Blind Tasting with a "twist"

As a Sommelier, I have done numerous blind tastings. Usually we are given a number of different wines, and asked to evaluate the appearance, aroma and taste. Sometimes, we'll have different grape varieties, and other times, they will be wines from the same vintage and grape, but different regions. But, if you were given a blind tasting, could you tell the difference between a low priced box wine, and a higher priced Napa Cabernet Sauvignon?

This was the scenario at a recent wine tasting for the Arrowhead Wine Enthusiasts Club. I had told the participants that they would be tasting all wines from California. I gave them a tasting sheet, with the typical characteristics that would be found in the wines they were tasting. Next to each characteristic were four columns for each of the wines. They were asked to evaluate each wine for appearance, nose, palate, and then their final conclusions.

Some of our wine club members are not red wine drinkers, so I had a nice bottle of Heitz 2010 Napa Valley Chardonnay. Suggested retail on this bottle is $21.000, but I picked it up for $15.99 at Total Wine (all the wines for the tasting were purchased at Total Wine, which has a pretty good domestic selection). This Chardonnay had a nice balance of oak and creaminess (not over the top on either). A good balance of acidity, and fresh fruit, particularly pear and apple.

When it came to the actual blind tasting, I put the wines in carafes. The challenge was to not give away what the tasting was about. Everyone knows that at my tastings, I organize my wines from fruit/sweet to aged/dry (left to right). I couldn't do that with this tasting, so I randomly put the numbered carafes on the tasting table, and let the tasters try the wines in what ever order they preferred.

Before giving any results away, I will tell you that one wine stood out with most tasters, before they even had tried it. This wine looked much lighter than the other three. Other than that, all the wines had a nice ruby color them. All wines were Cabernet Sauvignon, from California. I had purchased wines that represented the ever more specific AVA's of California. I started with a California Cab, then went to a North Coast Cab, then a Napa Valley Cab, and finally a Stags Leap Cab (think about that Russian nesting doll with ever smaller dolls inside, and you can picture how each wine got more specific - see my article on AVA's).

The wines tasted were as follows. I have included the tasting notes, or comments from the participants:

Black Box 2009 California Cabernet Sauvignon. Cost was $14.99 for a 3.0 litre box (equivalent of four bottles). This was the wine that stood out as lighter in appearance. There was limited oak, and tannin in the wine. Some aromas of red berries, but very subdued. The finish was fairly short. Out of forty tasters, two preferred this wine as their favorite.

Cartiledge & Browne North Coast 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. Cost was $9.99 for a standard bottle. this wine had a synthetic cork. The grapes for this wine were sourced from all over the North Coast AVA, and contained a small amount of Merlot in the blend. This wine had medium oak and tannin, and tasted more like a California Cabernet than the first wine. There were more fruit notes of red berries and black currants, and some additional notes of tobacco. I nice balance of acidity and alcohol. Once revealed, this was was determined to be the best value of the night.

Sequoia Grove 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Cost was $28.99 for a standard bottle. Natural cork stopper. This wine was darker in color than any of the other three wines. The wine had black currant, red cherry, a bit of pepper, cedar aromas, and smoke. There was also a bit of minerality, that reminds one of "Rutherford dust" . This was full bodied, with medium (+) tannins. A lot of structure, and a long finish. This was the overall favorite of the night (at any price), but the two that loved the Black Box, didn't like this wine at all.

Martin Ray 2007 Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon. Cost was $39.99. Unfortunately, one of the three bottles we opened was corked. The wine (while the oldest vintage) was still very tight and closed. It took a lot of air to open the wine, and expose the black berries and plum that eventually came out. The tannins were firm, and there was a lot of oak present in the nose, and finish on the palate. There were mixed reviews on this wine, but in fairness, the wine would benefit from more bottle aging, or opening up about three hours in advance of drinking.

Overall, the blind tasting was an interesting experiment. As I pointed out, there was no "right" or "wrong" in how the tasters evaluated each of the wines. For those that loved the Black Box, they now know that they don't need to spend a lot of money on a bottle of wine, to be satisfied. Many also discovered that there are decent wines out there for around $10. In general, the more specific the AVA, the more characteristics the tasters were able to identify.

