Holiday Wine Blind Tasting: Sure it looks good, but does it taste good?

This is a guest post from Todd Broderick, a fellow Boston-area wine enthusiast.

Like many of you, every year my wife and I give out bottles of wine as holiday gifts to friends, family and coworkers. We go through at least a couple of cases, so we try to make it a somewhat value driven purchase. But above all, it needs to taste good! At least that is my opinion on the matter. I can completely handle finding a crowd pleaser for under $15 bucks; the challenge comes when my wife demands an aesthetically pleasing bottle and label. See, I care what it looks like, but not as much as I care about what it tastes like, so what to do? This year we decided to take an objective and democratic approach. Blind tasting and aesthetics judging!

The Criteria:

• Red Wine – just because I am biased and it’s my tasting so I make the rules
• Under $15 – seemed like a reasonable cut off
• Decent looking packaging – we had to start somewhere!

Over the course of a few weeks during regular wine shopping we picked up a couple extra bottles here and there. Some of the initial selections were ruled out based on the color palate of the packaging. One of these in particular I would like to make specific note of is Peachy Canyon’s, “Incredible Red,” this has consistently been a good value Zinfandel that I was able to find for under $10. It has wide appeal and is worth trying if you’re not offended by a little baby blue on the label! What you do see here were the five finalists that made the cut for the blind tasting. We browsed the wines at a few local stores that tend to have pretty good and reasonably priced wines; the Wine Connextion in North Andover, Bin Ends in Braintree, and the Milton Fruit Center. The looks came first, then the varietals. The wide variety was somewhat intentional, so we could look for tastes that would be pleasing to wine enthusiasts and novices alike.

We ended up with the following:

• Michael Pozzan Zinfandel from Napa Valley, 2006, $15
• Vignamaggio Sangiovese Il Morino from Tuscany, 2007, $10 to $12
• Line 39 Cabernet Sauvignon from Lake County, CA, 2006, $8 to $10
• The Velvet Devil Merlot from Washington State, 2007, $12 to $14
• Viu Manet Secreto Carmenere from Chile, 2007, $10 to $14

Once the list was narrowed down, the illustrious Robert Dwyer and I sat down to taste through the brown bagged extravaganza. My wife was wonderful; she bagged and poured the wines so neither of us could make assumptions based on bottle shape, weight, etc.

1. The first step was to taste through the wines, thinking through what we liked but also what would garner appreciation from the widest array of palates that might receive one of these tasty gifts! We made our pass through and then ranked in order of preference.
2. Step 2 was judging the bottle based strictly on its appearance, my wife Kelly provided an additional vote in this category.
3. The combined result of the taste and aesthetics scoring led us to our final pick.

Here is how they ranked in order of preference and a few tasting notes:

1. Pozzan Zinfandel: Soft mouth-feel, vibrant sweet fruit, smooth overall and not overpowering with heat. Maybe a little too “luscious fruit” for some, but the slight hint of sweetness on the back will please many.
2. The Velvet Devil Merlot: Nice fruit on the attack, smooth mid palate, but a little faint, light on the finish. Which in this case I think is a positive and might make it more appealing to a wider audience. This was a close second, if not tied for first for both Bob and I.
3. Line 39 Cabernet: Confusing nose, smoky with a little lead pencil in the mix. Tight mouth feel, some initial fruit that only makes a split second cameo. Not terrible, but not great – I could definitely find a more pleasing Cab for $10 to $15 from South America.
4. Secreto Carmenere: Very green nose, almost with a weird hint of motor oil. Not far off the flavor profile of other Carmenere that I have tried, but probably less appealing to a wide audience.
5. Il Morino Sangiovese: Acidic, (tried it with some cheese too – didn’t make it more pleasant) Black tea notes, and a little heat on the back. Not terribly enjoyable.

It was really a lot of fun to taste through these wines blind. It also made the evaluation process pretty interesting. Then the bags came off! We ranked in order of appearance:

1. The Velvet Devil: Fun Label, easy colors to decorate
2. Pozzan Zinfandel: Simple, screened bottle, red accent
3. Il Morino Sangiovese: Fun, playful with good holiday colors
4. Line 39 Cabernet: Simple label, not offensive easy to work with
5. Secreto Carmenere: Cheesy cartoonish look

The result was a tie between the Pozzan Zin and the Velvet Devil Merlot. Some of the more traditional people on your list might be confused or offended by the playful “Velvet Devil” concept. Either way you can’t lose with either of these wines, you won’t break the bank and people will always remember that yummy bottle of wine you gave them!

In the spirit of not breaking the bank, we also thought about different ways that you can decorate bottles for gifts from extra holiday supplies you might have lying around. I must credit this to the wine chick (my wife) for always coming up with simple ways to enhance the bottle I’m bringing to the office grab!

