Blind tasting
German: Blindverkostung Also known as: Blindprobe, Blind Tasting
A tasting in which brand, origin and price remain unknown, so that the verdict rests only on perception.
In a blind tasting participants do not know which drink they are trying. Bottles are covered or decanted and glasses numbered. This prevents price, label or expectations from influencing the verdict.
It is used in competitions, quality control and comparison tests, and also as training for smell and taste memory. Some sommeliers even try to guess grape variety, origin and vintage. Results are meaningful when temperature, glasses and sequence are uniform and enough samples are tasted to balance out chance.
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