Our host for this month's meeting was Psyche, who suggested we do a blind tasting, a theme we were very excited about. This would be a good test of our knowledge and of our palates after nearly three years of meetings and tastings. We would taste a number of wines blind and guess at the varietals. The rules and prep took some work; there were some complicated logistics involved in ensuring the wines were at least mostly blind since the members themselves would be providing them. But kudos to Psyche who really worked hard to pull this off, from providing guidance with the rules and instructions, to designing and creating 10 bottle covers for us to use to hide the bottles during the meeting. She even printed up certificates for the winners. Everyone was game and the stage was set, until the day of the meeting when I realized that we would only have 5 bottles of wine for the tasting, two of which were white. No way was this going to be blind -- the two whites were no-brainers, which left only 3 reds, and if everyone correctly guessed the wine they'd brought, well, you can see why I was concerned! I had to take drastic measures to save the tasting, so I went into the stash and carefully chose two more reds, bringing the number of wines to 7 and, hopefully, providing a little more of a challenge for the players.
So the tasting went off without a hitch, and boy, some of us were in for a rude awakening! We're constantly talking about the smells and tastes you pick up in different wines, and this is why. When tasting blind, all you have to go on are what you smell, and what you taste. The wines exhibit certain qualities that can help to identify them: shiraz tends to be over-the-top fruity; cabernet sauvignon can have a slightly vegetal bouquet; an oaky chardonnay has that rich, buttery mouthfeel. But because there are so many variables -- terroir, method, vintage -- the wines can fool you, and if you taste many wines one after the other, the flavors and smells can blend. So you have to really pay attention as you taste the wines, not just to the obvious flavors and smells but even to the undernotes.
Though I played along with the others, I ended up disqualifying myself from the contest. I realized early on that I simply knew too much about the wines that were present for tasting. No biggie, the most important thing was that the game be fair (though Arthur and Robin continued to insist that the fix was in!).
The seven wines tasted were:
1. Cantina Gabriele Moscato 2008 http://www.shoppersvineyard.com/1/41831/Cantina-Gabriele-Moscato-Mevushal-Kosher-For-Passover -- Okay guys, it's white, it's fizzy, it's sweet, say it with me, Must Be Moscato. See, the fact that it's sweet narrows it way down already. And moscato tends to be the sweeter of the sparkling wines; if it had been sparkling but dry, it could have been champagne, prosecco, or cava. But sweet? Gotta be moscato.
2. Lynmar Russian River Valley 2005 Chardonnay http://www.lynmarwinery.com/wines.html#06rrvchd -- A classic rich, buttery chardonnay. The Lynmar had a golden yellow color that was too dark to be sauvignon blanc, and it couldn't have been sauterne (which is sweet) or riesling (ditto). Viognier was a possibility, but no, this was textbook chardonnay. Note: the 2005 is likely no longer available; only the 2006 was listed on the website.
3. Bolla 2007 Chianti http://www.americaswineshop.com/r/brand/bolla -- Now things began to get complicated! When I think chianti, I think dusty, dry, musty red. But the Bolla didn't exhibit any of the traits I usually associate with chianti; it was dry, yes, but more fruity and lighter in color than I remembered. I was thrown off, but Mom guessed this one correctly; to her it was unmistakably chianti.
4. Bogle Phantom Old Vine Zinfandel 2005 http://www.boglewinery.com/bogle_phantom_facts.htm -- Ah, zinfandel, our old favorite. I was surprised that this wine had some of us stumped. Dark, bold, fruity, slightly off-dry -- we've enjoyed this zinfandel more than once in the past but, when tasted blind along with other reds, it had a hard time standing out. On this one as well, it seems the 2006's are now available, so it may be difficult to find the 2005.
5. Seidelberg 2006 Pinotage http://www.seidelberg.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=33 -- Pinotage should have been easy! Along with the dark berries on the nose, we'd pick up that unmistakable beef jerky scent and that smoky flavor, along with a subtle hint of copper pennies or banana. This one, though, had none of that. I did manage to guess it, but more due to process of elimination than from actual knowledge.
6. Sula Vineyards Dindori Reserve Shiraz http://www.sulawines.com/wines/sula-reds/ -- We're more than familiar with shiraz, but I threw a monkey wrench into the works with this one -- this shiraz was from India, made to pair well with Indian and other spicy foods. It did not disappoint, showing rich, dark fruit, while not being too over-the-top.
7. Castillero del Diablo 2008 Pinot Noir http://www.chileanlegend.com/ourwines/pinotnoir/ -- I need to do more research! This pinot noir was nothing like I expected: darker, bolder, not as fruity. I like pinot noir a lot, and I did not like this one. On my game sheet, I confused the pinot with the chianti, which is telling. I felt like each wine exhibited the characteristics of the other. Noticed later on that this pinot noir hailed from...Chile. A factor? Could be...
We chose the moscato as our favorite, followed by the zinfandel and the chardonnay. But most telling was that the club was not bowled over by any of the wines at all, choosing the moscato only because it was sweet (which, of course was what kept me from choosing it). Also interesting was the fact that members found themselves trying to identify the wines not from each one's flavor and aroma profile, but according to whether or not it suited the member's taste, as in, "I don't like this one, so it must be chianti, since I don't like chianti." Of course, for reasons discussed earlier, that isn't necessarily a reliable method. But it did help us to see what we need to focus on as we taste wines going forward. We'll likely concentrate more on single varietals in future meetings, so that we can increase our knowledge of the characteristics of each, rather than focusing solely on which one we like the most.
The winner of the challenge was Mom, who along with her prize received a certificate declaring her to be the DiVine Wine Company's "Master Taster"! She will hold this honor until the next blind tasting, the winner of which will assume the title. Nice job by everyone, and nice work by Psyche!
Next meeting is November 14. I made announcements about this important meeting on Saturday and will send an email as well. Really hope to see you there!
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