From Autopilot to Awareness: a New Toolkit for Tasting (Workshop at TEXSOM 2026)
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Date: Sunday, August 23, 2026
Time: 3:00-4:30 PM CDT (Dallas)
Location: Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, Irving, Texas
Few guests ask for a wine with medium(+) acidity and notes of plum. Yet much of wine education focuses on exactly those kinds of descriptors.
What if there was a different way to taste and talk about wine?
In this interactive workshop, WSG invites participants to explore what happens when we shift our attention from identifying a wine's components to understanding its overall impact. Through guided tastings of six wines, sensory exercises and insights drawn from neuroscience and perception, participants will explore dimensions of wine that exist beyond aroma and flavor while challenging assumptions about how wines are assessed, understood and communicated.
Led by WSG's very own Chris Martin MW, Director of Education, and Kristina Sazama, Associate Director of Tasting Programs, this session offers an exclusive glimpse into the philosophy, tools and methods behind the WSG Tasting Diploma and its innovative approach to perceptive communication. Participants will taste six wines, engage in practical tasting exercises and discover tools that can sharpen observation improve communication. Along the way, they will receive feedback from a Master of Wine and experience selected exercises used in WSG's flagship tasting program.
Key takeaways:
- Improve blind tasting skills through structured sensory observation techniques drawn directly from the WSG Tasting Diploma
- Taste six wines alongside a Master of Wine and receive practical feedback on your observations and interpretations
- Discover the WSG Tasting Toolkit, an innovative framework for understanding, evaluating and communicating about wine
- Understand how neuroscience and perception influence tasting experiences and tasting judgments
- Develop a richer, more effective and powerful language for communicating about wine
- Challenge conventional approaches to wine assessment and gain new perspectives on what makes a wine meaningful
- Event registration includes three months of complimentary access to WSG Membership following the event.