"On Top of the World" by SashaW on Flickr

Wednesday night, July 21st, 2010, we attended the annual blind tasting challenge held at Chris Hinton’s Bin 75 tasting room in Johns Creek. It is the mid-week event during their anniversary sale, which nets you 20% off cases of wine. You can also score some wines at 25% off solid cases. Check the website or call for more information.

My wife went into the event as defending champion and was ready to take down all challengers, myself included.

The event was a slightly different format this year, with the addition of a seventh wine, the reception wine. Normally we know what that wine is, but this year it was also poured blind and would act as the first tier tie-breaker.

You are given choices in each flight, one of four whites, the other of three reds. You have five choices of grape variety and country, with no repeats of correct answers within flights.

Keith, the wine manager, plays host. He goes through the basics of blind tasting, explaining what color will tell you, what the aroma and taste markers are for each grape variety, along with the same tidbits for each country represented and whether or not they even grow that grape in that country. For example, you aren’t going to guess Germany if you think the wine is Chardonnay. He wants each selection to be a solid representative of both the grape and the country, though every once in a while he does throw in a curve ball. Last year, it was in the form of an Italian Cannonau, which most of us know as Grenache.

We arrived just in time, as my lovely bride was returning from a business trip and of course, we got stuck in Atlanta traffic. Go figure. Tired as she was, she got out her notepad and went to work, listening to everything Keith said and writing down notes as we went along. She swirled, sniffed and sipped. She contemplated and then, marked her answers. We don’t collaborate, so our results are completely our own.

The whites, were actually pretty straight forward, though I could see where the first one might trip up folks on the country of origin. When it came to the reds, the first was a bit shut down on the nose, but as it warmed the clues began to emerge. It was the second red which was not only my favorite, but my downfall as well. The third was fairly straight forward, though it could have easily been mistaken for another of the choices.

For whites, we had the following five grapes as our selections:

• Sauvignon Blanc
• Chardonnay
• Pinot Gris / Grigio
• Riesling
• Viognier

and the sources of origin we had to choose from were:

• California / Oregon
• New Zealand
• France
• Italy
• Germany

White Wine #1 (reception wine): The wine was a bit shut down for me, so my first thought was Pinot Grigio, but I wasn’t 100% sure since it was fairly cool at service. I was also a bit frustrated by the lack of hourly parking at the airport and then sitting in traffic, not to mention having not eaten much that day. Eventually, the fairly simple citrus pointed to Pinot Grigio from Italy. 2008 Banfi San Angelo Pinot Grigio $13.98

White Wine #2: Brighter than the first wine, with more white citrus than anything. It tasted sort of lemony to me at first, but eventually more like grapefruit, which of course marked Sauvignon blanc. There wasn’t any real grass or sweet hay notes, so I eliminated California / Oregon. It wasn’t super over the top either, so I got rid of New Zealand. That left France (Germany doesn’t make it and Italy wouldn’t be a good country for a typical SB), though for me it wasn’t obviously Loire Valley since I didn’t get as much minerality as I would expect. If I’d been doing this without choices, I’d have probably gone South African. Turns out, the 2008 Domaine Tariquet Sauvignon Blanc ($13.99) was from Cotes de Gascogne.

White Wine #3: The slam dunk of the night, as a couple inches from the glass and my brain went “OAK MONSTER!”. Yes, a California Chardonnay with plenty of sweet oak, but lacking any real fruit flavor. Nice for those who like this style. 2008 Wente Riva Ranch Chardonnay $13.98.

White Wine #4: Hello German Riesling. Again, this was a slam dunk for me, as I’d have to say that when it comes to still white wines, German Rieslings are my favorite. This was a mouthful of stone fruits, with a touch of slate and just the slightest bit of residual sugar. It was also the favorite of the crowd, with probably 80+% of folks saying it was their favorite. This continues the streak of every single blind tasting event I’ve attended where Riesling was the crowd favorite. Yet, they still languish on shelves. Pity that. This gem of a wine retails for $10.99 and as Keith suggested, you can drink this and mow the grass at the same time. Slammin’ good idea. 2006 GR8 Riesling $10.99.

