I did a quick search and nothing was immediate on the forefront in the results. I also recall Ian with his Blind Wine Ringer thread which is solid if you have not read. That’s how to a rig a game.
So begs the questions, in a blind tasting, how far off the reservation have you gone in a guess… or been mortified when your trophy was considered Yellow Tail?
Me, honestly, I’ve not done much blind. Not sure my batting average. I think I’ve batted well in at least getting region and once picked wine in a can out blind in a glass. Yet I can honestly say I blew a Chateau Angelus as North Fork, Long Island. Yeah… It seemed reasonable at the time, I’ll not speculate on biases there. It was awkward, then it was good. 3 hours of air and apologies might have helped my ego.
Was an ‘expert’ on a panel tasting blind Cabernet sauvignons from around the world from 2010 vintage attended in the main by wine makers. I panned one wine, to find out that it was 2010 Margaux.
Oh well, call them as you see them…gave it a bronze medal.
Best call was 1997 Harlan Estate blind having never had it based solely on tasting notes and reputation. Too many “worst call” stories to count. Worst was probably not nailing that a DRC was pinot noir. Then again, may have had a little syrah in it…though I think I called it brunello or something. Spicy cherry fruit, big, some structure, orange peel. Seemed like an okay call at the time turned humiliation. Which is most blind tasting.
Fairly early on in my wine appreciation journey, I was at a corporate thing and a breakout “fun” thing option a wine discussion with a sommelier. He passed around black/opaque tasting glasses of a wine and, when nobody raised their hand to venture a guess as to what it was, I did. I said, “An aromatic white - maybe a Viognier?” Uh…no. It was a glass of the hotel bar’s House Merlot. Lots of eyes on me and, yeah, I didn’t even get the color right. Damn those black wine glasses!
I’ve guessed some dead on without any context - 1953 Vina Real for example. Couldn’t do it again in a thousand years. In a few blind tastings of various wines, I got them all correct. Other times, I missed everything entirely. Once guessed a well-made domestic Petite Sirah for around $25 when it turned out to be Phelps Insignia, and another time thought something was a bad southern Spanish wine and it was Ridge Pagani Ranch.
It’s always fun when you’re right and always educational when you’re way off base.
This is a fun topic. I’ve had my share of swings and misses for sure, but have a couple memorable gets and gaffes. You make me feel better, Greg, with the Pagani ranch thing, see below.
A little under 5 years ago at a dinner in Boston with Angelo Manioudakis and his buddies. Angelo pulls out an older red. All of his friends got fooled by his known proclivities and kept declaiming “Northern Rhone, Northern Rhone!” I shut my ears and hesitantly guessed 88 Barbera. Angelo had an evil grin on his face as he did the reveal. 1971 Gaja Barbera Sori Vagnona. I will claim that as an absolute win.
Hawaii last year, Ralph Earles (so glad I met him before he very sadly passed away) brings a blind white. I am wavering with the possibility of an Alsatian pinot gris but finally settle on Condrieu. Then I look a little closer at the bottle and I say “not a Grillet…”. Yup, a 2005 Chateau Grillet (I did guess older, a 97). Ralph got his revenge when he presented a blind red which seemed to speak of older Cali Cab but was instead a 1997 Chateau Mercian Merlot from Japan (!)
A fun miss–in Hong Kong with Rob Lloyd and his group, a proffered red spoke loudly of 2009 or 2010 CdP or Vacqueyras when it was, in fact, a 2014 Burn Cottage Pinot from NZ.
More humbling still, with Ed Kurtzman and a group on that same trip, Ed pulled another red that I hesitantly went with Crozes-Hermitage from 4-5 years old when it was, in fact only 3 years old and a (2014) Bedrock Pagani Ranch Zin—about as far away as you can get!
This is probably my biggest howler ever, even worse than that one time I called a Beaujolais a Nebbiolo at two separate tastings (same wine):
Blind:
Medium gold color.
On the nose, notable oxidation (bruised bosc pear), some mushroomy funkiness - partial new barrels with age. Some savory dried honey mushroomy tertiary notes from age. A sort of oxidized savory butter and carrot note. Some notable nuttiness.
Dry, medium body, 14% alcohol (actually 13.0%), medium plus acid, slight phenolic bitterness, savory toasty pear notes.
Possible Laterals:
Old California - missing fruit intensity.
Old White burgundy - too oxidative and nutty - quite oak-driven.
White Rioja - could be
Based on the prominence of used oak and oxidation, I believe this is a White Rioja, Reserva level, ok quality example from a traditional producer - Lopez de Heredia 2007.
Actually: Alice White NV Chardonnay, South Eastern Australia.
Analysis: Wow. Totally misread that. Clearly it’s oxidized and will probably continue to fall apart. That said, it’s in a bizarrely good place right now.
At FKALBTG, FKA LBTG, we have been drinking blind together every month for 8 years. The really good guesses are so much rarer than the bad misses that the really good guesses are easier to remember, but in the bad guess department, I would have to say that my two worst were:
“I will bet the ranch and my first born son that this is Burgundy pinot, probably from the 1990s.” Barbe Rac Chateauneuf.
and
“I really don’t like this wine. It kind of sucks and there’s nothing going on. Way too weak and lacking flavor.” Response from the host “Jay, you really should try this again.” “Oh, all right . . . still not doing anything for me. Where’s the flavor?” 2007 Saxum James Berry Vineyard.
I’ve had a few home runs, notably in 2003, the 1985 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo - nailed wine type, producer and vintage, plus the wine was decanted, so I didn’t even get a bottle shape hint.
But there are too many misses to count. I have called a Bordeaux as Washington State Syrah. Have also guessed Gonon St. Joseph to be a Vosne Romanee. Shudder!
I’m actually more annoyed when I knew what the wine was and then switched gears and guessed something else.
we had a blind group at my house not too long ago and two of us (unbeknownst to each other) brought Santa Margharita Pinot Grigio 2015 kind of as a joke to start the night off on a lighter note before getting into the other wines we had brought.
we blinded them back to back, I actually got his to make the final call and he got mine. neither of us were right, and the comparisons were hilarious. I stand by my call that wine #2 (2015 SM Pinot Grigio) was decidedly more acidic and had a fuller body than wine #1 (2015 SM Pinot Grigio)
There was a group in Sydney that was invited to taste the current vintage of DRC each year, and at the end of the tasting an older wine would be opened blind, I had recently been on a 83 DRC bender due to buying a case very cheaply so when they blinded a 83 Tache I was all over it. But mostly I am way way off and over think everything
In my biweekly double-blind tasting group, the accepted wisdom is to go with your initial gut instinct. I would speculate that that’s because your sense of smell is a lower brain function – it kicks in before one has a chance to over-analyze.
