How Master of Wine Christy Canterbury Approaches Wine Tasting
Christy Canterbury cares less adjectives than evidence.
So when she was preparing for the Master of Wine examination, she built a tasting grid with twenty checkpoints: color, aroma, oak influence, alcohol, tannin texture, balance, length, complexity. For every wine, she wrote down only what she could prove.
“It’s almost like being a detective,” she said. “What can I tell from what’s in the glass?”
That mindset still shapes how she tastes wine today.
Canterbury is one of roughly 400 living Masters of Wine worldwide. She chairs panels at international wine competitions and authors 200 page Burgundy reports for fine wine enthusiasts. But when she talks about wine tasting, her emphasis is less on prestige than it is on discipline.
In places like West Sonoma County, where tasting rooms from Sebastopol to the Russian River Valley often pour Pinot Noirs side by side, understanding that discipline can help you decided which wine clubs memberships are the best fit for you.
Based on my exclusive interview with her, this post is my attempt to parlay her approach to evaluating wines into useful tips you can use to isolate the charm of a lovely vineyard property or a delightful charcuterie presentation from what’s actually in the glass.
What is a Master of Wine?
A Master of Wine is the highest and most demanding qualification in the global wine industry, awarded by the Institute of Masters of Wine. Pictured here are some recent inductees, under the patronage of The Master of The Worshipful Company of Vintners, at Vintner’s Hall in London.
It is a distinguished title that signals not just expertise in wine tasting, but a deep understanding of viticulture, production, distribution, and the commercial realities of winemaking. Fewer than 500 people worldwide are Masters of Wine.
The rigor of that credential becomes clear in the wine tasting exam.
Candidates taste 36 wines across three sections, whites, reds, and a third typically covering sparkling, sweet, or fortified wines, though it can include almost anything.
Candidates are identified only by number. Graders do not know whose work they are evaluating. Everything must be supported by what is in the glass.
Rather than guessing, candidates build an argument. Points are awarded for reasoning. A well-supported conclusion that turns out to be wrong might still earn credit.
“Maybe I get five out of seven points,” Canterbury said. “It’s not an absolute zero, assuming I’m tasting the wine correctly.”
So precision matters. But so does logic.
Before each exam, Canterbury performed what she calls calibration, which is essentially a palate reset. She would taste wines at different alcohol levels to remind herself how alcohol registered that day. In wine competitions, calibration helps judges align standards so one person’s generosity does not overwhelm another’s strictness.
The examination tests a candidate’s ability to analyze wine objectively. But the point of the exercise is not simply to earn a title. It is to build a tasting method that works outside the exam room, in restaurants, competitions, and buying decisions where reputation, labels, and personal preference can easily distort judgment.
That distinction leads to an important divide in the wine world.
Professional vs. Recreational Wine Tasting
Recreational tasting, Canterbury says, is about enjoyment. “People should enjoy wine and not feel they have to follow rules.” Wine tasting should be fun.
Professional wine tasting is different. It is structured and repeatable so conclusions remain consistent over time. “You should be able to taste a wine at 10 a.m., again at 2 p.m., and tomorrow at 6 p.m., and reach roughly the same conclusions.”
Professionals taste this way because decisions often depend on it. A buyer for a restaurant group, a hotel chain, an airline program, or a competition panel must evaluate wine beyond personal preference. The question is not “Do I like it?” but “Is it sound, balanced, and appropriate for what it is?”
That discipline can help recreational tasters as well. Learning to notice structure, acidity, tannin, balance, length, makes it easier to recognize the kinds of wines you truly enjoy. Over time, that awareness can lead to better choices, whether selecting a bottle in a shop or deciding which wine club to join. The charm of the wine tasting room host or succulent charcuterie plate may create a lasting memory, but understanding the wine itself is what determines whether the relationship lasts.
Consistency is the distinguishing factor.
How credibility is earned
Credibility in judging is built over hours. That might mean 35 wines for a publication or 80 to 100 wines in a competition. Beyond that, accuracy slips.
Equally important is separating preference from evaluation.
“You don’t have to drink it [yourself]” Canterbury tells judges she chairs at the International Wine Challenge. “But if it’s a good quality wine for what it is and where it’s from, someone else might love it.”
A high-alcohol, heavily oaked Cabernet Sauvignon may not be her personal choice. If it is harmonious and technically sound, she will recognize its quality.
Liking a wine and judging it are different skills. The job is not to reward personal taste but to recognize quality on its own terms.
Official Master of Wine lapel pin in presentation box, issued by the Institute of Masters of Wine.
What makes an evaluation credible
Environment matters. Good light. Clean glasses. No competing aromas. Comfortable temperatures.
Canterbury has tasted in laboratory-style rooms designed to eliminate distraction. Canterbury finds them sterile. “They want to deprive you of your senses,” she said. “But you’re here to use your senses.”
Comfort supports clarity.
Blind tasting removes reputation from the equation. Without the label, it is easier to judge what is actually present rather than what is expected.
What blind tasting can’t measure
Blind tasting rarely captures value. A lineup might range from $15 to $50. The best wine might also be the best value, but without price information, that connection disappears.
“Unless you’re judging for value categories,” Canterbury said, “sometimes value gets left out.”
What tasting rooms can teach
For visitors in Sonoma County, the tasting room offers something simple and powerful: comparison.
Sitting with three or four wines side by side—whether in Sebastopol or along the Russian River—reveals differences in balance, texture, and structure that are harder to detect from a single bottle.
“Not many people sit down with three or four wines and really compare them,” Canterbury adds. “That alone can be educational.”
How to develop your palate
Start with color. Smell before tasting. Name what you detect—fruit, herbs, oak—not to impress anyone, but to build memory. Notice acidity, tannin, balance. Ask whether the wine feels harmonious now or built for time, suggests Canterbury.
Write it down.
“It forces you to find the words,” she said.
What we call “tasting” flavor is largely smelling it. Aromas travel retronasally from the palate to the olfactory system.
Taste itself is limited to sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami—and oleogustus, the taste of fat.
That distinction explains why a Riesling that smells lush can taste bracingly dry. Aroma sets expectation. Structure confirms or contradicts it.
The question the industry may be avoiding
When asked what the wine world still is not confronting directly, Canterbury did not mention terroir or technology. She mentioned fault tolerance.
“There is a much higher tolerance for wines with faults today than there was 10 or 15 years ago,” Master of Wine Christy Canterbury says.
She sees issues such as mousiness, excessive oxidation, and volatility sometimes defended as stylistic choices.
Her concern is straightforward: experimentation should not excuse poor technique.
Wine tasting, at its core, is not about mystique. It is about truth.
Whether at a wine competition or a Sonoma wine tasting room, the glass holds the evidence. The wine taster’s job is simply to evaluate it objectively.