Now came the more challenging reds. Our five grape choices were:

• Merlot
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Grenache
• Pinot Noir
• Sangiovese

and the sources of origin we had to choose from were:

• California / Oregon
• France
• New Zealand
• Italy
• Spain

Red wine #1: A bit reticent, but this eventually opened up and gave plenty of clues as to the grape and origin. It smelled of Sangiovese at first, but it seemed a bit more fruit driven than what I’d expect from a Chianti. Plus, I didn’t get a lot of that leather, bark note which is the classic marker for me. After about five minutes, those notes emerged and I went straight for the correct answer. 2006 Volpaia Chianti Classico $18.99.

Red wine #2: I missed this one. It was bright, juicy and full of crunch red berry fruits, with a touch of earthiness and loads of bouncy acidity. I kept thinking, Grenache or Pinot Noir. I tossed it about and just went with Spanish Grenache, which turned out to be my undoing for the night, as this was the one wine I got wrong. It was my favorite wine of the night and once again, convinces me that if you want to drink Pinot Noir for under $20, you should be checking out the wines from New Zealand. I’m starting to see more of them available and I hope you’ll try this one. 2009 Over the Edge Pinot Noir (Martinborough, New Zealand) $16.99.

Red wine #3: Slam dunk again, as this had the dark black currant fruit and touch of tannic bite that I come to expect from Cabernet Sauvignon. I guess I could see where one might guess Merlot, but in the $20 and under price range (which we knew all the wines fell into), I’ve never tasted a Merlot that wasn’t creamy and velvety soft. 2008 Villa San Juliette (Paso Robles, CA) Cabernet Sauvignon was $14.99.

The answer sheets were turned in, the scores were tallied and the winner was announced. It was a gentleman whom I didn’t recognize and he got every possible answer right, except for the country of origin on the Pinot Noir. I think I neglected to mention, but the grape variety was worth 1 point, the country of origin 2 points, but it only counted if you got the grape right as well. Keith then went through all the wines one by one. The audience cheered and groaned with each reveal, until we were finally done and wait a minute, we had a RECOUNT!

My defending Champion wife had written down her answers and she had 100% of them right. Somehow, a mistake had been made. As it turns out, our sheets (I’m not sure if anyone else got missed) hadn’t been tallied. We had handed in ours first and I think they got put down where they got overlooked. A simple error that was then corrected.

So, not only is my wife now the FIRST EVER two time Blind Tasting Champion at Hinton’s, she is also the first person to get all the answers correct. I think two others have gotten everything right except one country. As for me, in case you weren’t paying attention above, I got everything right except for the Pinot Noir, which like I said, I mistook for a Spanish Grenache.

A grand time and congratulations to my @AtlantaWineGal.

Cupcake Vineyards Blanc de Blancs

Rick Bakas, social media wine maven for St. Supery, has been on a roll with his creation of live Twitter tastings. It was something he started a few months ago.

The basics are:

• Events are held the first Thursday of each month.
• You RSVP (it’s free) on Eventbrite.
• You buy a bottle (or more) of whatever that month’s theme is. Yesterday was Chardonnay.
• You login to your Twitter software of choice, or a website like Twitterfall. Set up a search column for the appropriate hashtag (last night it was #chardonnay) and then follow along, Tweeting away with hundreds / thousands of others.

The original event consisted of a specific time frame, but it has since expanded to being a 24 hour event so participants all across the world feel more welcome.

Is it geeky? Sure, but it is fun as well. You can share your thoughts, learn something new, be exposed to new producers and just maybe learn a thing or two about a wine or grape you didn’t know before. If you are on Facebook, I suggest joining up becoming a fan “liking” the Community Wine Tasting on Twitter page.

Last night’s theme was Chardonnay and my wife and I had a bottle of blanc de blancs (white from whites) from France that was made by a winery in the Loire Valley. The appellation says France, so I guess the Chardonnay came from somewhere outside the Loire? I really can’t be sure since there wasn’t a lot of information to be found, other than the fact that the wine is produced at Lacheteau winery and is 100% Chardonnay.

Doesn’t really matter that much, but I’d be curious to know the fruit sourcing since it would be weird to get the grapes down in Burgundy or something and then ship them to the Loire (a region best known for Sauvignon blanc, Chenin blanc, Cabernet franc and Muscadet) to be made into wine.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I received this wine as a sample.

