‘DRINK & DRAW', or rather ‘TASTE & DRAW’

luxemburg riesling tasting

I am blessed with a wine loving husband, but not with delicate taste buds. So when we were invited to join a select club of wine tasters in Luxemburg, I agreed on the condition that I could sketch while tasting.

We meet once every six weeks or so. The host couple chooses a specific wine region, grape or label and every couple brings one bottle in a price range from 5 to 30 euro. It is a ‘horizontal’ and blind tasting, during which all the aspects of the wine are discussed and noted: appearance, aroma, in-mouth-sensations and aftertaste. At the end the one who brought the winning wine receives a little award.

aloxe-corton wine tasting, luxemburg...and the winner is: aloxe-corton premier cru 'les valozières' 2005

I love the terminology: leathery, tar, stewed prunes, chocolate, liquorice, roses, prunes, bramble fruits, earthy, smoky, wet wool, petrol... But I quickly lose track and then I start to observe and try to sketch my fellow tasters. I always spit the wine in a spittoon, but is true that some alcohol can loosen up the sketches!

south american chardonnay wine tasting

south american chardonnay wine tasting: taking notes

saint-joseph (rhone) wine tasting

alentejo white wine tasting: looking, tasting, thinking

alentejo white wine tasting: smelling, tasting and taking notes


Adding some colour to the wine!



malbec wine tasting, luxemburg: the winner is catena alta 2011





vacqueyras wine tasting, luxemburg, and the winner is: les halos de jupiter 2010

Once in a while the wine tasting club goes on a little wine trip to a famous wine region. Last weekend we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the club with a trip to the nearby Alsace wine region, where we visited some remarkable producers:

Bernard Weber tasting





Réné Boehler tasting



Here a link to our Piemonte trip in 2015.

And here  you can see the whole collection of my wine tasting sketches PLUS some useful information about lesser known wines, and even more useful, the winning wines...