#12 Véronique Rivest: Wine Lessons
Véronique Rivest, a world-renowned sommelier, shares insights on wine tasting, service, and the industry. She covers how to approach wine, common consumer mistakes, and tips for enjoying wine, including an on-air tasting.
Deep Dive Analysis
19 Topic Outline
Veronique Rivest's Journey into the World of Wine
Influence of Living in France on Wine Passion
Evolution of a Sommelier: Self-Taught Path
The Complexities and Components of Sommelier Competitions
Understanding Blind Wine Tasting as Deductive Reasoning
The Sommelier's Core Role: A Specialized Server
On-Air Wine Tasting: Visual Examination of a Sparkling Rosé
On-Air Wine Tasting: Olfactory Examination and Fault Detection
On-Air Wine Tasting: Palate Examination and Taste Perception
Developing and Training Your Sense of Smell for Wine
Recommended Resources for Aspiring Wine Enthusiasts
Distinguishing 'Fabricated' Wines from Characterful Wines
Advice for Consumers Interacting with Sommeliers
Common Mistakes in Wine Service: Temperature Control
Challenges and Realities of Starting a Wine Business
Navigating Wine Importation and Private Channels in Canada
The Relationship Between Price and Value in Wine
Seeking Character and Soul in Wine Beyond Technical Perfection
Practical Tips for Organizing a Wine Tasting Group
6 Key Concepts
Deductive Reasoning in Wine Tasting
This is the process of combining various clues from a wine's visual appearance, aromas, and taste to logically deduce its characteristics, origin, grape variety, and winemaking methods, rather than simply guessing.
Sommelier's Core Role
A sommelier is fundamentally a wine-specialized server, whose primary function is to enhance the guest's dining experience by guiding them through wine selections and providing excellent service. Experience in the restaurant industry is considered essential for this role.
Wine Tasting Components
A structured approach to evaluating wine that involves three main stages: visual examination (eyes), olfactory examination (nose), and palate examination (mouth). Each stage provides specific clues about the wine's identity and quality.
Smell Memory Development
The practice of training and developing one's sense of smell by consciously identifying and remembering aromas from everyday items, often done blindfolded. This exercise helps build the aromatic recognition crucial for accurate wine tasting.
Fabricated Wines
These are wines that are extensively manipulated during production, both in the vineyard and winery, using allowed processes and additives to achieve a consistent, pre-determined taste profile. They are often disconnected from their geographical origin and may lack unique character.
Private Importation (Canada)
A system in Canadian provinces (e.g., 'importation privée' in Quebec, 'consignment' in Ontario) that allows consumers and restaurants to purchase wines not typically available through government-run liquor store monopolies. These wines are usually bought by the case through specialized agents.
9 Questions Answered
A sommelier is first and foremost a specialized server, with a deep understanding of wine and other beverages, whose main goal is to ensure guests have a good time and guide them through their beverage choices.
Sommelier competitions are threefold, involving analytical blind tasting, various service tasks (e.g., opening specific bottles, dealing with guests), and extensive theoretical knowledge covering grape growing, winemaking, global grape varieties, and appellations.
Developing smell memory involves consciously smelling everything in daily life (e.g., herbs, vegetables, traffic) and practicing blind identification of common smells to train the nose and build an aromatic memory.
The 'Wine Atlas' by Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson is highly recommended as a comprehensive resource that covers the global winemaking world, including regions, topography, and general presentations.
Consumers should be confident, not afraid to ask questions, and steer clear of anyone who gives attitude or recommends wine without first understanding their preferences, as true professionals aim to share their passion and guide discovery.
Many people serve red wines too warm (above 17-18 degrees Celsius) and rosés/white wines too cold (muting their texture and aromas), which detracts from the wine's enjoyment.
A key indicator is the temperature at which red wine is served; if it tastes lukewarm, it suggests the restaurant is not serious about its wine service.
Yes, through private importation (consignment in Ontario, importation privée in Quebec), where agents represent wineries and sell wines directly from monopoly warehouses to consumers by the case.
Up to a certain point (around $30-50), price often reflects quality, but beyond that, especially in the luxury market, higher prices primarily reflect rarity, reputation, and marketing rather than production cost.
19 Actionable Insights
1. Develop Your Sense of Smell
Actively train your nose by smelling everything around you—in the kitchen, while gardening, walking, or grocery shopping—and practice recognizing smells blindfolded to develop your smell memory.
2. Practice Deliberate Wine Tasting
To become a better wine taster, engage in rigorous, disciplined tasting over many years, ideally with a method and in groups, rather than just casual drinking.
3. Express Your Wine Preferences
Don’t be intimidated by wine vocabulary; start by simply stating if you like a wine and why, and develop your descriptive language by expressing your thoughts and tasting with others.
4. Confidently Engage Sommeliers
Approach sommeliers with confidence and don’t be afraid to ask questions, as true professionals will gladly guide you; avoid those who give attitude or recommend wine without first asking about your preferences.
5. Calibrate Wine Palate with Others
Taste wine with others to calibrate your perceptions of elements like acidity, ensuring your understanding aligns with a broader community standard and helps you stay on track with your learning.
6. Start a Wine Tasting Group
Create your own wine tasting group with friends, choosing a specific region or theme, and have each person bring a bottle from that area to taste and learn together.
