Darin brought an enjoyable Argentinean selection that secured second place. Eagle Rock Pinot Noir had a nice nose and was pretty complex considering it's hasty (but tasty) nature.
The lowest score was Australia's Jacob's Creek Merlot which was suprisingly, shockingly, sickly awful! It appeared off color (like my humor) and in bad taste (like my jokes) and showed poorly on all score sheets. This winery purportedly puts out a decent product so maybe it was simply a bad bottle--or was it?
In April, a U.K. Online News service reported: "Fake-obs Creek: Counterfeit wine gives itself away with misspelt label.... and awful taste!" Hundreds of imitation bottles of Jacob’s Creek have been seized bearing copies of the winemakers’ logo. They look identical to the real thing but warned of a tell-tale sign – apparently the wine tastes awful. It is believed to be from China and was of very low quality and substandard taste. ‘Tests indicate the content is not harmful but anyone with doubts concerning the authenticity should not consume it.
This was a terrific event. We conducted the wine contest as close to a double-blind test as possible without bringing in the propellerheads, with each bottle in a separate carafe identifed to it's bottle with matching stickers. We allowed the tasting to commence immediately for first impression scorekeeping while dinner was served and continue for an hour beyond dinner and dessert. Ample time to understand each, proper de-gas, and adjust final scores for each entry. We had a variety represented without restricting vintage, price, or location.
ReplyDeleteFor dinner to compliment such a variety, we served a variety of fresh wild Pacific King Salmon (line caught), Fresh Sea Scallops, and fresh Red Snapper; along with green beans and a curry Koos Koos.