BARBARA LINDBLOM
SENSORY SERVICES
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- Descriptive
profiles of production lots, potential blends, &
finished wines
- Tasting
programs designed for growers, winemakers &
their associates
- Innovative/customized
methods for generating wine descriptions
- Training
and incorporating sensory evaluation techniques
and practices into production and vineyard trials
- Identify
characteristics specific to individual sites and
viticultural areas
- Workshops
for production, hospitality, marketing, and sales
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Some tools for descriptive tasting
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Given the importance of matching site, style, and
vinification, having the right sensory evaluation
tools is key. Generating accurate descriptions of
wines requires the appropriate sensory practices.
And to do this successfully, the results need to be
expressed in commonly understood language.
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"Barbara's
work in sensory evaluation has put the principles of
sensory science in a form understood by industry. She
has the ability to de-mystify science-based sensory
evaluation techniques and procedures, effectively bridging
the gap between pure and applied science. Her communications
skills, enthusiasm and motivation, coupled with her
technical knowledge make her an effective consultant.
Barbara has certainly produced some outstanding wines.
And her international experience brings a global perspective."
- Bruce Zoecklein, Emeritus Professor, Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University
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Profiling zinfandel from different
AVAs
"I've tasted wine professionally with Barbara
for over 30 years and she's as good as it gets. She
not only has a sensitive palate, a broad "library"
of tastes in her memory, and a good eye for the subtleties
of texture and style; more importantly, she helps
those around her taste better and smarter. What she
does best is communicate about tasting. I always learn
something new when I taste with Barbara."
- Michael Kinney, Wine Copy Writer, Wordwright
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Aroma references
from the real world |
An
example of her approach to sensory evaluation is Barbara's
use of aroma references that can be found around the
house…or garden…or woods...just about anywhere.
These references also have the advantage of being
visual cues - reinforcing memory.
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"Barbara
Lindblom, who teaches sensory evaluation, is dedicated
to getting to the heart of wine aromas, offered the
perfect link between food and wine with her large
and hugely popular aroma reference table (in the format
of Ann Noble's wine aroma wheel). She takes the smell
sensations that wine pros often refer to and breaks
them down to their original scent. So, for example,
she put rose petals in a wine glass, rose oil infused
in wine in another glass, and in a third glass, a
wine that seems to have a rose or floral scent."
- Kathleen Buckley, journalist, Wine Enthusiast
Magazine
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Barbara
also has a unique and down-to earth protocol to help
clarify the complex world of wine mouthfeel. She uses
mouthfeel references to demonstrate the individual
sensations, tea to demonstrate the complex characteristics
of mouthfeel, and Vedel's Mouthfeel Triangle to provide
some vocabulary for these sensations in the context
of wine.
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Vedel mouthfeel graphic
translated by B. Lindblom & D. Blackburn |
Quotes
from Napa Valley College students - after a "Tea
& Grocery" lecture and workshop:
"Thank you so much for all of the information.
Your teaching should be a requirement for all wine lovers.
Hopefully, we can get together and have you visit Conn
Creek."
"We tried sensory evaluation on everything we ate
or drank for days!"
"Treat presentation! What I have been looking for!
Thanks for your time & expertise."
"Thank you! My pallet will never be the same." |
Vineyard profiling at Gary Farrell
Winery |
These tools have been used for training growers, winemakers
and their staff, students and tasting panels, to help
them evaluate production and vineyard trials, generate
sensory profiles of individual vineyard blocks and
wine lots - as well as numerous other applications
to evaluate blends, vinification treatments, and the
characteristics of different AVAs.
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asked Barbara to do various training sessions for my
team and myself - utilizing her for analytical sensory
techniques for tasting and evaluating wines and winemaking
protocols. Barbara is constantly experimenting to add
even more layers of complexity to the wine while maintaining
balance. She has given me the knowledge and help to
create wines that evoke the purest expression that all
the best my vineyards have to offer."
- Susan Reed, Winemaker, Gary Farrell Winery
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