Only with Waves of Wine Tours
The Blind Tasting Experience
Learn the language of wine in 20 minutes
A relaxed, guided way to work out which wine styles suit your palate, and to describe what you enjoy without the jargon.
Included in every Daily Tour · no wine knowledge needed
What it is
Wine, without the guesswork
Most wine tours only take you from one cellar door to the next. We do something no one else does: a guided tasting that hands you a method you keep.
You sit down to a flight of three wines and learn to describe them in a way that feels natural. No jargon, no pressure. Wine isn’t about mystifying language; it’s about what you actually enjoy in your glass. With our tasting template, identifying colours, aromas, textures and flavours becomes easy, and fun. A treasure hunt for the senses.
You carry that confidence for the rest of the tour and well beyond it, at home or abroad.
The method
Four things to look for
Sight
Colour and colour intensity: how to hold the glass, and what the wine’s appearance is telling you.
Aroma
Fruit, oak and age. You record what reaches you, not what you think should be there.
Taste
Sweetness, acidity, tannin, alcohol and body, explained as sensations rather than jargon.
Profile
Balance, character, complexity and finish: everything above, pulled into one impression.
The challenge
Then one glass goes under wraps
You taste three wines
The first one together as a group, then two on your own, using the same simple method.
The labels are covered
Each bottle’s label is covered, so the wine’s identity stays secret.
One is poured blind
The bottles go under the table, one is chosen at random and everyone gets a mystery glass.
Everyone commits
On the count of five you place your glass on your answer, guide included, and the label is revealed.
Your guide takes part too.
What you get out of it
You leave knowing your own palate
What you take away
- A simple, repeatable way to describe any wine
- A clearer sense of your own palate: what you notice, and what you don’t
- The wine styles that actually suit you, and why
- Enough terminology to follow a cellar-door conversation and ask better questions
- Your completed tasting sheet, to use for the rest of the day
- The confidence to run a version of it at home
Clearing a few things up
What it isn’t
You need no wine knowledge
Most guests are beginners or somewhere in the middle. That is who it is built for.
Only the last glass is blind
You know exactly what the first three wines are. The mystery pour comes at the end.
There is no right answer
Different people record different things. That is the point. It is your palate, not an exam.
Guessing right isn’t the goal
Some guests pick the mystery wine, some don’t. The useful part is working out why you thought so.
Afterwards
Use it anywhere
The same sheet works long after the tour: at a cellar door, at your kitchen table, or as a game with friends.
FAQs
Everything you might be wondering
Do I need to know anything about wine?
Not at all. Most of our guests are beginner or intermediate wine drinkers, and the whole experience is built for exactly that. You will not be asked to already understand wine terminology.
How long does it take?
About 20 minutes, run over lunch so it flows naturally into the rest of the day.
Is the whole thing done blind?
No. You know exactly what the first three wines are and taste them openly. Only the final glass is poured blind, once you have your notes.
What wines do you use?
Three reds with clearly different styles, so there is something to compare. The producers change with what the restaurant has available, so we do not name a fixed label.
What if I guess the mystery wine wrong?
Nothing at all. Guessing correctly is not the point. Around six in ten guests pick it, and the useful part is looking back at your notes to see which sensations led you there.
Where does it happen?
At Olio Bello, immediately before lunch is served, at the second or third stop of the day.
Is it included in the tour price?
Yes. It is a guaranteed inclusion on every Daily Tour, at no extra cost.
Can we do it on a private charter?
Yes, for charters having lunch at Olio Bello, as a $20 per person add-on.
Do I get to keep the tasting sheet?
Yes. You keep your completed sheet for the rest of the tour, and you can get a clean copy to use at home whenever you like.
Can I run a blind tasting at home?
That is exactly what the pack is for. It walks through setting one up: how many wines, how many glasses, and how to use the sheet with friends.
Try it on the Daily Tour
The guided experience runs over lunch on every Daily Tour, and the tasting sheet is yours to keep.