“How does one become a wine taster or perfume developer?

Question

Is there a course that gives you a recognised certification?

Answer 1

The first part of getting a job as a sommelier, or one form of wine taster, is lots of research. Unfortunately, that's not as much fun as it sounds. They estimate that after about a 8-10 ounces of wine consumed, your taste perceptions change, so you actually don't drink that much. As for what you do,the first thing is study, because there's a lot of science to it. You need to taste various flights and verticals to develop the ability to tell the difference between years and growing regions. After a while, when you try different things side by side, you can start to tell the grape types and even the type of oak the barrel that the wine was fermented in. (Just for kicks, French oak thends to have a slighly earthy tone with hints of spice while amercan oak has more of a peppery tone.) The biggest thing to do is try lots of wine, don't swallow all of it, and take notes on every wine you taste. Then get the winemaker's notes, which are on-line for most major wineries, and see why it tastes and smells the way it does.
Here are a few more neat tricks...

... have a small bowl of ground coffee to sniff every so often between tastings. This tends to clean your sense of smell so they don't all smell the same.

...take small sips of warm water in between the wines. Cold numbs the pallet a touch, and anything with a flavour will affect the next thing you try.

...have as much research material as you can find, but not so much about specific wines but more about grape varietals and winemaking techniques. You find a new grape you've never tried, then find some, try it, and take more notes. Some of the descriptions might sound odd, but keep an open mind. One of my favourite Hermitage wines from the rhone valley, which contain mainly a grape called Syrah (although there can be several others, too...) is described in terms like fungal, pungent, or my favourite description, light aromas of a wet dog. This wine, however, was a 98 point wine in the wine spectator and parker gave it 99. Reading from either of those two sources will also give you some more insight, but they're human beings too, so don't discount your own perceptions.

...Lastly, don't let anyome tell you what's good, bad, or indifferent. Some of the wines that I like the most aren't the most famous or sought after, and frankly some of the well-hyped wines I've had don't seem to be all that. Just form your own opinions and take notes on what and why they tast the way the do.

One other thing to keep in mind when you suddenly find yourself surrounded by wine snobs of every shape and size, is this...

...wine is just rotten grape juice with a slightly hipper rap.

Have fun, learn something, and if you end up in the right place at the right time, sombody will pay you lots of money to drink lots of free wine.

Answer 2

Well, for the wine taster one, you need recognised wines and spirit qualifications, an example would be the Wine and Spirit Education Trust courses.

Not sure where perfume would come into that though... I think the training for that would be slightly different!

Answer 3

I would say you just have to know the right person like a family member to get a job like that.

#1.Having good connections
#2 . Being a *** kisser or a suck up that's how a lot of people get good jobs.

Answer 4

wow two completely different subjects there! try not to get them mixed up!

Answer 5

Hard work and persistance.

Answer 6

be good at bullsh1t