Discerning palate: Kenya outperforms UK at international wine tasters contest

In a remarkable achievement, Kenyan wine tasters have bested traditional wine powerhouses such as England at the prestigious World Wine Tasting Championships, often called the “Olympics of Wine”.

The event, held in France, sees competitors tasting a variety of unnamed wines, guessing their region, vintage and grape variety.

This year Kenya was represented by an all-female team: Janet Kanjith, Soraya Ladak, Kenyalyn Odinyo, Joy Adero and Victoria Mulu Munyuki.

This was Kenya’s third appearance in the tournament, and the team had been preparing hard with rigorous training sessions at The Wine Shop in Nairobi.

During these sessions, the team honed their skills by sampling dozens of wines from different regions.

At one Lifestyle session she attended, Joy described the wine: “I taste high acidity, minerality and a touch of barnyard – but not the red wine type.” Meanwhile, Soraya identified notes of asparagus and unripe passion fruit, guessing a Bordeaux blend from 2022.

This experience helped the Kenyan team finish second, just two places behind France, showcasing their talent on the global stage.

Speaking to Lifestyle from France, the team couldn’t hide their excitement about being able to compete against established wine countries. Kenya ranked 30th out of 40 countries, most of which produce wine, while South Africa, the other African representative in the competition, ranked 26th.

The team shared their journey on how their close friendship blossomed through their shared passion for wine.

Janet fell in love with wine in 2014.

“Working in hospitality, you have to have wine training, and I enjoyed learning about wine,” she said.

During the Covid pandemic, Janet deepened her knowledge by reading about wine, which led her to vineyards in South Africa to learn about the wine industry. “When I came back, I gained my first wine qualification, a WSET Level 2.”

She joined Team Wine Kenya this year but has been attending the courses since 2022. “My relationship with wine is a beautiful love affair. It has elevated my career. I started as a restaurant hostess, and now I am an award-winner.” “The restaurant manager,” said Janet, beverage director at The Social House.

The training courses were intense and demanding. “We would taste six to seven wines a day, using all our senses to decipher the origin, grape, and vintage of each variety. Our wine tasting training began at 10 a.m. Our instructor, Victoria Munyuki, was always reminding us to read about wine,” Janet said.

They meticulously documented their tastings in notebooks, ensuring they remembered the nuances of each wine.

“I was walking around with three different types of books; one was to help me with my sensory observations to learn how to tell wine through the senses. The other book helped me differentiate between different grapes and learn how to differentiate grape wines from other grapes and I also had a WSET Level 3 book that helped me In identifying the different regions from which the wine comes.

Maintaining a sensitive palate was crucial. “I avoid food or drinks before training, and I even avoid perfumes, because they can distort our sense of smell,” Janet explained.

Soraya is a returning competitor, having joined the original team in 2022.

“I missed last year’s competition due to my pregnancy. Competition is a challenge for me, but I love it because it helps me improve my wine tasting skills. Even as a sommelier, every day I learn more about wine,” he told WSET. Sommelier level 3.

Her relationship with wine began after her first pregnancy. “Pregnancy heightened my senses. I was vomiting and always feeling nauseous, and it didn’t go away even after giving birth. So, when my baby grew up and I had wine, everything became fine,” the mother-of-three said. .

For Soraya, training for the competition wasn’t just about wine tasting; It took discipline and sacrifice, balancing family and professional obligations.

“People assume we only drink alcohol, but that’s a craft. It’s not exactly fun. You don’t want to drink wine after these training sessions; you crave tea or coffee. There’s also palate fatigue. We tasted more than 200 wines.” Different types of wine You also have to maintain discipline, balancing that passion with family and work, but we believe in ourselves and want to put Kenya on the wine map.”

As one of the directors of The Wine Shop, Soraya says part of their role was to provide training wines for competitors and a place to practice.

“We hosted the team and provided the wine… We were lucky this year because Barton and Gestier provided us with the wine used in training,” she said.

For those looking to make wine a career, Soraya says: “You have to remember at the end of the day, this is alcohol. It’s a slippery slope, and I’ve seen too many people fall victim to alcoholism. If this is your career, you must respect trade and do everything in moderation.

To preserve its taste, Soraya avoids hot peppers. “Giving my taste buds a break is always very helpful,” the 42-year-old said. “I give myself a break and only enjoy wine during the weekend.”

Kenyalyn, who joins Team Wine Kenya for the first time this year, grew up surrounded by wine.

“My parents would host guests a lot when I was growing up. All meals were accompanied by wine. Then I went to a cooking school in South Africa, where wine is a big part of their culture. That’s where I improved.” “I understand wine,” the 28-year-old said.

She now works as a group sommelier and retail manager at Wine Box in Nairobi.

“For me, wine means family, happiness and love. It’s a long-term investment,” she said.

Joy got into wine simply out of curiosity.

“I’m a wine enthusiast. It all started in 2012 when I was receiving bottles of wine as gifts from friends, which piqued my curiosity. I started self-teaching, browsing the Internet and reading wine enthusiasts’ and spectator’s magazines.

It was a hobby until 2019 when I decided to take it as a career. I took my WSET classes and topped my Level 1 and Level 2 classes. I saw this as a sign that I could handle it professionally.” Now, Joy is a wine writer and sommelier.

Victoria Mulu-Muniyuki wears many hats for Team Wine Kenya as a coach, leader and mentor for Team Wine Kenya. Her biggest motivation was providing mentorship and making sure this hobby goes beyond just a few bartenders.

“I wanted us to have a range of experiences that outlast me and hence the difference in ages of the competitors. We’re trying to make this a generational thing. Every year, we try to get some new people into the team,” the 47-year-old said.

Victoria said the most important qualification to be a competitor is a person’s attitude. “While a person needs to be at a certain level in terms of their wine knowledge, what matters most is the ability to work well with a team. Everything we do is teamwork. Finally, I looked for someone who was willing to mentor others for that,” she says. We can be sure that Team Wine Kenya will always be there.”

Last year, Team Wine Kenya finished 26th, beating wine-rich countries like Italy, Scotland and Sweden, and Victoria was part of the team.

Only women compete in wine competitions, are there plans to include men next year?

“There are plans for men to join us. Every year, we invite men to join, but sometimes women are committed to passing the training. Although this will be simplified by the formation of the Kenya Sommeliers Association,” Victoria said. “At the moment, as a team of Girls only, we are doing well, but we are open to more men joining us.”