7. Apply Rigor to Wine Tasting
When conducting wine tastings, especially in groups, maintain rigor and discipline by considering spitting out wine to avoid alcohol effects and using a tasting grid to guide your evaluation and learning. Also, seek advice from knowledgeable sommeliers or consultants.
8. Pair Wine Reading with Tasting
Enhance your wine learning by reading about a specific wine region, then immediately acquiring and tasting a bottle from that region to connect the theoretical knowledge with the sensory experience.
9. Read The Wine Atlas
Consult ‘The Wine Atlas’ by Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson for a solid foundation in wine knowledge, as it provides comprehensive information on winemaking regions, topography, and more.
10. Evaluate Wine by Feeling
Beyond technical analysis, assess wine by how it makes you feel, looking for liveliness and character that ‘speaks to you,’ as highly manipulated wines, though technically sound, often lack soul.
11. Appreciate Wine Context, Character
Understand that wine appreciation benefits from knowing its context and the winemaker’s intent, as ‘perfectly technical’ wines can lack character and soul, while imperfections can add depth.
12. Apply 20-Minute Wine Rule
For optimal serving temperature at home, take white wines out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving and put red wines in the fridge 20 minutes before serving, especially in warm weather.
13. Serve Wine at Correct Temperature
Avoid serving red wines above 17-18 degrees Celsius and don’t serve rosés ice cold, as extreme temperatures mute the wine’s characteristics; allow rosés to warm to 10-12 degrees Celsius for better texture and aroma.
14. Chill Warm Red Wine
If a red wine served at a restaurant is too warm, don’t hesitate to ask for an ice bucket and place the bottle in it for five to ten minutes to bring it to a better serving temperature.
15. Assess Wine Service by Temperature
If a restaurant serves you a red wine that tastes lukewarm, it indicates they are not serious about their wine service.
16. Evaluate Wine List, Engage Staff
When reviewing a wine list, look for interesting producers beyond industrial ones, and engage the staff with specific questions about the wines rather than asking if a wine is ‘good’ to find hidden gems or knowledgeable recommendations.
17. Memorize Corked Wine Smell
To identify a corked wine, intentionally smell corked wines multiple times to memorize the distinctive scent, which will help you instantly recognize it in the future.
18. Utilize Private Wine Importation
As a consumer in Canada, access a wider selection of wines not available in monopoly stores by utilizing private importation channels through provincial agents, though you will need to purchase wines by the case.
19. Prioritize Restaurant Management Skills
Before opening a restaurant, acquire solid management experience and constantly monitor numbers, as tiny profit margins mean great cooking alone isn’t enough to prevent bankruptcy in this high-failure-rate industry.
7 Key Quotes
I'm not a circus animal.
Veronique Rivest
The most talented people in this business also learn humility very quickly.
Veronique Rivest
If you find serving the slightest bit degrading, change business right away.
Veronique Rivest
Pleasure increases with knowledge.
Veronique Rivest
Our nose is like a muscle, right? It's one of our most, um, it's an amazing sense we have. And yet it's our most, it's the one we use the least.
Veronique Rivest
Everybody's equipped to decide if they like what they like themselves.
Veronique Rivest
Perfection is boring.
Veronique Rivest
3 Protocols
Structured Wine Tasting Protocol
Veronique Rivest- Perform visual examination: Observe the wine's color, nuances, hues (e.g., salmon pink for rosé), and the presence and continuity of bubbles. Note the 'legs' or tears on the glass for clues about viscosity, alcohol, and body (though this is a less reliable indicator).
- Conduct initial olfactory examination: Smell the wine once before swirling to check for any faults (e.g., corked, oxidized) and to gauge the initial intensity of its aromatics.
- Perform secondary olfactory examination: Swirl the glass to aerate the wine, which helps release more aromatics, then smell again to identify specific aromas (e.g., fruit, floral, spicy, non-fruit notes) and their intensity.
- Execute palate examination: Take a small amount of wine into your mouth, let some air in, and gargle the air through the wine. This oxygenates it and enhances retronasal aromas. Evaluate taste (acidity, sugar, bitterness), mouthfeel, texture, and how it coats your mouth.
- Apply deductive reasoning: Combine all the clues gathered from the visual, olfactory, and palate examinations to form an educated conclusion about the wine's origin, grape varieties, climate, and winemaking methods.
The 20-Minute Wine Temperature Rule
Veronique Rivest- Take white wines out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving them.
- Put red wines in the fridge 20 minutes before serving them.
Starting a Wine Tasting Group
Veronique Rivest- Gather a group of friends who are interested in learning about wine.
- Choose a specific theme or region for the tasting (e.g., Pinot Noir, Burgundy, Argentinian wines).
- Ask each participant to bring a bottle of wine that fits the chosen theme.
- Have one person prepare and give a brief (10-15 minute) overview of the selected region or theme.
- Taste the wines together, discussing observations and calibrating perceptions with each other.
- Utilize a tasting grid (which can be found through research and validated by a knowledgeable person) to provide a structured framework for evaluation.
- Consider spitting wine during the tasting to allow for the evaluation of more wines without the effects of alcohol, if the goal is learning.