suSpence and revelation! (session 6)

Our guest to the latest tasting session was freelance wine tutor and author, Godfrey Spence. 

With vast experience in the wine trade, Godfrey was curious to understand what I had been trying to tell him for weeks about 'Minerals & Terroir' in frustratingly limited 'wine speak'. Nevertheless, with the true spirit of a wine enthusiast, he agreed to come along and lend his observations.

The wines for today, white again, were to be tasted alonside still waters. Roberto's selection was:

• 2007 “Flor de Gewürztraminer”, Bodegas Laus, Somontano, Spain
• 2007 Scheurebe Trocken, Weingut Wittmann, Rheinhessen, Germany
• 2007 Torrontes, Finca el Retiro, Mendoza, Argentina
• 2007 “Tiara”, Niepoort, Douro, Portugal (Grapes: Rabigado, Codega, Donzelinho, Viosinho, Cercial)
  

Once again the English Well water showed well alongside the Danish Artesian. Curiously, the Scheurebe was a very difficult wine to enhance, with the inimitable English Well water best complementing the wine.

Interestingly, the Australian Rain water also transformed the taste of the Torrontes into cassis - like Ouzo or Pastis. We don't yet know why this is, but it is something to look into at a later date.

Of 16 wines, we can now see the most recommended waters are the English Well, Danish Artesian and Irish Spring. We can also see the the English Spring matches wines with the fruitier wines - the Muscat, Gruner & Gewurztraminer. Once we analyse these results for trends, we should hopefully understand the nature of these successful (or unsuccessful) pairings. 

It will be fascinating to discover whether the waters match universally well to grape varieties and their characteristics e.g. high acidity, or whether it is the unique terroir of the wines per se which is the determining factor.

Importantly for credibility, Godfrey found the exercise fascinating and having conceded that he was previously unaware of how water may have affected the taste of the wine, is now fully supportive of what we are setting out to acheive - a greater understanding of water/wine combinations to benefit and enhance a gastronomic environment. I'll invite him to post his comments on here, which should be very interesting to read, from a third party perspective.