The 2019 World Wine Tasting Challenge at Chateau Chambord, France with the South African team on the right and the US team on the left; that’s me in the ball cap! Yes, the event was held IN part of the castle! photo courtesy of organizer La Revue du Vin de France.

UPDATE: If you are looking for the results of the 2020 World Blind Wine Tasting Challenge, go here.

It seems crazy now, but this time last year, I had almost no experience tasting wine blind, no plans to compete to be on the US Wine Tasting team organized by Wine Acuity and no intention to go to France for the World Tasting Championship, a blind wine tasting challenge sponsored by the French magazine La Revue du Vin de France..

But two weeks later, on Sunday July 14, 2019, Sue and I blind tasted our way through six whites and six reds, identifying varietal, country and region of origin, the year and the producer to earn 92 points which put us in second place in the US Wine Tasting Open.

This put us on the US Wine Tasting Team (more about that here)– which would pay for travel, food and accommodations to compete in the World Tasting Championships held at the beautiful Chateau Chambord, one of the most impressive castles in France (more about how that went here). 

Read about how the competition works with blind wine tasting tips here.

And the good news is that– even in the time of COVID with so many cancellations–  Continue reading →