A famous French Bordeaux critic has been visiting Hong Kong to introduce his method to distinguish great red wines from the merely good.
Jean-Marc Quarin, often called the “palate coach,” is the author of the Guide Quarin des Vins de Bordeaux, a book that has won several prizes and received positive reviews in the past year.
In June he showed Hong Kong sommeliers and others in the wine trade a technique that winegrowers of yesteryear used to assess quality, using their palate rather than their nose.
Quarin said the tulip-shaped tasting glass, introduced in 1970, compelled tasters to focus on the nose because of the way the glass funnelled aromas to the face.
“But smell perception is very personal and subjective, and varies considerably,” he said. “We should pay more attention to what happens in our mouth and identify the tactile sensations which are clear indications of the level of quality.”
Quarin publishes a subscription-based web site in French and English that allows people to compare prices and vintages in Bordeaux.
He spoke with video reporter Stephen Quinn about his tasting methods.