply register in your taster space on the Concours International de Lyon site. In Lyon, this training is provided by:
- Laurent Turrel, who has been giving wine tasting courses at his Nunc Est Bibendum establishment for the past 10 years.
- Thibault Schuermans, French-Belgian beer sommelier and epicurean, who created ‘Bière à Table’.
To participate in Germany, simply register in your taster space on the Frankfurt International Trophy site. In Frankfurt, this training is provided by:
- Matthias Trick, WSET level 4 diploma
- Meinhard Wicht, Beer Sommelier at the Deutsche BierAkademie