NV Cupcake Vineyards Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay: I’ve seen this for I think $12.99 (which was way back in December and I believe was a sale price) at Cost Plus World Market, but haven’t noticed it anywhere else. Due to unusual circumstances, we ended up having this with pizza, which was a TERRIBLE pairing. For those who think pairing wines is over rated or useless, I beg to differ and will be more than happy to discuss it with you. If the pizza had been a nice white pizza, it might have worked better. Unfortunately, such “esoteric” options (why oh why haven’t any of the chains caught onto the joy of white pizza?!) aren’t readily available here in suburbia.

The wine wasn’t bad, but it was hard to determine if it was the wine or the pairing. After dinner, I still had some in my glass and as it got up to room temperature, the wine didn’t show real well. Granted, sparkling wines are best enjoyed at very cold temperatures (I’m talking 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit), but that doesn’t always apply to evaluating them. Granted, I almost never let my flute sit long enough to have room temperature sips, as I don’t drink wine this way. I evaluate as I drink. Context matters.

Essentially, I just got simple citrus fruit and not much else. Perhaps a touch of minerality, but little complexity. At this price point, I don’t expect a lot, but I’ve had more interesting wines than this. I think it was of average quality, good enough when served cold to not disappoint, but something I really wouldn’t recommend or buy myself. I think my palate is forever spoiled after all the grower Champagnes we had at ICSWI.

In order to be fair, here are some other reviews I found, most all of which liked the wine more than I did.

• Snooth (4 reviews)
• Cellartracker (1 review)
• Good Wine Under $20
• Under the Grape Tree
• The Bottle Report

Have a great weekend!

Remember the review on the three selections of Champagne Henriot? Well, those same friends are having a gathering next month and were having trouble in picking the sparkling wine to kick start said event. So, what else would a good wino do, but have a pre-event with a small group of fellow drunks oenophiles to select the starter wine.

All the wines were under the $20 price range and actually, came in under $15 each. The quality was pretty good all around, though I will admit that the constant drinking and eating didn’t give a fair chance to the last four or so selections. We had ten wines, all of which were served blind. I have them listed in order and have listed the names along with them, along with my notes and then thoughts about the wines after they were revealed.

First off, I’d like to say thanks to our friends for creating the event(s) and our gracious host and hostess who cooked dinner for us at their home. Food, conversation and company were all great and throw in 10 sparkling wines (after tasting six still wines at an earlier tasting) and yeah boy, you’ve got a party.

We were served food that was NOT the same as what the menu at the actual event would be, so I was taking the possible selections into mind when reviewing these wines. Like I was trained, I also considered the audience, which will include many folks who don’t really care that much about wine. Yes, they’ll drink it, but they aren’t as obsessed enthusiastic as the rest of us.

Adriano Adami Garbel Prosecco 13 - Depreville Brut Rose - Kingsley North Coast

NV Adriano Adami Prosecco Colli Trevigiani Garbèl 13 ($13.99): Pear, touch of mineral with a sweet-tart like finish that had a hint of pink grapefruit in it. Pleasant for a starter wine, but wouldn’t stand up to the suggested appetizers.

NV Depréville Brut Rosé $9.99: Pretty rose quartz color, with tart red berry flavors that finished a bit short and would actually work better at the end of a menu with some sort of tart. The ladies seemed to like this one if I recall, but I wasn’t counting the ballots, so what do I know?

NV Kingsley North Coast Sparkling Brut $12.99: Cooler climate from the higher acidity profile, with granny smith apple dusted with candied ginger, giving it spicy edge. I found this to be decent, but not well suited for the crowd.

De Chanceny Cremant de Loire - Rotari Talento - Segura Viudas Brut Reserva

NV De Chanceny Crémant de Loire Brut $12.99: The crowd favorite, this got a vote from everyone. While not my personal favorite, I thought this had been the easiest and smoothest to drink, but with more oomph than the first, which was just too light for food. I was also drinking this while eating marinara sauce, which was a mistake. I think the acidity in the tomatoes does nothing good for sparkling wines, but hey, I was hungry and the food tasted good.

NV Rotari Talento Trento Brut DOC $12.99 Golden apples with touches of bread and minerals. Lengthy and smooth on the finish, this was another crowd pleaser with broad appeal. Rotari makes three excellent sparkling wines and while the NV stuff is very nice, if you find the vintage, take a stab and see if you aren’t impressed for the money.

NV Segura Viudas Brut Reserva $7.99: This was one of the wines I’d suggested which made the list. At this point, everyone was more into the conversation than the actual evaluation of the wines and all I put was this had nice fruit and was a contender for the crown. I always think this is a good bottle to keep around the house for casual sipping or Sunday mimosas. Unfortunately, it didn’t add to my total in the race for 365, but that is fine, it was still good.

