WINO 101

The results of the First Annual Carpe Vinum Blind Tasting are in!

The blind tasting was a lot of fun, however, it appears I made things a tad too difficult. If the idea was to celebrate April Fool’s Day by fooling the taster, I think I did just that, for the most part. So let’s look at the lineup UNMASKED!

Wine #1: I made this an easy one. Considering the choices were 2 white wines and Zinfandel, and the wine was red, you were correct in assuming it was Zinfandel. And considering that the majority of Zinfandel is from California, I thought that would be a fairly obvious selection.
The Conclusion: Joel Gott 2003 Zinfandel, California
Total Points Possible: 2

Wine #2: This was a 2-varietal blend, that I may have made a bit too tricky. It’s a Viognier/Syrah blend from the South of France. Viognier is often used in Rhone-style blends to soften the syrah a bit. Yes, it’s a white grape. (Nobody guessed Viognier)
The Conclusion: Le Freak 2003 Shiraz/Viognier, Vin de Pays D’Oc, France
Total Points Possible: 3

Wine #3: I thought this one would be a bit easier, considering it’s Italian. But alas, it didn’t seem quite so Italian upon the tasting of it. Fooled again. It’s a Sangiovese/Merlot blend from Tuscany.
The Conclusion: Farnetella 2001 Lucilla (Sangiovese/Merlot), IGT Toscana, Italy
Total Points Possible: 3

Wine #4: I tried to make this one a bit tricky. It’s Writer’s Block Syrah from the son of Jeb Steele, of Steele Winery and Shooting Star. It’s seasoned with a bit of Zinfandel. You don’t see that too often, so I thought it might be tricky. Writer’s Block also makes a Pinot Noir flavored with Zin as well. I’d have poured that one, but it’s awful.
The Conclusion: Writer’s Block 2002 Syrah, Lake County, California
Total Points Possible: 3

Wine #5: Stepping things up, it’s a 3-varietal blend from the South of Italy. The island part of the South of Italy. . .or one of the islands, anyway: Sicily! It’s a Nero D’Avola/Syrah/Merlot blend. I’ve never seen a Nero D’Avola from anywhere besides Sicily, so I thought that might be a giveaway on the region.
The Conclusion: Planeta 2003 La Segreta (Nero D’Avola/Merlot/Syrah), IGT Sicily, Italy
Total Points Possible: 4

Wine #6: It’s a 4-varietal blend. I actually had it in here a few weeks ago, and I thought it interesting enough to try again. Especially considering the blend. It’s an Argentinean wine that includes Tempranillo. How curious.
The Conclusion: Urban Oak 2002 Tempranillo/Malbec/Merlot/Syrah, Valle de Uco, Argentina
Total Points Possible: 5

Wine #7: And finally, this one was the most popular, and an opportunity to make up some good points, although I made it look like there was more possibility of losing points. Of the 17 grape varietal choices I listed, there were only 3 that were not in this wine. It’s the Toad Hollow “Erik’s the Red” and contains 14 grape varietals, by my count. On the website, they list 15, but Primitivo and Zinfandel are the same grape in my book. Grapes included: Cabernet Sauvignon, Refosco, Syrah, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Dolcetto and Barbera. The Viking themed label is also why I included “Valhalla” in the incorrect answer choices for region. It’s from California.
The Conclusion: Toad Hollow NV Erik’s the Red Lot 42, Paso Robles, California
Total Points Possible: 15

Total Points Possible for Entire Tasting: 45 (Including Extra-Credit Drawing)
Favorite Wine (Overall): Writer’s Block Syrah, with Erik’s the Red in a close second.
Least Favorite Wine: Le Freak Shiraz/Viognier (But at least it has a cool name.)

The extra credit of drawing bunches of grapes went well. Wine bottle drawings were acceptable as well, as wine bottles are filled with bunches of bunches of grapes. Even the snowman drawing gets the credit, because the snowman could have been made from grapes. Well done! You all get 10 extra points! I’ll try to post them to the website, once I have a bit more structure in there. (Coming soon!)

The vote for the breed of winery dog was pretty evenly divided. Mutt was in first with 5 votes, followed by a tie of 4 votes for both Cat and Golden Retriever. Labrador and the write-in of Old English Sheepdog tied for third, with Irish Wolfhound trailing in last place with the write-ins of Corgie, Bernese, Ferret, Hot (Dog), Pug, Border Collie and Pig (because it’s great with Zin.) I guess we all agree that the Dalmatians belong at the fire station, and Chihuahuas belong on Taco Bell ads.

As far as the prizes promised, I guess I’ll be giving out more than I figured because so many people tied for 3rd place. The scores overall were a bit more even than I figured they would be, but I guess that comes from making things too difficult. But boy was it fun!

First and second place was tied between Fay and Janis! I’ll have to make some kind of tiebreaker to see who wins the Vacuum Pump and the year’s worth of Wine Spectator, and who gets the Waiter’s Corkscrew and the 6 Months of Wine Spectator. How about a foot race? The first one through the doors wins First Place? Sounds good to me.

Third place tied between 5 people. I’ll upgrade it to 6 if Annie can draw me some grapes. As, far as the prizes, having so many people scoring the same confuses things a bit. . . but since I’m discontinuing the Wine Spectator in the shop, here’s a chance for you to stock up on your library. I’m offering for each Third Place winner to receive 4 copies, of your choice, of these leftover Spectators, as well as either a Capitano Corkscrew or a 2-Stopper Set to go with the Vacuum Pump (sold separately). What a deal!

And just on a technical note, considering that I didn’t subtract points for wrong answers, except for wine #7, if a person checked every box on the sheet, they would have scored 42 points. . .ah, well. . April Fools!

Thanks for joining me in this event! I think I’ll do it again sometime, but maybe make it a bit easier.

Seize the Wine!

M