Tasting like a MASTER of WINE - How to pass the MW TASTING

I have prepared something pretty cool for you today. I am going to take you behind the scenes of the most difficult exam, and I will show you how I passed the Master of Wine Tasting while also doing a blind tasting of wines from the exam. The Master of Wine is one of the highest regarded qualification in the wine world.
The exams were first held in 1953 and today there are just 416 Masters of Wine, living in 31 different countries. I used to say that more people went to space than passed the Masters of Wine and that is still true but nowadays every other billionaire seems to go to space so this comparison is less significant. There are so few Masters of Wine in the world because the exam is very difficult. They used to say that less than 10 % of all people who start the programme end up becoming Masters of Wine. One big reason for this is the notoriously difficult tasting test.
It is the most extensive test in the world of your tasting abilities as you have to be able to identify 36 different wines. There is no list of wines you have to know - everything is possible: There was Château Lafite-Rothschild 1989 in a tasting (2000) but I also had a Lambrusco in the lineup when I passed the exam. You might get an Assyrtiko from Santorini or a Viognier from South Australia.
Follow me on ...:
/ konstantin.baum
/ konstantinbaum_mw
Check out my websites:
meinelese.de
meinelese.de/blog/

[@johnlamela4982]

To hold the title "Master of Wine" and then do a public blind tasting so transparently is absolutely amazing! keep up the great videos!

[@georgebradley419]

You are, without any doubt, the best wine educator I’ve even seen. Your knowledge, and your humbleness are a breath of fresh air. I’ve learned so much from watching your videos. We love your sense of humour, casualness, honesty, and complete absence of pretentiousness keeps us watching. Brilliant.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you very much for your support George!

[@gabyisphoto2379]

what I love about your style is that it is a great combination of amazing in-depth knowledge with humbleness - you make the entire wine tasting experience very approachable (as opposed to many/most wine experts). kudos!! keep these videos coming!!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you!

[@tonygallo1104]

Gaby Isphoto, perefectly said!

[@claudiomarini1293]

Completely agree, I love your videos!

[@Nice-music585]

Imagine attending a tasting by Konstantin...ugh #goals

[@MDL-lw9my]

Totally agreed. The most entertaining and self deprecating Master of Wine ever!

[@blakepieroni9775]

I'd love to see an in-depth wine cellar tour sometime

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

That would be nice.

[@feelinggrape]

Honestly you have the best wine channel on KZbin!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you!

[@marklittlewood9035]

Your honesty, including your courage to admit your weaknesses, and share your valuable experiences is fantastic. Thanks.

[@gsbarreto]

My suggestion: do a series of tastings of best inexpensive wines from (insert country)

[@chrislarsen2684]

I agree...Not everyone can afford a bottle of wine for over $100. Like a $25.00 and under would be Fantastic!!

[@jd892]

This would be a huge hit. 99% of Wine Consumers don't spend much on wine. Very few people spend more then 20-30 $ US on wine. I would pick some wines. Taste them all give his tasting notes and score and then rank them from best to worst at the end of the video. He could do this series so many times. Video total "Master of Wine's Finds the best Cheap / Budgdt wine from xyz". Or he could go based on varietals.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks. A bit like the vivino video-right?

[@jd892]

@@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine Ya kind of like the video from Bon Appétit Sommelier Rates wines under 20$ I think it's called. Don't need to do as many lol whatever fits your budget

[@maxrossa2478]

I would love to see an episode on Porto, comparing different types (Vintage, LBV, Tawny) and what flavors set them apart from the rest of the wine world

[@matteoconsalvo1713]

That would be great! Also some great buy recommendations would be much appreciated!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

That would be fun!

[@David.Laurin.Rathmer]

Pretty impressive! This exact type of content is the reason I watch your videos: as a viewer, you can learn much about the methodology behind tastings and moreover, you can grab up some worthy knowledge🍷

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks David

[@carlbayard8729]

One has to appreciate your humility as a master of wines when wrong. Very entertaining thank you for this video

[@jpm5324]

Ahh Rubicon, ive had a few of those. 2013 was a stellar vintage! As far as I know it is indeed a Bordeaux blend.

[@michelem9341]

South African tasting with Peter (and Jay) for guidance. Then all of you do one or two together.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

I would be up for that

[@SonderSinger]

When I sat my WSET Level 3, one of our questions was entirely on South Africa, so I feel your pain! Great video as always. Looking forward to more tastings!

[@OnceUponAVine]

@hughjohnwoods - would that be a question related to naming the four (4) regions identified by law in SA in descending order from largest to smallest :-)

[@brandon8878]

love this channel. Thanks for the perspective

[@foodwinewhiskey]

Glad I found you channel, love the content you're providing.

