Spotlight series
Master of Wine, Cees van Casteren, on the success of his book and how to write about wine
Cees van Casteren is a multi-award-winning Master of Wine. His hugely successful book, Anyone Can Taste Wine (You Just Need This Book), has been flying off shelves around the world, and as one reviewer writes; “It is the best ‘learn to taste wine’ book I have ever come across.” To mark the anniversary of the English publication, we sat down with Cees to celebrate his literary endeavours, the wines he’s loving right now, and much more besides.
Chief Wine Officer: Why do you think it’s important for wine tasting to be as accessible as possible?
Cees van Casteren: “Many people typically believe that the ability to taste comes from some kind of innate aptitude — as if ‘taste’ were a genetic hand-me-down — something that you either have, or do not have. But that is not true. Wine tasting is a skill. Anyone can taste wine; anyone, that is, who is motivated to learn and practice can become a good wine taster. Genes or no genes.”
In your book, you describe your tasting methodology using a mnemonic device – CHARACTER. How did you come up with it and how long did it take to refine?
“The aspects of wine tasting are quite universal. Each wine school more or less uses the same. However, none of these wine schools bother to offer the aspects in a user-friendly way. User-friendliness was the main reason behind the mnemonic device. Follow the letters of CHARACTER and automatically you follow your senses; just rate the intensity of each aspect (like C for Colour) and describe your observations. At the end of the word CHARACTER, you’ve completed a systematic approach to wine tasting, but also created a perfect tasting note.“
Did you learn any lessons while writing Anyone Can Taste Wine?
“Yes, many. One of the lessons was focus. I wrote this book in a relatively short time span of about six months. This was possible only through focus on the method and the knowledge necessary to improve. I also learned how important illustrations are; this book is only easy to read thanks to the illustrations.”
Wine tasting is a skill. Anyone can taste wine; anyone, that is, who is motivated to learn and practice.
– Cees van Casteren MW
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone at the beginning of their wine tasting journey?
“Be curious. Try to find out why wines taste the way they taste, and taste (I am not saying ‘drink’) as many as you can. And if you’re really interested, go and take a course like a WSET.”
Are you currently working on any new projects you can share with us?
“Yes, but it is early days. I am in the process of writing a book in which the wine world is explained through (true) anecdotes.”
We do love a good wine anecdote! And finally, what white, red, and sparkling wines are you enjoying in 2024 so far?
“In some weeks I taste hundreds of wines. So, let’s rephrase the questions: What did I enjoy last week? Well, I am a champagne freak, but I also enjoy good traditional method bubbly from elsewhere. I’ve recently had a bottle Absolu from Colmant in Franschhoek, South Africa. Highly recommended. And just yesterday I was introduced to Eastern Peake Chardonnay from Western Victoria and fell in love with it. A few days ago, I again tasted the Finca El Otero of Aster in Ribera del Duero, which is relatively affordable and incredibly good!”
Learn wine tasting for yourself
Cees’s book, Anyone Can Taste Wine (You Just Need This Book), is available to order online in the Netherlands and Belgium from Cees’s website and everywhere else from Carus books.
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Meet Cees van Casteren at a CWO Dinner
Want to meet the man behind the Interational best-seller? Cees routinely hosts our Amsterdam CWO Dinner events, so browse our events and find one that suits you.