Illustrated in the picture below, here are some easy alternatives:

• That piece of nice wrapping paper left at the end of roll, it’s just big enough to wrap around a wine bottle. Tape at the seam and use a silver sharpie to write a little holiday wish
• Put the wine in a clear cellophane bag, available at most craft stores in bulk, hang an ornament off the neck or tie a bow on it
• Cut up last years holiday cards, the part that says “Merry” or “Cheer” on it, hole punch the corner and tie a thin ribbon through, like magic it’s a wine tag
• A simple red bow – looks great with the black and white of the Devil label!
• Go green, recycle that wine bag you received last year but didn’t have the heart to throw away, even though they only paid 99 cents for it at the Chrismas Tree Shops!

This blind tasting stuff is a lot of fun and I encourage you to get some friends together and try it. You will be guaranteed a good time, and you might even figure out a way to do something productive – like pick your holiday favorite!

I hope our little experiment will help you find that perfect holiday gift! If not, that’s ok too because we had a good time trying!

Happy Holidays!
Todd

Todd can be reached via E-mail: todd.broderick@gmail.com
You can also follow him on Twitter: @ToddBrod

Read more...

Cinderella Wine Nails Barbaresco Deal

Okay, this is too coincidental to be true. As I've mentioned previously, we've been on the look-out for a Barbaresco case club deal. The tough thing with Barbaresco: It's not an affordable category. On one hand it's a tough wine to dabble in, on the other it makes it all the more necessary to combine purchasing power.

That said, there's a limit to how much a case discount can reduce the price of a wine. By law, Massachusetts retailers aren't allowed to sell wine for cheaper than they buy it for. However, close-outs sometimes enable retailers to offer wine at seemingly impossible prices.

I'm not sure how Cinderella Wine does it (witness this deal on Ridge Lytton Springs just a couple weeks ago) but when they mentioned they were featuring a 2004 Barbaresco I was wondering who the producer was. Lo and behold it was the exact wine I tried at a couple of tastings recently that made me reconsider whether opting out of Italian wine as a category was a good idea.

When Italian wine disappoints me it's because it's thin, limited aromatically, lacking in flavor, and austere. It apologizes for this by claiming it needs to be paired with food in order to be enjoyed. I'm not buying it. Bad wine doesn't become good when paired with food.

This wine, on the other hand, bucks the trend of these disappointing values. It's full of unique, complex aromas of red berries, leather, and spice. It's got a savory component on the palate that I love, and while it's true to its Italian roots with ample acidity, it doesn't whine about needing to be paired with food.

Related:

• Gaja tasting offers opportunity to taste benchmark Barbareschi
• Autard Chateauneuf deal
  

Read more...

Get Boisterous with Bubbles at Ball Square Wines in Somerville, MA

Saturday, December 12th from 3-5PM at Ball Square Fine Wines, they'll be hosting a sparkling wine tasting event. Learn more about what Grower Champagne is, taste it and discover why it might be a better choice than the big brands that dominate the Champagne market. You'll also get a chance to nibble on snacks -and- sample other staff favorite sparklers from around the world. Sounds like a good chance to try some nice wines!

The event is FREE and open to anyone 21 or older.

Check 'em out:
Ball Square Wines
716 Broadway
Somerville, MA 02144
(617)623-9500
http://www.ballsquarefinewines.com

Click HERE to download the flyer for further information.

Read more...

Tasting Report: 2007 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon

Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon might just be the definitive aspirational Napa Cab. Readily available yet highly sought after, familiar yet prestigious, and ever-present in steakhouse cellar windows. Consistent as all get-out. Since 1998, Wine Spectator has rated every vintage between 91-93 points (all outstanding).

Consumers are impressed as well. As of this writing, every vintage from 2001-2006 has a median rating of 92 on Cellar Tracker. The 2007 vintage is seeing an uptick however. After 36 ratings, the 2007 vintages carries a median of 93. People aren't frequently disappointed when they buy a bottle of Caymus.

I'm hearing rumblings that it might be advisable to buy few 2006 Napa Cabs in favor of the 2007 vintage that's now coming to market from wineries that release their wines on the early side. In the grand scheme of things, talking vintage variation and Napa Cabs is a bit of a silly pursuit. It rarely rains during the growing seasons and the conditions vary from "good" to "great" and high quality names like Caymus can typically manage their way to success.

Here are my tasting notes for this wine:

2007 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon

When I first opened this wine, I thought it was just another solid effort from the folks at Caymus. But after it breathed for just a little while I'm thinking this vintage might be a high water mark for Napa Cab. Classic Cabernet aromas of black currant with a touch of vanilla. Perhaps a little nutmeg. On the palate this wine is straight cola in a good way. Hardly tannic at all and it's only 2 years old. I was worried it was going to be a little young, but that's not the case. Perhaps not highly age-worthy but I thought this was an outstanding wine. A value at around $55 retail ($70 release price).

94 WWP/Outstanding

Search for this wine on wine-searcher.com

Or find it on Wine.com:

This is a Wine.com affiliate link.

Further Reading:

• Lewelling Vineyards has supplied grapes to Caymus in the past, and they make some great wines of their own. Read more about Lewelling HERE
• The 2007 California Pinot Noir vintage was hailed by Wine Spectator as being best-ever. Read more about there HERE. Will 2007 Napa Cab receive similar accolades?
  

Question of the Day: Have you tried Caymus in the past? If so, what did you think? If not, what is your impression of the brand?

Read more...