Find the expensive one! A tasting to determine if a more expensive wine can be picked out blindly.
Monterrey, Mexico
Tasted Wednesday, June 10, 2009 by hcampana with 856 views
Introduction
My wife and I hosted 6 co-workers of mine to celebrate our recent hiring of one of them. None of the attendants are wine geeks, so I wanted to design a tasting that would be fun and in which they could relate. I decided to repeat a themed tasting that I had done for clients a few weeks earlier. I decided to do 4 single blind flights of 2 wines each in which one of the two wines cost me 2-4 times as much as the other, and ask our guests to try and determine which one they thought was the expensive one.
I had food catered in from my favorite local restaurant, which turned out great.
Flight 1 - The Chardonnay Flight (2 Notes)
Served with seared tuna won ton taco.
Before unveiling the wines, 5 of us correctly identified the Beringer Private Reserve as the more expensive wine. 3 did not.
Flight 2 - Red Wine Flight 1 (2 Notes)
Served with a baked Brie cheese buns with tomato chutney and spicy Kimchi and a Chilorio (spicy pork) Dim Sum.
Before unveiling the wines, 6 of us correctly identified the Yacochuya as the more expensive wine. 2 did not.
Flight 3 - Red Wine Flight 2 (2 Notes)
Served with light New England Chowder.
Before unveiling the wines, 3 people correctly identified the Clarendon Hills as the more expensive wine. 5 of us did not.
Flight 4 - Red Wine Flight 3 (2 Notes)
Udon: Center cut angus filet over stir fried vegetables and chipotle home made pasta.
Before unveiling the wines, 3 people correctly identified the Neal Cab as the more expensive wine. 5 of us did not.
Flight 5 - Dessert (1 Note)
Served with warm center chocolate fondant.
Closing
As you can see from the flight commentary, in 3 of the 4 flights, people chose the more exensive wine correctly. While I understand that we cannot conclude anything from this given the reduced number of choices per flight (2) which sharply increases the role "luck" plays, it still made my guests feel smarter about wine.
As the evening ended, but before I unveiled the wines, I took a vote for red Wine of the Night (WWOTN) and for red Worst Wine of the Night (WWOTN). Results were as follows:
WOTN: 2000 Yacochuya (4 votes)
WOTN Runner up: 2001 Neal Family Second Chance Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (2 votes)
WOTN 3rd place: 2007 Alamos Malbec (1 vote)
WWOTN: Tie between the 2000 Yacochuya and the 2007 Alamos
WWOTN runners up: 2001 Clarendon Hills, 2002 Mitolo GAM & 2001 Neal Second Chance Cab
The corpulence and extracted nature of the Yacochuya was obviously controversial.
This was a great night. We laughed a lot, talked about wine and food, got a little tipsy and learned a little bit.
2006 Beringer Vineyards Chardonnay Private Reserve 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine 1
Medium golden color that is slightly deeper than Wine 2. Initially, this wine exhibits some spritziness (CO2?), which is off putting. With time in the glass, it disolves. After it warms up a bit, the wine opens up to beautiful white flowers, serious tropical fruit and a smoky, hazelnut aroma that is very enjoyable. In the palate, it is oily, unctuous, medium to full bodied, exhibitting low acidity. Initially, the finish had a bitternes that was not welcome. The alcohol is slightly more noticeable than in wine 2. Overall, an excellent Chardonnay in the oaky, ripe, full malolactic style of the spectrum.
Vino 1
Color dorado medio que es un poco más obscuro que el vino 2. Inciiclamente, este vino exhibe una efervescencia que no es bienvenida. Con el tiempo en la copa, afortunadamente desaparece. Después de un tiempo en la copa, el vino libera flores blancas, fruta tropical seria y avellana ahumada deliciosa. En el paladar, el vino es untuoso, de cuerpo medio a corpulento y con acidez baja. Incialmente, el terminado exhibió un amargo que no fue bienvenido, pero cedió con el tiempo. El alcohol es ligeramente más perceptible que en el Vino 2. En resumen, un excelente Chardonnay en el extremo maduro, con mucho roble, y con fermentación malolactica completa del espectro.
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2007 Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay Vintner's Reserve 87 Points
USA, California
Wine 2
Medium golden color. Initially, a lot more expressive than wine 1. Extrovertly floral and very open, this wine has more acidity than wine 1. Medium bodied, with alcohol very well concealed. This is a nice quaffer that has to be the lower priced wine in this duo.
Vino 2
Color dorado mediano. Inicialmente mucho mas expresivo que el vino 1. Extrovertido, floral y muy accesible, este vino tiene mas acidez que el 1. De cuerpo mediano y con el alcohol muy bien disimulado. Este es un vino agradable sin grandes pretenciones que de seguro tiene que ser el mas barato de esta ronda.
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