Parlor trickery, pointless exercise, or learning opportunity, call it what you will. When you have no idea what a wine is or could be (call it double blind) and all you have are the sips infront of you, there’s not much room for wine snobbery. One order of Humility, super size. Perhaps an acquired taste.
All wines tasted in pairs of the same variety or blends, with the initial objective of identification:
2008 Ravines Dry Rielsing, NY
Dry, in a major way. Beeswax with some mild detergent. There’s a green, as in slightly under-ripe, green apple tartness. Lots of acidity.
2006 Hexamer Kabinett Riesling, Nahe
Petrol with underlying nectarine and peach. Partially sweet but supported by a fair bit of acidity. Not much in the minerality department.
This pair could possibly have been Chenin, but Riesling seemed most likely. Once committed, I correctly guessed the NY origin of the first wine due to a lack of minerality with the acidity, combined with the greener notes. Also made a knee jerk petrol = German guess.
2004 Chateau Les Grands Chenes “Bernard Magrez”, Medoc
Quite red fruited with no shortage of oak. Modern styled. There was a somewhat bitter midpalate extending in to the finish. Moderate length. Decent acidity. Still on the youngish side.
2004 Chateau Grand Destieu, St. Emilion
Wood char and again some bitter notes. Relatively tarry with darker fruit than the Grands Chenes. It smoothed out a bit with air. Some rubbing tannins. Good acidity
The tarry, bitterness and some of the red fruit character had me thinking Piedmont, possibly a Langhe Nebbiolo. I also vascillated about Cab Franc. Wasn’t particularly tempted to guess Bordeaux or a Merlot dominated blend. Despite consuming an 04 Grands Chenes a couple months ago, there wasn’t any neural connection. Homework assignment: taste a lot more right bank wines (young and old).
2003 Nalle Zinfandel, Sonoma
Lots of red cherry fruit. Touch of cedar, very similar in flavor to the next wine with a smidge more ripeness. Very mild spice. No oak. No heat. Good acidity. Slightly more aged. Decent length. Engaging and likeable.
2004 Nalle Zinfandel, Sonoma
Almost a copy of the 03 but a bit fresher and more youthful. No oak. No heat. Tasty.
This pair had me leaning old world and a guess of QPR Sangiovese. Pinot Noir was in the realm of possibility for 15 - 30 seconds. Given 20 more guesses, I doubt that one of them would be Zin. Especially humbling is the fact that I’ve had both these wines before and visited the winery. Tricky in that they were born and raised at the extreme edge of the Zin world, not to mention in a style I wish a lot more producers would copy.
2002 Christopher Creek Syrah Reserve, Sonoma
There’s a certain Syrah herbaceousness and viscosity that serves as a tell, IMHO, and here it was. The weight and density were right, although no tobacco or leather. No overt oak. Quite red fruited. Good brightness. Integrated. I was fairly certain this was old world from the controlled style and acidity.
2003 Paul Jaboulet Aine Domaine Thalabert Crozes-Hermitage
So ripe, rich thick chewy, darker fruited. There was a weird Sardine tin thing initially. Lots of blackberry and blueberry. This could’ve been Australian or ripe Cali…but French? 03 vintage in play.
2 for 4.
2001 Muga Reserva Rioja, Spain
Red fruit with darker undertones with noticeable but fairly controlled oak. Mild cigar box elements. Fairly international. Good brightness, integration and length. Quite nice.
2001 Sierra Cantabria Cuvee Especial Rioja, Especial
Mild mint and darker than the Muga with somewhat more prominent oak. Mild bitterness. Fair acidity and decent length. Ripe but certainly not overly so.
First question was age, to which I guessed 01 or 02. The oak, fruit and overall style prompted my guess of controlled ripeness Cali Cab. Swing batter, batter, batter.
2009 Damilano Barbera D’Asti
The redder side of Barbera. Mild tar. Easy on the oak, decent acid. Somewhat innocuous to start but it opened a bit in to a pleasant drink. Modern.
2009 Shannon Ridge Terre Vermielle Barbera
Take 750 mls of young generic unoaked purple-red jug juice, add a 1oz shot (or more) of artificial vanilla, mix and serve. God-awful.
A guess of Cab Sauv or something like it. For an excuse, I blamed the guess on the Shannon Ridge nonsense. Neither had much resemblance to a couple of recent examples (G. Mascarello, Bera Ronco Malo).
2 for 6 overall. 0.333, not bad for baseball if you don’t know which pitch is next. Lots of learning to do.
RT