Rondel Pura Raza - Segura Viudas Aria - 2006 Saint-Hilaire - Depreville Brut

NV Rondel Pura Raza Cava $7.99: I guessed this was an inexpensive Cava based on the high acidity and the strong, simple citrus profile. I thought it was a nice wine for a starter and think it is one to take a look at if you can’t find the Segura Viudas. You could always do what we did and hold your own blind tasting.

NV Segura Viudas Aria Cava $10.99: Again I wrote Cava, with more richness than the previous two and strong hint of grapefruit. At this point, I was just ready to get done. I always like Aria, but as reviewed last week, find it has taken a bit of a downturn for me when compared to the $3 less expensive Brut Reserva.

2006 Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux $14.99: Umm…I got tangerine and citrus, which means I was too lazy to really try and sniff out what other (since tangerine is a citrus fruit) citrus I was picking up on. It was nice, but at this point, what wasn’t?

NV Depréville Brut $8.99: Austere and not pleasant. Even at this stage, I didn’t like this one. Probably the only wine I wouldn’t drink again. Skip this.

So, there you go. Ten sparkling wines, all tasted in a blind format (my favorite kind) that was really quite fun. The wines ranged from no way Jose to fill ‘er up Johnny and while none of them blew my socks off, I thought it was a very good lineup for the price range. Then again, I am bias to some degree when it comes to sparkling wines. I wonder how many Pinot Noirs in this price range you could find of similar quality? Even Cabernet Sauvignon, with the sheer number of choices to pick from, could be difficult, especially if you were picking out wines that you weren’t really familiar with.

Based on all factors (our votes, price, location, customer loyalty), Rotari is the winner and will be the wine we start the evening off with when the party actually takes place.

Once again, many thanks to P & C for having us as guests to the party and M & T for being such awesome hosts. We had a wonderful time and look forward to many more with everyone. It was also nice to put another 8 notches in the 365+ belt in one evening.

Cheers,
Kevin

Moët et Chandon Nectar Imperial Rosé | Moët et Chandon Rosé Imperial | Schramsberg Brut Rosé | Roederer Estate Brut Rosé | 2006 Marques de Gelida Pinot Noir Cava

Last Friday saw the resurrection of a previously canceled tasting of sparkling rosés. Of course, you know I’m never one to pass up on some bubbles, so I attended in the hopes of catching a few items I’d not yet had. 4 out of 5 ain’t bad, as the other one I already have a sample of. Here are some quick notes on all five. I misfired in my arrangement of the bottles, as we actually tasted them as shown above, but from right to left. You’ll figure it out.

2006 Marques de Gelida Brut Pinot Noir Cava ($16.99 / was on sale for $10.98): I don’t know for sure, but this is probably the fourth Cava made from Pinot Noir that we’ve had. All four have been a disappointment, but I think this just lies in a particular taste preference (more like a lack of taste for) I have. The wines have this certain herbal, earthy tone that underlies the fruit, something I just don’t find appealing. The writer who coves bubbly for Wine Enthusiast seems to like them, as this wine received a respectable 89 from that publication. I got plenty of strawberry at first, but it was a bit on the syrupy side with a lack of acid to keep it from self-implosion. I’ll keep trying, but will remain wary when it comes to Cava made from Pinot Noir.

NV Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut Rosé $24.99: I’ve enjoyed this before and was even accused by some random commentator (who didn’t answer my email) of being a shill for the wine. I enjoyed this bottle and still recommend it, but will go into more detail when I sample the full bottle. My personal favorite.

2006 Schramsberg Brut Rosé $39.99: America’s oldest producer of sparkling wine makes high quality stuff, at a high quality price. $40 is nothing to sneeze at and puts you in the range of quite a few Champagnes, though very few of them will be rosé. I’m a really big fan of their Mirabelle bottling, which comes in $15 cheaper and delivers excellent quality, though I think the more recent bottling is a step down from the previous release, which garnered a monster score of 93 from dictator Wine Spectator. Refined, with a gentle mousse and soft notes of freshly sliced strawberries sprinkled with clementine mist, kissed by a soft breeze blowing in from the spice fields. While I feel the Mirabelle is the better value, this is a wine worth your attention when seeking a great example of American sparkling rosé. My second favorite of the tasting.

