| Napa vs. Sonoma Tasting |
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Who makes better wines, Napa or Sonoma? Well that is the
question we were trying to answer on this evening as
twenty-six wines went head to head, twelve from Napa,
thirteen from Sonoma and one wild card from Paso Robles.
In the end we were hoping to answer once and for all, who
makes the better wines, however, after our tasting, I am not
sure we really answered anything.
Lisa was our hostess for this event and I would like to give a
special thanks to her for lending us her place as well as for
all the hard work that went into the food she prepared, it was
delicious! For four years we have been making poor Lisa
drive out to Plano and Frisco, so it was only fitting that we
drove out to her neck of the woods for a change!
Just some observations about the tasting results. For the
most part, I'd say that the results went down pretty much as
I expected. I figured that Napa would have an advantage
over Sonoma with Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc,
Syrah, Merlot and probably the Meritages. I also believed
that going into the tasting Sonoma would probably sweep the
Zinfandel, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir catagories. However,
that being said, there were a couple of curve balls thrown our
way in the tasting. For instance, Napa won the Pinot Noir
catagory and Sonoma won the Merlot catagory. They also
split the Meritage round, one to one.
Here is the breakdown of the tasting wines and the results:
Sauvignon Blanc Round
Wine 1 - Honig (Napa) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Dry Creek Vineyards (Sonoma)
Chardonnay Round
Wine 1 - Simi (Sonoma) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Franciscan (Napa)
Rose' Round (This one was real close!)
Wine 1 - Robert Hall (Napa) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Waterstone (Sonoma)
Pinot Noir Round
Wine 1 - Saintsbury (Carneros-Napa) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Siduri (Russian River - Sonoma)
Zinfandel Round 1
Wine 1 - Seghesio (Sonoma) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Frog's Leap (Napa)
Zinfandel Round 2
Wine 1 - Rancho Zabacco (Sonoma)
Wine 2 - Bogle Old Vine (Paso Robles) - the winner!
Merlot Round 1
Wine 1 - Neyers (Napa)
Wine 2 - Chateau St. Jean (Sonoma) - the winner!
Merlot Round 2
Wine 1 - St. Francis (Sonoma) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Sterling (Napa)
Cabernet Sauvignon Round 1
Wine 1 - Louis M. Martini (Sonoma)
Wine 2 - Louis M. Martini (Napa) - the winner!
Cabernet Sauvignon Round 2
Wine 1 - Tillman Reserve (Napa) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Sebastiani (Sonoma)
Meritage Round 1
Wine 1 - Geyser Peak (Sonoma) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Franciscan Magnificant (Napa)
Meritage Round 2
Wine 1 - Chappellet (Napa) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Lyeth (Sonoma)
Syrah Round
Wine 1 - Minor (Napa) - the winner!
WIne 2 - Fagan Creek (Sonoma)
So in closing, Napa won seven of the thirteen rounds and was
only represented in twelve rounds. So I guess if we had to
pick the winner, it would be Napa Valley. However, it should
be said that the two wines that absolutely dominated their
catagories by the widest margin and were possibly the two
best wines of the entire tasting were both Sonoma wines.
The Seghesio 2004 Sonoma County Zinfandel and the
Geyser Peak 2003 Meritage. Another thing that I should
point out is that even though the Frog's Leap Zin did not beat
out the Seghesio Zin, it would have easily beat either of the
next two Zins in our tasting, so Napa could have easily had
eight wins had the cards fell right. No matter what the
results were, we all had a fantastic time and it was great
seeing some old faces and meeting a few new ones! Thank
you again Lisa for hosting!
question we were trying to answer on this evening as
twenty-six wines went head to head, twelve from Napa,
thirteen from Sonoma and one wild card from Paso Robles.
In the end we were hoping to answer once and for all, who
makes the better wines, however, after our tasting, I am not
sure we really answered anything.
Lisa was our hostess for this event and I would like to give a
special thanks to her for lending us her place as well as for
all the hard work that went into the food she prepared, it was
delicious! For four years we have been making poor Lisa
drive out to Plano and Frisco, so it was only fitting that we
drove out to her neck of the woods for a change!
Just some observations about the tasting results. For the
most part, I'd say that the results went down pretty much as
I expected. I figured that Napa would have an advantage
over Sonoma with Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc,
Syrah, Merlot and probably the Meritages. I also believed
that going into the tasting Sonoma would probably sweep the
Zinfandel, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir catagories. However,
that being said, there were a couple of curve balls thrown our
way in the tasting. For instance, Napa won the Pinot Noir
catagory and Sonoma won the Merlot catagory. They also
split the Meritage round, one to one.
Here is the breakdown of the tasting wines and the results:
Sauvignon Blanc Round
Wine 1 - Honig (Napa) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Dry Creek Vineyards (Sonoma)
Chardonnay Round
Wine 1 - Simi (Sonoma) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Franciscan (Napa)
Rose' Round (This one was real close!)
Wine 1 - Robert Hall (Napa) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Waterstone (Sonoma)
Pinot Noir Round
Wine 1 - Saintsbury (Carneros-Napa) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Siduri (Russian River - Sonoma)
Zinfandel Round 1
Wine 1 - Seghesio (Sonoma) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Frog's Leap (Napa)
Zinfandel Round 2
Wine 1 - Rancho Zabacco (Sonoma)
Wine 2 - Bogle Old Vine (Paso Robles) - the winner!
Merlot Round 1
Wine 1 - Neyers (Napa)
Wine 2 - Chateau St. Jean (Sonoma) - the winner!
Merlot Round 2
Wine 1 - St. Francis (Sonoma) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Sterling (Napa)
Cabernet Sauvignon Round 1
Wine 1 - Louis M. Martini (Sonoma)
Wine 2 - Louis M. Martini (Napa) - the winner!
Cabernet Sauvignon Round 2
Wine 1 - Tillman Reserve (Napa) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Sebastiani (Sonoma)
Meritage Round 1
Wine 1 - Geyser Peak (Sonoma) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Franciscan Magnificant (Napa)
Meritage Round 2
Wine 1 - Chappellet (Napa) - the winner!
Wine 2 - Lyeth (Sonoma)
Syrah Round
Wine 1 - Minor (Napa) - the winner!
WIne 2 - Fagan Creek (Sonoma)
So in closing, Napa won seven of the thirteen rounds and was
only represented in twelve rounds. So I guess if we had to
pick the winner, it would be Napa Valley. However, it should
be said that the two wines that absolutely dominated their
catagories by the widest margin and were possibly the two
best wines of the entire tasting were both Sonoma wines.
The Seghesio 2004 Sonoma County Zinfandel and the
Geyser Peak 2003 Meritage. Another thing that I should
point out is that even though the Frog's Leap Zin did not beat
out the Seghesio Zin, it would have easily beat either of the
next two Zins in our tasting, so Napa could have easily had
eight wins had the cards fell right. No matter what the
results were, we all had a fantastic time and it was great
seeing some old faces and meeting a few new ones! Thank
you again Lisa for hosting!