TN: Blind Tasting of Kermit Lynch Imports @ East Beach Wine

BLIND TASTING OF KERMIT LYNCH IMPORTS @ EAST BEACH WINE - East Beach Wine, Santa Barbara (1/28/2011)

A selection of Kermit Lynch Imports was poured blind. We were given five options for both region and varietal for the six wines.

Varietal:
Cabernet Franc
Grenache
Pinot Noir
Sauvignon Blanc
Muscat

Region:
Bordeaux
Loire
Burgundy
Rhone
Beaumes de Venise

• 2009 Domaine Daniel Chotard Sancerre - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
  From KL blind tasting @ EBW.
  Melon, citrus, high acid, minerality, medium body.
  Guess: Loire/Sauvignon Blanc. Actual: Loire/Sauvignon Blanc.
• 2008 Domaine Lucien Boillot et Fils Bourgogne - France, Burgundy, Bourgogne
  From KL blind tasting @ EBW.
  Floral, spice, mushroom, light/medium body, cranberry, pepper, slight cow pasture, linear flavor, mild tannin.
  Guess: Burgundy/Pinot Noir. Actual: Burgundy/Pinot Noir.
  Flavor and weight had potential as entry level Loire Cab Franc, but floral and spice aromas definitively pointed towards Burgundy. If Cru Beaujolais was a choice, though, it would have been a tougher call between Burg/Bojo.
• 2008 Kermit Lynch Selections Côtes du Rhône - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
  From KL blind tasting @ EBW.
  Jammy, lavender, low-acid, bitter finish, unstructured.
  Guess: Rhone/Grenache. Actual: Rhone/Grenache.
  Commented this tasted cheap relative to other wines in tasting; indeed it was. Definite pass, very mediocre wine.
• 2008 Domaine les Pallières Gigondas Les Racines - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas
  From KL blind tasting @ EBW.
  Perfumed, medium/full body, medium/low acid.
  Guess: Rhone/Grenache. Actual: Rhone/Grenache.
  Very rich wine. Aromatics suggested Burg/Pinot at first, but flavors eventually pointed to a much warmer climate. Reminds me of how CA Pinot is often Grenache-like IMO–throw a full-bodied Cali Pinot in and I’m stumped!
• 2007 Château Aney - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
  From KL blind tasting @ EBW.
  Grass/bell pepper, dark fruit, earthy flavor, full body, medium acidity.
  Guess: Bordeaux, Cab Franc. Actual: Bordeaux, Cab Franc.
  This one was the most obvious red in the tasting. It had to be CF, and nothing else could have been Bdx. Bought it.
• 2006 Domaine de Durban Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise
  From KL blind tasting @ EBW.
  Floral, honeyed, sweet, full body
  Guess: Beaumes de Venise/Muscat. Actual: Beaumes de Venise/Muscat.
  Had to be Muscat given the options. Figured a dessert wine appellation would be the odd man out, so we went with Beaumes de Venise.

Success! But without the list of regions this would have been an intractable problem. Cab Franc, Pinot and Grenache can be surprisingly similar if grown in similar climates (say entry level Chinon vs. Burg, or California Grenache vs. Pinot), so the appellation laws in France regulating variety were a big help assigning varietal to palate character I’d expect from a given climate.
Posted from CellarTracker

You should have been given options for varieties, not varietals.