October's Blind Ambition Tour

I am making a bold commitment.

For the entire month of October, whenever possible, I’m tasting blind.

What does "tasting blind" mean? Tasting a glass of wine and having no idea what the varietal, price, region, or all of the above. Its a skill one needs to pass the Court of Masters Sommilier Exam, and in fact, part of the test is to taste things blind- see the actual tasting grid. I don't plan on taking that exam, but its certainly a skill worth developing or at least trying trying to develop. Plus, who doesn't love wine related quests?

My inspiration comes from two sources:

1) A few weeks ago Mr. Lush and I attended a blind tasting with Mr. & Mrs. Luce. I did horrible. Absolutely horrible. Not that I thought I would get all of them correct, but I was hoping for a better record than what I got. This must, simply must be rectified.

2) In October my wine club has a blind tasting, so in the spirit of the month, why not taste everything I can blindly?

Now, to clarify the burning question of “how on earth are you going to do this?” here’s my plan:

• When I’m out, I’ll give the server an instruction of white or red and a price range of $6-10 and tell me not to tell me what it is. Since my server or bartender doesn’t know my taste, I wouldn’t want to order a bottle and hate it, so I’ll only order by the glass.
• I'll visit stores on tasting days and try to not see what I'm having.
• However, if I’m with someone, I’ll let them order and I will be none the wiser.
• If I’m at a friend’s house, I’ll request that they keep what it is from me for a glass until I have a guess.
• If I’m at home, I’ll ask Mr. Lush to keep it a secret for a bit as well.
• I’ll also attend every tasting I can blindly. (Luckily, there’s one scheduled in October as well at Gambino’s in O’Fallon MO.)
  

How successful do I expect to be? Not so much, to be honest and I expect I’ll feel very stupid at times. But, I would hope by the end of the month, I’ll be better off giving my palate such exercise.

Wish me luck!