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Demo Continues and a Trip to Wine School

Demo continues at the distillery this week. I only made it up and down the ladder 150 times...so only half way complete with removal of the dropped aluminum ceiling and track lighting. If you ever get a chance to tear down an entire row of track lighting I highly recommend it! Hopefully this portion of the demo will be complete next week (barring any interruptions).

Thanks to NC legislation passed last year, distilleries are now be able to sell cocktails, beer and wine in their Tasting Rooms. This progressive legislation was HUGE news for NC distillers and one of the key items that made it feasible for me to pursue opening Olde Raleigh full-time. Our 30-foot bar intends to sell the full portfolio of spirits to our patrons.

This new legislation created an opportunity to explore different spirits. As such, I am a bit obsessive-compulsive when it comes to learning and made a deep dive into the world of wine. In a nice break from tearing a part the building, I made a trip to Charleston to attend the Court of Master Sommelier's Introductory Course. This Course is the first of a series of 4 course/exams required to become a Master Sommelier of Wine.

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The class was a 2-day fire hose, crash course led by 3 Master Sommeliers. The Deductive Wine Tasting Methodology was a key component of the agenda...this is the analytical blind tasting process the Master Sommeliers use to identify wine. It was quite fun to compare this methodology to how I typically conduct a whiskey tasting.

Biggest challenge: identifying wines as "high alcohol content." As an avid 100 proof bourbon drinker, they were all quite a bit on the light side.

The class was intense! Luckily, one of the students (nearly half my age) gave a good tip for studying: Quizlet.com. The site has decks of flash cards on various topics, notably, Introductory Sommelier Questions. Scared of failure, I cyber flipped flash hundreds of cards all evening after the first day of class. Side note: studying creates a whole new challenge after spending all day consuming alcohol in class. Thanks to this handy study tip I miraculously passed the exam (woohoo!). Next step in the process is sitting for the Level 1 Certification...for now I'll settle for Baby Sommelier!

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