| White Wine Blends 2008 Tasting Report |
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| Sokol Blosser "Evolution" Lucky #9 Non-Vintage - Oregon |
Notes – A pale yellow wine in the glass, this white wine
blend made up of a whopping nine different grape
varietals smelled of orange blossoms and
honeysuckle. On the palate there's plenty of peach
along with the orange blossom and honeysuckle and an
impeccable balance between tart, soft and sweet.
Almost everyone liked this wine and it was most
people's favorite. Considering the fact that it is $8.00
cheaper than Conundrum, a wine that it resembles a
lot, that makes this quite the steal!
blend made up of a whopping nine different grape
varietals smelled of orange blossoms and
honeysuckle. On the palate there's plenty of peach
along with the orange blossom and honeysuckle and an
impeccable balance between tart, soft and sweet.
Almost everyone liked this wine and it was most
people's favorite. Considering the fact that it is $8.00
cheaper than Conundrum, a wine that it resembles a
lot, that makes this quite the steal!
| About $16.00 |
| Score A- |
| Conundrum 2006 Rutherford-Napa, California |
Notes – Light yellow gold, this wine blend, which
usually consists of five different grapes that changes
from year to year, proved to be quite the formidable
challenger and all that it's reputation boasts. There is
obviously some Muscat in the blend, you get that with
all of the fizzy tangerines and peach, but there are a
virtual cornucopia of tropical fruits like bananas and
pineapples to go along with. Always a bona fide crowd
pleaser!
usually consists of five different grapes that changes
from year to year, proved to be quite the formidable
challenger and all that it's reputation boasts. There is
obviously some Muscat in the blend, you get that with
all of the fizzy tangerines and peach, but there are a
virtual cornucopia of tropical fruits like bananas and
pineapples to go along with. Always a bona fide crowd
pleaser!
| Around $24.00 |
| Score A- |
| Pine Ridge 2007 Oakville-Napa, California |
Notes – Another light golden yellow offering this little
citrusy blend sports some sharp acidity that cuts across
food extremely well and a thinner body than our first
two wines. Loads and loads of pineapple in this bottle.
The blend consists of Chenin Blanc, which is rare in
California, and Viognier. I love this wine! It wasn't my
highest scoring wine, but I have had it quite a few times
in the past two months and it is always refreshing!
citrusy blend sports some sharp acidity that cuts across
food extremely well and a thinner body than our first
two wines. Loads and loads of pineapple in this bottle.
The blend consists of Chenin Blanc, which is rare in
California, and Viognier. I love this wine! It wasn't my
highest scoring wine, but I have had it quite a few times
in the past two months and it is always refreshing!
| Score B+ |
| About $18.00 |
| Cape Mentelle 2007 Margaret River, Australia |
Notes – This pale gold wine tipped us off from the get-
go as to it's varietal composition with a nose full of
smoky jalapenos. Then confirmed it on the palate with
it's tart, grassy, pineapple make up. Light and lip-
smacking. To no one's surprise this wine definitely had
a high level of Sauvignon Blanc in the blend, which is
only fitting, since this comes from the man that brought
us Cloudy Bay. Semillon makes up the other portion of
the blend. Good stuff!
go as to it's varietal composition with a nose full of
smoky jalapenos. Then confirmed it on the palate with
it's tart, grassy, pineapple make up. Light and lip-
smacking. To no one's surprise this wine definitely had
a high level of Sauvignon Blanc in the blend, which is
only fitting, since this comes from the man that brought
us Cloudy Bay. Semillon makes up the other portion of
the blend. Good stuff!
| Score B+ |
| Around $16.00 |
| Treana 2005 Mer Soleil Vineyard - Paso Robles, California |
Notes – Dark Golden yellow, almost a cross between a
Grand Cru Burgundy and a Sauternes. The wine
smelled Chardonnay like with buttery overtones both
in the nose and the palate. Also on the palate were
butterscotch, oak and orange rind. This also boasts a
much fuller body than all the rest, but very short on
acidity. This wine split the panel into lovers and
haters. Once again, I believe it was penalized for being
different. A very good and somewhat unusual wine
that just begs for some lobster tail and drawn butter!