[@GilreathDental]

Absolutely love your candor and the fact that you’ve shared this with us!

[@user-bm7bj6kq9e]

I really enjoy these videos. Well done explaining aswell

[@07honda]

Another great video. 👍

[@wiljonbor]

Really enjoying your videos. Only recently stumbled upon them, but glad I did!

[@stormedwards356]

Absolutely impressive how you can do this! I’m so intrigued ❤

[@Dorianculmer2]

Honest & impressive! Well done buddy!

[@stephancassar3613]

Well done! keep it up. I hope to start the Master of Wine studies soon, and videos like this inspire and help a lot!

[@justifiedreasoning]

Love your humility, bro!

[@Murilocc]

The way you approached each wine is fascinating, specially how you got the white rioja right. Super inspiring! I love your vids

[@januszstopa3383]

You hit the spot with this blind-testing. My congratulations! It's a very good idea to intersperse you regular videos with blind wine-testing. Thank you so much.

[@mark-ish]

Subscribed. Entertaining & educational. Thank you.

[@TheHungryBites]

Thanks Konstantin, great video as always! I'd love to see a tasting of Greek wines sometime!

[@jfarlandutube]

Great video. Very educational. Please continue making this great content.

[@showshaka92]

Great video and the honesty in the blind tasting is awesome! Really encouraging to those like me who try to be perfectionists

[@AlexKatzenstein]

Thank you for this amazing video! I love wine and am even thinking of taking sommelier courses. You are an inspiration!

[@andrewwebster15]

This was fascinating - thanks again. I’d love to see you do a video on South African wines so we can learn with you as you develop greater depth there (I know very little about the region). For another tasting, I’d love to see you guess something common, like Cabernet Sauvignon, from 10 or so different countries, and see if you can place them.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Great suggestion!

[@cryptodudepoland7533]

I love your honesty. Greetings from Poland!

[@mattraino3274]

I have loved the homemade wine videos- love to see more of how the red came out!

[@matteomelfa]

Amazing as usual..... I always have sort of confusion at getting differences between the great Chardonnays from burgundy.... A blind tasting with Meursault, Chassagne and Puligny, with your analisi would be amazing.... Individualize a pattern in order to explain these wines better to my customer would be great! .... I’m speechless by your ability at funneling..... God knows how much studying and practice is behind..... Thanks Teacher!

[@nickster13]

Loving this content! Thanks for the insight from behind the scenes 🙌

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks!

[@rickkan4870]

Sounds intimidating,I am only going to start my Wset 3 class, love see you do some tasting of some wine from Georgia

[@tjongtjong210]

Congratulations on reaching 10k subscribers!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you!

[@dantheman8279]

A good honest tasting, very informative video about how to decipher wines and how difficult it can be.

[@vfolsen]

This could be good concept for a series of videos. I really like this.

[@martinlamy6371]

Excellent as usual - you make wine understanding and demystify the professional descriptions - I’m beginning to think I might know something about wine apart from ‘that tastes nice’. Thank you.

[@3CamelsInAHummer]

Great Vid! One NZ tip on Maori pronunciation, the vowels don't change and are the same as Italian. Awatere is 'Ah-Wah-Teh-Reh'... A, E, I, O, U is 'Ah, Eh, Ee, Oh, Oo'

[@richardgarrity9335]

Thank you for the lidl and aldi reviews I will look for the Italian wines you spoke of they are nearly all nearly twice as expensive as those you obtained thanks for passing on your knowledge

[@kilo11881]

This was great! Looking forward to future videos.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Awesome, thank you!

[@robertthrossell4321]

This was absolutely fascinating sir, I'm absolutely amazed at ur tasting skills... the MW is certainly the hardest wine exam... Gr8 video 🍷👌

[@zehzinho85]

Blind tastings with explanations are beautiful. Thanks for this!!!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you!

[@comodo001]

doch, doch ... sehr lehrreich und amüsant zugleich. Sehr löblich auch , daß Du gegenüber dem geneigtem Zuschauer (ohne jegliches affektiertes Experten-Geschwurbel) eingestehst, daß auch der größte Weinkenner sich brutal irren kann ! Weiter so Maestro 👍👍👍

[@hungryformusik]

That was very interesting, thank you for your honesty.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you!

[@joshbaba5669]

So much respect for what you do

[@heygus20]

Thank you for making these wonderful videos! You provide such clear and interesting knowledge for the audience. I always learn so much watching your videos or from your other content. Cheers from 🇨🇦

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you very much

[@joaonogueira6360]

Very nice video and very informative and entertaining. It’s impressive how you get so close in your findings for most of the wines

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks!