NV Moët et Chandon Brut Rosé Impérial Champagne $59.99: Two Moët’s get checked off the list and the only real difference between the two is the dosage. {Quick lesson: The last stage (besides corking and caging it) in creating traditional or Champagne method sparkling wines is adding the dosage. The concentration level of sugar in this liquer de expedition is what determines if the wine is labeled Brut, Extra Dry, Demi-sec, etc.. This wine is a Brut, which means between 6-15 g/L (okay, they can go down below 6, but then it will usuually be called Extra Brut…confused yet…). The next wine, the Nectar Imperial, which is Moët-ese for extra dry, is between 35-50 g/L, so at least twice as much sugar. Here endeth the lesson.} Red fruits that smack of cherry with watermelon juice laid in with a crisp finish that would work well with fried foods. My 3rd favorite.

NV Moët et Chandon Rosé Nectar Impérial Champagne $59.99: Hello sugar shock. This is easily the richest and sweetest Champagne I’ve ever had. Our table fell right along gender lines, with all the men disliking it and the ladies loving it. While I may be fond of late-harvest dessert wines and off-dry German Rieslings, this just didn’t work for me. I found the acid to be low and insufficient to support the sweetness. Pair this with a bittersweet chocolate and you may get a totally different answer from me. This isn’t my cup of tea at all, but for those who prefer a sweeter bubbly, this may be something you want to investigate.

Haiku
Dislike Noir Cava
Pink Cali bubbles win out
Champagnes just okay

Cheers and happy Monday to you all. I hope you have a great week and please, leave me comments, read my other entries, pass them along to friends and follow me on Twitter or become a Fan on Facebook. You can keep up easiest by subscribing via email or RSS and of course, I love questions.

Beringer Sparkling White Zinfandel | Cook's Sparkling White Zinfandel

Well, there you have it. My wife has to go out of town and what do I do? Open not one, but two bottles of sparkling White Zinfandel…on the same night. I have no rationale explanation. Okay, I have one. See, I figured that I better not drink anything good while she is out of town, so unless I have doubles of something (which I do have a few), I figured I needed to open things I knew she wouldn’t mind missing out on.

So, I went on a research field trip to Total Wine, as they generally have a fair number of 187 and 375 ml offerings. Unfortunately, the store in Kennesaw had fewer than I thought. Guess I need to check out the other locations. So, while I did get a few things (stay tuned this upcoming week) to sample, I figured I’d buy some other inexpensive offerings. Once I spotted the Beringer Sparkling White Zinfandel, I knew this would be something to sample. I looked for others to do comparison, but Cook’s was the only other bottle I could find. I almost bought all 7 (yes, 7) flavors of André, but figured I’d wait on that for some other time.

Beringer on left, Cook's on right

Beringer Sparkling White Zinfandel $8.79 – As you can see in this side by side photo, the Beringer is more salmon in color. The bubbles fade relatively quickly and my guess is that this wine is carbonated, but I can’t confirm either way as the wine isn’t even listed on Beringer’s website. No matter.

The aroma was fruity, but a little artificial smelling. I kept thinking it smelled a lot like Jolly Rancher watermelon and strawberry got together and had a kid. As you might expect, it was pretty sweet on the palate. I thought for a minute it might not be too bad, since it was 11% ABV, but it was the lack of acid which made the sugar weigh heavy, like a sport fish bending the pole, it was just too much to handle.

I can see where this will have fans, as White Zinfandel in general still sells quite well. If I had to drink it, I’d drink this because, well, it has bubbles. If you are looking to make a pink punch of some sort, this would work well as a base. Just make sure to add some citrus to raise the acid. You could also serve this with some really spicy wings, as the sugar will help tame the heat.

Cook’s Sparkling White Zinfandel $5.39 - The pinker of the two, that was about all the credit I can give this one. It wasn’t bad, but it was really much tamer in flavor than the Beringer. I also got some pretty strong sulfur notes and very little fruit. At least the Beringer actually smelled fruity, even if it was more Kool Aid than wine. Upon drinking it, it was a little better, but for the $3.40 difference, I’d take the Beringer every single time. If you are going to make a sparkling punch with lots of fruit juice and just need something for color and alcohol, I’m not sure food coloring, vodka and club soda wouldn’t be better.

Winner (?): Beringer.

Haiku
Pink, you are not white
Zinfandel should not bubble
Soda gives relief

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