Wine Tasting 101: How to Taste Like an Expert with Sommelier Robert Gomez
Wine tasting is an immersive sensory experience, one that we go to lengths to host well at The Drayman House. From our Sensory Room for members to see, smell, and taste against a specially-designed backdrop to our hosted tasting events, we’re passionate about building space for people to experience wine together.
But is there some special skill involved in wine tasting? Can it be done wrong? We sat down with our in-house sommelier, Robert Gomez, and asked him to spill all the secrets so we know exactly what to do at our next wine tasting event.
All Roads Lead to Walla Walla
For The Drayman House members, Robert Gomez is a familiar face, hosting tastings, offering member consultations, and helping manage the members-based wine storage and community facility. He has his certification as an Advanced Sommelier (CMS) and a Specialist of Spirits (SWE), and hosts member tasting events and assists members with wine acquisition. But Gomez wasn’t always a wine director, winemaker, and sommelier: he started out as an internationally-touring musician.
Says Gomez, “Previous to my career in wine/hospitality, I toured throughout the U.S. and Europe as a musician under my own name and with the likes of Sarah Jaffe, John Grant, Norah Jones, Trespassers William and the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus.” His time as a musician may come as a surprise to Walla Walla locals now who know him as wine director at Passatempo Taverna, the winemaker and owner at Hoquetus Wine Company and of course, the sommelier at The Drayman House.
For Gomez, all roads eventually lead to Walla Walla, who studied Enology and Viticulture at Walla Walla Community College after honing his beverage skills in Seattle. Gomez shares that today, he’s all in on the Walla Walla wine community and his work at The Drayman House: “I have the pleasure of curating wines for our guests via our wine shop, casual tastings and educational programs. I’m also here to help anyway I can. Answering questions, grabbing a decanter or an ice bucket, helping guests pick out a bottle, you name it!”
Wine Tasting Events at The Drayman House
For Gomez, wine tasting is an opportunity to play around with the different ways members and guests can experience wine. The Drayman House offers several options for events to experience specially curated wines, which Gomez chooses and features on a full monthly events calendar. “One [of our events] is a casual tasting where guests can have a self-guided tasting and check in with us pouring if they have any questions,” Gomez says. “Another is a seated presentation where we go through the wines as a group based on certain themes and we also have a wine club where bottles are curated and delivered so there’s quite a few different experiences to choose from.”
How to Taste Wine Like an Expert
Wine tasting is a full sensory experience. Gomez shared his tips for approaching a glass of wine: “The main things in evaluating a wine are visual (what the wine looks like), nose (what the wine smells like) and palate (what the wine tastes like but also the structure of the wine).” Gomez says that the habits that differentiate newer wine tasters to the seasoned experts is developing a repeatable process of your own, sharing, “It pays to be consistent and develop a routine.”
We asked the million dollar question: is there a special skill involved in wine tasting? Can it be done wrong? Says Gomez, “There is no wrong or right way to approach wine. It should first and foremost be enjoyable. Drink what you like!”
We’ll drink to that.