[@marzollo7772]

Tbh this seems much more impressive than dunking in the nba

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks 😊

[@juanarcobaleno9540]

I just love wine. Thanks for the tips.

[@tonygallo1104]

Konstantin.... you are humbled, talented and good on Vid! I do need to get more info on that last south african wine... the rel few SA wines i've had i've enjoyed. 1 or 2 pinotages well not as much! Back this particular wine you said bordeaux blend.. but that often differs a bit in SA. Perhaps some Cab, ? Merlot ? Sirah .....? Pinotage

[@jwp2166]

I'm addicted to your channel. I love it. I know nothing about wine other than I really like it and have a glass -- or two -- about every day. What hooked me on your channel is your knowledge, your down-to-earth communication style, your humor, and your humility. Kudos as well on your production style. Thanks for the videos. Keep them coming!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you very much!

[@drmatthewhorkey]

I love your humility to do this difficult blind tasting on video. Awesome stuff, I hope to taste with you in person in the future. Keep up the great work and I'm happy to see your channel starting to take off.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you!

[@abhinavjoshi6177]

Love your blind tasting, recently just got into wines. But I really enjoy tasting and learning about it 🙏🏼

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@h.g.martin1402]

You are truly a Master because of your honesty and humility. Exceptional video.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks!

[@marknelson8724]

Blind tasting keeps us all humble. I admire your bravery. A couple years ago I tasted two Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons. They were fresh from a recent vintage and completely without any tannin structure at all. Horrifying. Yes it makes the wines easier to drink after three stop lights worth of aging but it also makes it much harder to identify the vintage. Cabernet Sauvignon needs time to gather itself and really open up, even without tannins. We have seen so many different styles of wine the last few decades as wineries chase the latest fashion, that it just makes blind tasting, let alone buying more than one bottle to "test drive" at a time, a real challenge. I should probably just stick to classic wineries but I remain a so-many-bottles-so-little-time sort of wine consumer.

[@Heapsray]

I am enjoying your video drinking a nice medoc from 2009, I really enjoy how you explain things.

[@merlenoir60]

Great video! Would love to see more videos where you list the indicators for a certain wine (as you do here), but also explain what throws you off when trying to identify it (for example, does the mouth feel not match the aroma): Which wines are easily mixed up if you only consider one of stages of the tasting (appearance, aroma, taste)? And which aspect ultimately sways you? Thanks - Keep it up!

[@dadisairoberta]

Looking forward to your South African wine tastings.

[@1001femmes]

Very interesting and impressive exercise! The description of the white Rioja made me think of a portuguese white wine!

[@JoeyDediashvili]

Very cool!

[@BBippy]

Great fun! I'm a complete novice so this is amazing. Cheers!

[@NickDeWachter]

Great episode. One of your best so far imo. Very interesting to hear the thought process to determine what's in the glass. What I really like is that you started from the flavor characteristics as you didn't know the grapes. Instead of the usual " it's Pinot noir so I'm going to pick up these smells" .

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you!

[@ajwise121]

Thanks for the videos, really enjoying them. You asked for comments on suggestions for blind tasting. How about doing one varietal globally? Say Syrah / Shiraz? I’m sure you’ll nail it!

[@andrejjorg8650]

So much fun! Not even subscribed the channel, also subscribed the monthly wine package. Please do a video about this.

[@tonydeltablues]

Enjoying your videos tremendously :-) Tony

[@tiagoalfredo9998]

Fantastic!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Many thanks!

[@JohnCantor]

Great blind tasting with some unusual wines! I would love to to see you blind taste Brunello from different areaas around Montalcino!

[@andreferreira8266]

Congratulations for the channel. When can you give us a Portuguese wines taste? Cheers

[@tomhall8964]

Really enjoyed this, bruder. Vielen dank! I'd love to see varietals from different regions, and how an MW determines regionality. German/Austrian riesling vs Oz, US Pinot vs Burgundy, West Oz Cab v European cab etc etc But you the boss, and the vids are great. Keep it up!

[@vBiViolence]

Great content as usual. I appreciated the "funnel" analogy for breaking down the wine and the narration of your thought process throughout the funneling process. Tasting suggestion: Cava vs. Cremant vs. USA Sparkling vs. Champagne

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks. Sparkling Wines seem to be what everyone wants to see

[@itsmederek1]

I love this! It is very funny that you mentioned SA not being your strength and it ended up being the only one you missed, I don't count Pinot from Mozel as a miss on your part^^ Would it be an interesting idea to do a video series where episode by episode you lay out parts of your 'funnel' until in the end we have a comprehensive idea of the scope of your 'database' when it comes to wine tasting?

