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The Chateau Wine Market was the scene for our latest event,
“You’re The Wine Critic” this past Sunday. They gave us the
back room all to ourselves in their Bodega Bar. If you have
never been to their Bodega Bar, do yourself a favor and go, it
is really hip and chic and a great place to drink some wine
with friends. If you have ever been to a wine bar, you are
already painfully aware of how expensive the wines by the
glass can be. At least here, you can buy a bottle of wine at
retail price and bring it to the back and drink it in their bar.
Neat stuff! The feedback I got from those that participated in
this event was that it was very informative and a heck of a lot
of fun. Too bad we had many no-shows! You missed out!
The premise of this event was to drink six different wines in a
blind tasting and rate them based on how we perceived the
wines. Then at the end of our tasting, we would compare our
scores versus how the professional wine critics scored them.
Before we got started, I coached everyone on how to evaluate
the wines from a professional point of view. We started by
looking at the wine’s color. All of these wines were red, but
how deep was the color in the glass and was the color clear or
cloudy? Cloudiness in wines represents impurities. The
deeper the color, the richer the wine. Next we evaluated the
nose, or aroma if you will, of each wine. Did this wine have a
smell that was inviting or pleasant or was it off or closed?
Closed implies that a wine does not give off much aroma at
all. The more attractive a nose is, usually translates into a
better wine. Too aid everyone in detecting the different
flavors they were smelling, I brought a professional wine
aroma kit for people to compare with the wines. This kit
includes over 30 different common aromas found in wines, like
currants, licorice, hazelnut, chocolate, etc… I think some
found this tool helpful while others probably thought it only
confused them more.
At this point in our lesson in tasting, I was reminded of the
scene in the movie Sideways where Miles was going over
evaluating a wine with Jack at the tasting bar in Sanford
winery. Miles was telling him to look at the clarity of the
Pinot they were tasting and then he told Jack to dive his nose
into the glass to get a good whiff. Miles proceeded to rifle off
such descriptions as a “Flutter of Edam Cheese and nuttiness,
etc…” Then Jack turns to Miles and says, “Smells
great…When do we drink it?” That is pretty much what I had
at this point, a room full of Jacks asking, “When do we drink
it?” And so we did!
As we were drinking the wine though we were paying close
attention to a few important things beside whether or not you
thought the wine taste good. We were evaluating the balance
of the wine on our palate and the overall finish and mouthfeel.
A wine’s balance is attributed to its components being in
harmony with one another. For instance, a wine can be sweet,
acidic, bitter, or tannic. A good wine with exceptional balance
will have a touch of all these and no one component
overpowers the rest. When a wine has great balance between
all of these components, it gives the wines age ability. If
there is one component that overpowers the rest, that trait will
only get worse the more time it spends in a cellar, which would
make that wine unappealing to drink with age.
The mouthfeel translates into a wines body or the weight of
the wine in your mouth. Full bodied, medium bodied or light.
This doesn’t necessarily translate into quality. Some wines
are meant to have light bodies and be elegant in your mouth,
while others are meant to overwhelm the palate like Cabernet
Sauvignon. Sometimes high alcohol wines will have a fuller
body to them and that is a direct result of the amount of
alcohol contained in the wine. The Finish of wine is described
as this; the length of time the taste and impression of the wine
lasts in your mouth after you swallow it. I think this is one of
the most important factors of a great wine that Robert Parker
uses in evaluating wines. A bad wine dissipates rapidly after
you swallow it, but a great one seems to linger in your mouth.
Well now that we have learned how to evaluate the wines, it
was time to fulfill Jack’s wishes and finally drink the wines. I
broke up the wines into three flights. Two Italians, two
Washington State blends, and two Aussie Shiraz wines. In
each flight that we tasted, one wine scored very well with the
wine critics and one scored poorly, with the exception of the
Aussie Shiraz’s. The poorer of the two Shiraz wines scored 87
pts, which is not too shabby, but compared to the other Shiraz
wine, which scored 97 pts, it was definitely inferior. I think
when I originally planned this event, my expectations were
that I was going to prove to everyone that we as wine
consumers don’t necessarily agree with the wine critics,
however, given the results of this event, I was sorely
mistaken. With the only exception being the two Washington
State blends, where the voting was a little closer, although
most did favor the higher scoring Waterbrook wine, in the
Italian flight and Aussie flight, the highest scoring wine by the
critics were the clear favorites among us. And to add insult to
injury (well my ego anyway), the 97pt Aussie Shiraz was the
overwhelming favorite among everyone at this tasting. Oh
well, maybe Robert Parker does know what he is talking
about after all! All in all, our event was informative and very
fun!
