tiny wine blog: Tasting Blind
The fun of being blind
If you have a local wine retailer that you like and/or trust, it's always fun to ask them to put together a mixed case of wine for you. You can always give them a theme or tell them what you normally drink and like and they can work within those guidelines.
Or tell them nothing and see what happens.
It's a great way to discover wines that you may have never tried or thought you didn't like or whatnot.
Feeling uber geeky? Then have your friendly retailer put together a case with the bottles wrapped in paper so you can taste them blind. A while ago I was down in Tribeca at Frankly Wines and requested the following:
Four bottles. Wrapped in paper. Representative of the region/grape that they are from.
Sidenote: Case? You were just thinking, "Didn't he say a case? Four bottles is not a case." Yes, but four bottles are the amount I willing to carry. Anything more, my arms fall off.
Results of Blind Tasting 2008 - Episode One
Wine #1: Cahors (Grape: Malbec. France)
As I mentioned in my last post, Malbec is my nemesis in that my brain doesn't seem to ever notice it. I think I may be Malbec-intolerant.
Mrs. Robot (aka my wife) opens and pours us glasses.
We stare at it for a few seconds.
I say, "It sure is dark."
She says, "It looks like a Malbec".
WTF. She nails it by the color?
I eventually agreed with her, after smelling it. Tasting it. Fretting over it.
Wine #2: Oregon Pinot Noir
It was obviously Pinot Noir. Not very dark. Red fruit. Low tannins.
I haven't had a ton of Oregon wine, at least not recently. I think I guessed "new world Pinot Noir", which is a very broad answer.
In hindsight, I should have nailed this one as it was obviously not California since they like to add extra color to theirs. It wasn't New Zealand as those seem to be way more aromatic. Australia? Nope.
Wine #3: Sancerre (Grape: Sauvignon Blanc. France)
I said Pouilly Fume. That is the village across the river from Sancerre and tends to be a bit riper tasting. D'oh.
Wine #4: Brouilly (Grape: Gamay. Beaujolais - France)
This wine, right out of the bottle was tricky in that there was nothing. The nose was non-existant. The flavors were so subdued.
Mrs. Robot kept asking me, "What do you think this is?" and I just threw up my arms and continued eating dinner.
I think this wine needed to breathe because after dinner those odd little aromas began to peek out… super fresh red fruit. Light floral.
Hello! Gamay!
(I was just checking that I spelled Brouilly correctly (I hadn't) and found an article where the first sentence is: "It is preferable to uncork bottles some time before serving the wine.")