Napa Valley

This week my wine club will be doing a tasting of Napa Valley wines. The challenge was to find quality wines, that represent the growing region, at a price of around $20. While looking through the crates of wine at one of my favorite wine shops, I couldn't help but notice the average price wines from this region. While I was able to find five excellent examples at an average price of $21 (including tax)...the overall average of the wines on the shelf had to have been around $50.  Heck, I have a few bottles of Screaming Eagle that are now retailing for well over $1,000/bottle. This got me thinking: how did Napa get to where it is now?

Most of us can't remember a time when Napa Valley wasn't even a blip on the world radar of wine, but the current status of Napa only goes back to the 1970's. How many of you saw the movie "Bottleshock"? This is a great representation of the 1976 judgement in Paris, where the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, and the 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, beat the venerable French.

Napa is a Native American word (from the Wappo Indians) that is roughly translated as "land of plenty". According to A History of Wine in America, by Thomas Pinney, the first vines planted in Napa actually came from the Sonoma Mission, and were planted by George Yount in 1838 (in what is now Yountville). Vines were later planted in what was to become St. Helena. The first commercial winery in Napa Valley is credited to Charles Krug (a Prussian immigrant) in 1861, and by 1889 there were more than 140 wineries in operation, including Schramsberg (1862), Beringer (1876) and Inglenook (1879).

The onset of Prohibition (the Volstead Act) from 1920 to 1933, devastated the wineries of Napa Valley. Those that did survive shipped unfermented juice to home winemakers (home winemaking for personal use was allowed), or produced sacramental wine. Jump ahead to 1943, and the purchase of Charles Krug by Robert Mondavi, for $75,000, and you'll see the beginning of the Napa Valley that was to come. In her book, The House of Mondavi, by Julia Flynn Siler, the Napa of the 1960's is described as, "prunes were still the primary crop, and St. Helena's schools sometimes closed during those years to allow children to help out with harvest. The town's population was just a few thousand people." Robert Mondavi was one of the forces behind quality dry wine (prior to this most wines from Napa were jug wine, and fairly sweet, when he broke away from the family winery of Charles Krug, and opened Mondavi Estate. Thus began the "boutique" winery, and the perfection of what Napa could offer. Today, there are more than 400 wineries in Napa.

Map Courtesy of Napa Valley Vintners
The Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) that is only 30 miles from north to south, and 5 miles wide. Within the Napa Valley AVA or appellation there are 15 sub-appellations, including: Atlas Peak (volcanic soils), Calistoga, Chiles Valley District, Diamond Mountain District, Howell Mountain (tannic wines from the higher altitude), Los Carneros, Mt. Veeder, Oak Knoll District, Oakville (concentrated fruit), Rutherford (distinctive minerality and "Rutherford dust"), St. Helena, Spring Mountain District, Stags Leap District (wines with herbal notes), Yountville, Wild Horse Valley.

They say there is always one wine that gives you that "aha" moment. That point when you say, "I never knew wine could be this good" For me, that started with Napa Valley. My brother-in-law worked for Mondavi, and I worked for Nestle (owner of WineWorld: Beringer, Meridian, Chateau Souverain). I was living in Utah, where good wine was a bit hard to come by. Family visits from California, kept us stocked on good wine. After seven years in Utah, Nestle moved us to San Francisco, and I was only 45 minutes from Napa. My "aha" moment was during my last week with Nestle. I was at the Stanford Court Hotel (Fournou's Oven restaurant) at the top of Nob Hill, at a dinner with our good friends Nick and Karen Burcher. I ordered the most expensive bottle I had ever ordered, a 1978 Heitz Marthas Vineyard Cabernet. The way the wine worked with the smoked prime rib was eye-opening. Since that time, I have experienced many great bottles, and am always seeking more.

This Friday, our wine club will be trying five wines (four from Napa). Check our website (www.ArrowheadWineClub.com) for the feedback on those wines by going to "Jim's Tasting Room". And, please share your "ah ha" moment, by leaving a comment below.