Grand Cru Burgundy and a Sauternes. The wine
smelled Chardonnay like with buttery overtones both
in the nose and the palate. Also on the palate were
butterscotch, oak and orange rind. This also boasts a
much fuller body than all the rest, but very short on
acidity. This wine split the panel into lovers and
haters. Once again, I believe it was penalized for being
different. A very good and somewhat unusual wine
that just begs for some lobster tail and drawn butter!
| About $20.00 |
| Score B+ |
Once again, with temperatures outside soaring
past 100 degrees, it proved to be too hard to sit
around and sip some heavy Cabs or Syrah's, so we
decided to taste current White Wine Blends for
our latest staff tasting. Unfortunately, we did not
bring in wines from all over the world, four of the
six came from sunny California, but we did
manage to include one from Australia and a
sleeper that stole the show from Oregon.
Now it is no secret that our staff would much
prefer to drink red wine as opposed to a white of
any kind, but we had something happen in this
tasting that has not happened in quite a long time.
We had six really strong wines. To a person,
almost everyone agreed that all six wines had
something to really offer and were delicious in
their own unique way. The scores were so close in
this tasting that only a mere four points separated
the first place wine from the last place wine.
That's pretty cool!
In anticipation of this tasting, I prepared a
Chinese food buffet to start us off. Szechuan
Stir-fry chicken & rice, Thai Peanut Noodles,
Asian Cucumber salad and some egg rolls all
helped to prime the palate. I decided to go this
route anticipating that Viognier would be a
common theme amongst all of the blends, which
proved to be true.
I think you would enjoy any of the wines in our
tasting. Obviously Conundrum needs no
introduction, but some refreshing unknowns like
the Pine Ridge are exceptional too! The big
surprise of the evening was the Sokol Blosser
wine, Evolution, or as I like to call it, baby
Conundrum. It had much more acidity to it than
I would have figured and was quite enticing. One
funny note, actually more to the staff members
than you, is that my least favorite wine in our
tasting was the one I brought and it came in last
place. Still good, just not as good as the rest.
Enjoy the results:
past 100 degrees, it proved to be too hard to sit
around and sip some heavy Cabs or Syrah's, so we
decided to taste current White Wine Blends for
our latest staff tasting. Unfortunately, we did not
bring in wines from all over the world, four of the
six came from sunny California, but we did
manage to include one from Australia and a
sleeper that stole the show from Oregon.
Now it is no secret that our staff would much
prefer to drink red wine as opposed to a white of
any kind, but we had something happen in this
tasting that has not happened in quite a long time.
We had six really strong wines. To a person,
almost everyone agreed that all six wines had
something to really offer and were delicious in
their own unique way. The scores were so close in
this tasting that only a mere four points separated
the first place wine from the last place wine.
That's pretty cool!
In anticipation of this tasting, I prepared a
Chinese food buffet to start us off. Szechuan
Stir-fry chicken & rice, Thai Peanut Noodles,
Asian Cucumber salad and some egg rolls all
helped to prime the palate. I decided to go this
route anticipating that Viognier would be a
common theme amongst all of the blends, which
proved to be true.
I think you would enjoy any of the wines in our
tasting. Obviously Conundrum needs no
introduction, but some refreshing unknowns like
the Pine Ridge are exceptional too! The big
surprise of the evening was the Sokol Blosser
wine, Evolution, or as I like to call it, baby
Conundrum. It had much more acidity to it than
I would have figured and was quite enticing. One
funny note, actually more to the staff members
than you, is that my least favorite wine in our
tasting was the one I brought and it came in last
place. Still good, just not as good as the rest.
Enjoy the results:
| Qupe' 2006 Bien Nacido Cuvee' - Santa Maria Valley, California |
Notes – Xmas ball gold (as in an ornament). Okay, my
description here, but as a child I remember all those
damn gold ornament balls my mom made me put on our
tree and it brought me back to those memories. It
smelled a little musky at first. That went a way after a
little while and then it showed more nectarine, peach
and pineapple flavors. I also found it tart and a little
salty. Not quite as complex as some of the other
wines. I'd call it subtle and perhaps that is what they
were going for here. All in all, most agreed it was
good, but not as good as the rest, but hey...you have to
admit, that is a killer looking label!
description here, but as a child I remember all those
damn gold ornament balls my mom made me put on our
tree and it brought me back to those memories. It
smelled a little musky at first. That went a way after a
little while and then it showed more nectarine, peach
and pineapple flavors. I also found it tart and a little
salty. Not quite as complex as some of the other
wines. I'd call it subtle and perhaps that is what they
were going for here. All in all, most agreed it was
good, but not as good as the rest, but hey...you have to
admit, that is a killer looking label!
| About $22.00 |
| Score B+ |