Here are the wines we tasted along with the scores and
tasting notes from the professional wine critics:
San Fabiano Calcinaia – Chianti Classico 2003
Tuscany - Italy
WS – 82
Notes: Fresh and fruity with simple fruit and a light finish.
Nice cherry character. Drink now.
Allegrini - Palazzo della Torre 2001
Veneto – Italy
WS – 90
Notes: Densely packed on the nose, with currants, flowers,
minerals and oak. Medium- to full-bodied, with spicy dried
fruit flavors, firm tannins and a long, minerally finish. One of
the best values in outstanding wines from Italy. Best after
2006.
Waterbrook – Melange 2004
Columbia Valley – Washington
WS – 87
Notes: Fresh and lively, open in texture, with blackberry and
red pepper aromas and flavors, picking up an earthy note as
the sweet fruit persists on the finish. Merlot, Cabernet
Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and others. Drink now through
2010.
Seven Hills – Ciel du Cheval 2003
Red Mountain – Washington
WS – 81
Notes: Herbal, earthy, vegetal flavors intrude on the ripe
cherry and toasty spice flavors. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best after 2007.
Morgan Simpson – Shiraz 2001
McLaren Vale – Australia
WS – 87
Notes: Firm and focused, jazzy with bright berry and plum
flavors, picking up a touch of green leaf on the finish. Drink
now through 2006.
Mitolo – GAM 2004
Australia
RP – 97
Notes: Drink 2005-2020. Aged 18 months in primarily French
oak, the 2004 Shiraz G.A.M. is an exceptional example of a
precise yet full-flavored, concentrated Shiraz. Its gorgeous
perfume of blueberries, blackberries, camphor, licorice, and
pain grille is followed by an inky/blue/purple-colored wine
offering superb purity, full-bodied richness, and gorgeous
depth as well as texture. This fabulous effort is another
example of Ben Glaetzer’s brilliant talents. It should drink
well for 15 years.
“You’re The Wine Critic” this past Sunday. They gave us the
back room all to ourselves in their Bodega Bar. If you have
never been to their Bodega Bar, do yourself a favor and go, it
is really hip and chic and a great place to drink some wine
with friends. If you have ever been to a wine bar, you are
already painfully aware of how expensive the wines by the
glass can be. At least here, you can buy a bottle of wine at
retail price and bring it to the back and drink it in their bar.
Neat stuff! The feedback I got from those that participated in
this event was that it was very informative and a heck of a lot
of fun. Too bad we had many no-shows! You missed out!
The premise of this event was to drink six different wines in a
blind tasting and rate them based on how we perceived the
wines. Then at the end of our tasting, we would compare our
scores versus how the professional wine critics scored them.
Before we got started, I coached everyone on how to evaluate
the wines from a professional point of view. We started by
looking at the wine’s color. All of these wines were red, but
how deep was the color in the glass and was the color clear or
cloudy? Cloudiness in wines represents impurities. The
deeper the color, the richer the wine. Next we evaluated the
nose, or aroma if you will, of each wine. Did this wine have a
smell that was inviting or pleasant or was it off or closed?
Closed implies that a wine does not give off much aroma at
all. The more attractive a nose is, usually translates into a
better wine. Too aid everyone in detecting the different
flavors they were smelling, I brought a professional wine
aroma kit for people to compare with the wines. This kit
includes over 30 different common aromas found in wines, like
currants, licorice, hazelnut, chocolate, etc… I think some
found this tool helpful while others probably thought it only
confused them more.
At this point in our lesson in tasting, I was reminded of the
scene in the movie Sideways where Miles was going over
evaluating a wine with Jack at the tasting bar in Sanford
winery. Miles was telling him to look at the clarity of the
Pinot they were tasting and then he told Jack to dive his nose
into the glass to get a good whiff. Miles proceeded to rifle off
such descriptions as a “Flutter of Edam Cheese and nuttiness,
etc…” Then Jack turns to Miles and says, “Smells
great…When do we drink it?” That is pretty much what I had
at this point, a room full of Jacks asking, “When do we drink
it?” And so we did!
