The Blind Tasting

RWW returned this week to the southern most corner of the Red Wine triangle for a “Blind Tasting”

The format went a little something like this…

3 Bottles of red, unknown to the consumers, served in a genuine Brown Paper Bag (Yeah , you know like the ones the Dero’s outside Stus office have).

Each of us had a score sheet with various questions, each worth a fixed number of points.

Hemisphere, Country of origin, Price Range, Vintage, Variety, Some sensory perceptions (no points for these otherwise everything would have got a five) and last but not least the official RWW-MCCWQA. Or for those not in the club: Your Most Creative and Comedic Wine Quaffer’s Assessment which was worth a totally mint 4 Points. All were encouraged to “freely make shit up, but make sure it’s funny”. No surprises that “Full and Flavorsome” scored a massive ZERO (Toni).

So on to the line-up:

The Line up in order left to Right

UNO

2003 Tegole Toscana (Italy)

We didn’t rate this one too high at all. Most thought it was a lot younger than it actually was. Half were spot on with it being Italian. Commentary varied from “a light summer drop” to a “Watery sweet rubbish but i bet I’d buy it if it had a bright  yellow sale sticker on it”. No wonder the supermarket tried to pass it off as Chianti.

DUE

2007 Crawford Farm Pinot Noir (New Zealand)

Most of us thought this was a dirty old Spaniard. Kev commented that it was a “Local best seller”. Everyone picked up on the “fizzyness”. Personally I think someone went crazy with the Fanta during the bottling phase. Sarah labelled it as a “Dirty Foreigner”. Sadly in fact was an example of a cheap and chearful Pinot Noir from Godzone. Perfect for those summer BBQs for the guy that asks for his Eye Fillet to be “well done”. Alternatively, the kids in Manurewa will love this one.

TRE

2006 Casillero del Diablo Carmenere (Chile)

Well, this long lost Carmenere from Chile turned out to be my saving grace for the night. Everyone picked this as being from the southern half of the globe and 3/4 said it was definitly an Aussie. We all thought is was older than it was by a couple of years and rated it further up the chain in the dollars per bottle stakes. Some pinned it as being a Shiraz or Merlot Cab Sav. I think Sarah summed it up with “Like drining an Oak Barrel”. This is now being added to the RWW Best of the Best.

Scores

At the time of writing no bribes have been received by the author. The scores went something like this:

Stu (20 points)

Toni (14 Points)

Kev (13 Points)

Sarah (12 Points)

A fun night. Was good to mix things up a bit.

 

RWW

Like the new acronym Stu seems to have come up with … nice … very nice.

So, RWW has been postponed this week due to a certain group member’s absence and just all round poor timing for most of us.

Last week’s wine was good… I really, really don’t know what I am talking about here.  However, I now can tell what people mean when they talk about soft wines.  I could certainly taste that both of last week’s wines but particularly the first one was very soft and felt very light in your mouth.  hmm… I don’t like stuff that makes my mouth feel like it’s burning.  These wines didn’t.  I could drink either all night, but particularly the first.

How profound!

Oh and I loved the salmon, which was delicious with Sarah’s special dip… perhaps she might post the recipe here……..

Another successful evening… here’s to the next!

 

Tasting, Tasting, 1,2,3

So the first Red Wine Wednesday is part of the annals of history now, I’m sure in decades to come it will be viewed as a critical event in the development of New Zealand as a modern society.

What a great way to start – good wine & food and quality conversation.  For me the Farnese Sangiovese brought back good memories of Italian Reds from our trip there a couple of years ago.  I hadn’t drunk a lot of Mediterranean reds before that trip and most experiences had been negative (too ‘dirty’ or earthy tasting?), but certainly our eyes were opened to the quality of Italian Reds when cruising through Tuscany.  The Farnese was very drinkable and felt quite light and breezy for a red.  I’m sure on other occasions I’d have panned it for not being flavourful enough or rich enough but it was a great drop to have on its own without food (well, a few beautiful slices of salami from Vetro our local Med deli – big ups to Vetro for the best salami in NZ!).  It therefore suited the occasion nicely.

Sarah & I have spent the next 2 days debating what we will supply next Wednesday, Shiraz maybe?, some more Italian..maybe a rose if its a scorcher?..to be revealed….

 

5th March 2008

Farnese 2005 Sangiovese

The Official Line

“A major winemaking achievement from the south of Italy for this price, with clean, ripe berry-redcurrant fruit, leather and marzipan typical of sangiovese without any hint of acetic problems common in this area. It is almost satiny smooth and has an easy-drinking sweetness followed by a dry, sour cherry finish. Not great length but surely good enough at the price. Will grace any casual meal from pizza and pasta to wings, ribs and Mexican fare. It ranked ninth in the Top 25 Killer Values at the International Value Wine Awards. “

Penfolds Koonunga Hill 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon

The Official Line

“Premium Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from some of South Australia’s best vineyards have been selected to maintain this consistent style and quality. The wine has excellent structure and length, and while it is ready for drinking now, will gain further complexity over the next two to four years.”