Art of Good Taste
in association with Tio Pepe
Christine Parkinson
Christine Parkinson started her restaurant career in the kitchen but eventually followed her passion for wine and in 2001 created the first wine list for Hakkasan, Christine is now Wine Buyer for Michelin-starred restaurants Hakkasan and Yauatcha. She has been called "One of the most creative wine buyers in the UK" by wine guru Jancis Robinson. In her spare time she runs a wine shop, 'Cocovino', in Brighton - www.cocovino.co.uk
How Restaurants Select their Wine
Most sommeliers taste at least 8 wines for every bottle that goes onto the list. Here's how it's done.
Firstly, suitable glasses are essential. Anything tulip-shaped will work, although there is actually an ISO standard tasting glass! Spittoons are needed too, and no sommelier leaves home without a corkscrew. Other vital steps include taking notes and not wearing perfume (or your descriptions will sound like Chanel instead of Chardonnay).
Tasting wine involves several senses:
sight (top tasters learn a lot from the colour)
smell (faults are spotted at this stage)
taste (but remember - wine tasters always spit!)
The trick is working out which wines are best. A nice flavour isn't enough. Good wines:
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have several different flavours at once ('complexity')
are refreshing and full of character (balanced and intense)
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have flavour that lasts long after being swallowed ('length') (budding experts mutter 'BLIC' to themselves to help remember these 4 key words!)
Of course finding good wines is only half the story. The next stage is deciding which ones work with the menu. That involves eating a lot of food. It truly is a hard job!
