Wine for Feeling Overwhelmed

Maybe it's natural for this to happen in the home stretch of anything, but I am just feeling overwhelmed and to be honest, a bit discouraged. We had our Germany/Eastern Europe test today, and while the theory portion went fine, the blind tasting was a bit of a disaster. It seems like just when I start to feel confident in my ability to pick out some of these wines, we have a test like this where I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, like all this information is creating a massive tornado in my head, and I am struggling to pull one or two bits out of it to try and piece together something that makes sense.

I thought the white wine in today's tasting was a Riesling from the United States, and I thought the red wine was an Australian Shiraz. Neither of these was remotely right. The white was in fact a Chenin Blanc from France, and the red was a Cabernet Sauvignon also from France.

The girl who sits next me also thought the red was an Australian Shiraz and that the white wine was a Riesling from Germany, and she has worked at a restaurant/wine bar for many years, so I'm not completely out of my mind. I don't actually think anyone in class got both of the wines right, even the guy who is part of a wine making family, and who has been tasting different wines for over 15 years, which just goes to show that this stuff is pretty freakin hard.

I keep reminding myself that I only need to get 60% in each of the exam components (theory, tasting, service) to pass, but it is in this last week and a half of class leading up to the exam that I need a vote of confidence, and not being able to figure out either wine just leaves me feeling at loose ends.

Now that I think about it, it's not so different from the last couple weeks of rehearsal before a play opens. People forget their lines and blocking, something always goes spectacularly wrong in tech and dress rehearsal, no one feels like the play has been rehearsed enough, the sets aren't done, the costumes aren't done, people walk around like zombies from all the stress, worry and lack of sleep, but then somehow, miraculously, on opening night, everything just seems to fall into place, almost effortlessly, and the show, as they say, literally goes on.

Let's hope that is what will happen for me on testing day. I should be able to recommend a red and white wine to you today, but apparently, I don't know what they are. Sorry.