An evening with wine experts

As a guest of a group of wine connoisseurs tasting a specific wine estate: I am handed a tasting sheet and said to score.

Then to share that score - out loud - with the whole group. Audible sniggers go up as I read mine.

When a group of experts signals to you that you are off, you have choices:

You can adjust to where they are. Or stay where you are, and trust that you will learn how to get where they are.

To stay where you are is an exercise in sitting with embarrassment.

Every round that night I felt the strong pull to adjust my score as each person before me reads theirs out loud. Every round I felt the shame of saying my "off" number out loud.

At the end of the night, the averages are calculated for every wine: My scores were the averages of the night for most of the wines.

The experts had stronger, polarised opinions.
Where I was, is where they came together.