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

I will try to do that

[@bryantang125]

Very interesting video! Please make more blind tasting videos!

[@TheNeverposts]

this is actually so entertaining. I'd legit pay to see this live.

[@rambrasil]

This was so interesting ! I was trying my own tasting as a complete novice in doing this and I find it really difficult to decouple the smell and taste as you are doing. Alcoholic wines mute the smell but after some sifting the wine around and following some of your suggestions in other videos suddenly certain smells pop up! Thanks !

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@TNDKDW]

thanks for content like this. im interested in becoming more knowlegdable and skilled in wine and hope to start my journey soon with the beginning WSET and CMS Levels, but been a little lost at where to prepare and what are important things to understand when beginning my studies

[@nvrtm1732]

such an interesting and fun episode! maybe just trying out 2~4 wines would be still enjoyable (and saving your money). same country but different grapes or same varietal but different country any theme would be fine, but I would like it more if you could give more explanations of each wines (in terms of the colour, nose, and palate) btw, are these glasses Riedel Veritas Champagne?

[@apexxxx10]

Ree-DELL!

[@jacobweber4234]

Maybe try a blindtasting with grapes, that can be similar, and thus getting mixed up in a blindtasting. Like Grüner Veltliner vs. Albariño vs. Riesling, or Gamay vs. Pinot Noir

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Sounds good!

[@12Trappor]

Great episode! Very well done, especially to identify the white Rioja and to place the Pinot Noir in Germany. I agree that red wines are trickier in general to taste blind.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks!

[@clydeblair9622]

That Rubicon is popular in my shop. Good call with the white Rioja. We do well with those too.

[@JCVAL13]

Always great videos! If you visit London, I would recommend you to visit Handford Wine shop in South Kensington, they are specialised in Sout African wines and have always two master of wines working for them!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks!

[@maxglatz2186]

Liked your vids for a while now, and to complete the 10k subs - here I am😂 keep up the great work, love the content 👍

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks Max

[@carlcadregari7768]

Tastings are so hard. Awesome video on how to get to the grape and area. 👍👍👍

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you!

[@serbanchinole]

Liked the sincerity, please do South Africa and Greece, I do not know the SA very well, but really love the greeks, mainly Peloponese Saint George

[@zacarytobia6466]

I like this kind of video. Do more like this please

[@daniellabuda7744]

Damn, I receive lots of inspirations from your knowledge. I'm going to taste some nice wines in futute! Please, tell me, what is your opinion about Raboso grape varieties. I personally really enjoy Raboso wines from Italy, they have distinct 'fruity, berry like' flavor to it and balanced sweetness in my opinion.

[@jfc1983]

Do some Napa please, or Paso Roble would be nice too. Both around the corner-ish from my house, so looking forward to learn more about those regions!

[@emjaesantos56]

The best!

[@philippeghostine1898]

Greate video! Would be really nice to see you try and review some wines from Lebanon. For example Chateau Musar and Marquis de Beys

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

I did taste Musar in the freak wine video

[@riffraff3777]

I would like to see a blind tasting with wines from lesser known wine-growing areas

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Good idea!

[@jonasspangbergbjarneby7835]

Great tasting!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks!

[@francoistourigny3006]

A subscriber from Canada, great content , thank you for your expertise, if you can test some wine from Quebec, the quality begin to be interesting, that I hear! But I hesitate, it would be very interesting! Thank you.

[@greggbull9543]

I’m very much enjoying the content of your videos, you have an amazing skill and palate. You even got a giggle out of your wife.😁

[@SomChivukula]

Amazing job!!! 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you!

[@tarawalker7193]

Wonderful episode! Do a tasting of single producer lines and compare quality of varietals within the producer line.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks!

[@josepedrosa2334]

My humble opinion is that this video was truly inspirational. Maybe one day I'll be able to dedicate the needed time and prepare for the test. In the meantime, I'll stick to WSET and keep drinking. Cheers!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks!

[@asterixinbritainsteve8868]

Great video as ever. Many thanks. How about going through a white and a red, breaking down the funnel method in more detail, such as physical characteristics, smell and then finally taste.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you. I will try to do that

[@asterixinbritainsteve8868]

Fantastic, many thanks. I look forward to viewing the video.

[@francoismaleking5474]

Good video nice music in the background please do a blind tasting on new world vs old world many thanks