As we were drinking the wine though we were paying close
attention to a few important things beside whether or not you
thought the wine taste good. We were evaluating the balance
of the wine on our palate and the overall finish and mouthfeel.
A wine’s balance is attributed to its components being in
harmony with one another. For instance, a wine can be sweet,
acidic, bitter, or tannic. A good wine with exceptional balance
will have a touch of all these and no one component
overpowers the rest. When a wine has great balance between
all of these components, it gives the wines age ability. If
there is one component that overpowers the rest, that trait will
only get worse the more time it spends in a cellar, which would
make that wine unappealing to drink with age.
The mouthfeel translates into a wines body or the weight of
the wine in your mouth. Full bodied, medium bodied or light.
This doesn’t necessarily translate into quality. Some wines
are meant to have light bodies and be elegant in your mouth,
while others are meant to overwhelm the palate like Cabernet
Sauvignon. Sometimes high alcohol wines will have a fuller
body to them and that is a direct result of the amount of
alcohol contained in the wine. The Finish of wine is described
as this; the length of time the taste and impression of the wine
lasts in your mouth after you swallow it. I think this is one of
the most important factors of a great wine that Robert Parker
uses in evaluating wines. A bad wine dissipates rapidly after
you swallow it, but a great one seems to linger in your mouth.
Well now that we have learned how to evaluate the wines, it
was time to fulfill Jack’s wishes and finally drink the wines. I
broke up the wines into three flights. Two Italians, two
Washington State blends, and two Aussie Shiraz wines. In
each flight that we tasted, one wine scored very well with the
wine critics and one scored poorly, with the exception of the
Aussie Shiraz’s. The poorer of the two Shiraz wines scored 87
pts, which is not too shabby, but compared to the other Shiraz
wine, which scored 97 pts, it was definitely inferior. I think
when I originally planned this event, my expectations were
that I was going to prove to everyone that we as wine
consumers don’t necessarily agree with the wine critics,
however, given the results of this event, I was sorely
mistaken. With the only exception being the two Washington
State blends, where the voting was a little closer, although
most did favor the higher scoring Waterbrook wine, in the
Italian flight and Aussie flight, the highest scoring wine by the
critics were the clear favorites among us. And to add insult to
injury (well my ego anyway), the 97pt Aussie Shiraz was the
overwhelming favorite among everyone at this tasting. Oh
well, maybe Robert Parker does know what he is talking
about after all! All in all, our event was informative and very
fun!
Here are the wines we tasted along with the scores and
tasting notes from the professional wine critics:
San Fabiano Calcinaia – Chianti Classico 2003
Tuscany - Italy
WS – 82
Notes: Fresh and fruity with simple fruit and a light finish.
Nice cherry character. Drink now.
Allegrini - Palazzo della Torre 2001
Veneto – Italy
WS – 90
Notes: Densely packed on the nose, with currants, flowers,
minerals and oak. Medium- to full-bodied, with spicy dried
fruit flavors, firm tannins and a long, minerally finish. One of
the best values in outstanding wines from Italy. Best after
2006.
Waterbrook – Melange 2004
Columbia Valley – Washington
WS – 87
Notes: Fresh and lively, open in texture, with blackberry and
red pepper aromas and flavors, picking up an earthy note as
the sweet fruit persists on the finish. Merlot, Cabernet
Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and others. Drink now through
2010.
Seven Hills – Ciel du Cheval 2003
Red Mountain – Washington
WS – 81
Notes: Herbal, earthy, vegetal flavors intrude on the ripe
cherry and toasty spice flavors. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best after 2007.
Morgan Simpson – Shiraz 2001
McLaren Vale – Australia
WS – 87
Notes: Firm and focused, jazzy with bright berry and plum
flavors, picking up a touch of green leaf on the finish. Drink
now through 2006.
Mitolo – GAM 2004
Australia
RP – 97
Notes: Drink 2005-2020. Aged 18 months in primarily French
oak, the 2004 Shiraz G.A.M. is an exceptional example of a
precise yet full-flavored, concentrated Shiraz. Its gorgeous
perfume of blueberries, blackberries, camphor, licorice, and
pain grille is followed by an inky/blue/purple-colored wine
offering superb purity, full-bodied richness, and gorgeous
depth as well as texture. This fabulous effort is another
example of Ben Glaetzer’s brilliant talents. It should drink
well for 15 years.
