Jan 25, 2006
The life of a buyer
Unfiltered wine contains a suspended cloud of inert yeast cells called lees. The lees keep the unbottled wine fresh while it develops. This is Stormhoekâs Reserve Chenin Blanc 2005 as it looks now. Samples are from 2 different barrels.
A wine buyer not only has to evaluate this wine against others tasted in previous days, weeks and months, he has to imagine what it will taste like after bottling. And he has to take a punt on who will like it enough to buy it, and at what price, 6 or 12 months ahead.
In a normal tasting day he will put his lips and thinking cap to 50 or 100 unfinished wines in a day.
If he makes a mistake, buys too much or pays too high a price, it can cost his job. If he gets it right, he will probably hear nothing.
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