With the holidays drawing near, our wine group decided to use our monthly tasting to sort out wines that we could serve to the hordes of family and friends that we would be sharing our time with. The idea was to find good QPR wines that we would be able to enjoy and still not worry if Aunt Matilda decided to throw in a splash of Sprite. We kept the majority of the wines around $20 and tasted them semi-blind (wrapped in paper with only the varietal written on the outside) in flights of three. Tasting notes include tasting observations from last night and again today. The price is the net bottle cost (including any discounts) and the score is my own. Hampered by a cold, here are my notes:

Flight #1
2002 Neil Ellis Sauvignon Blanc ($13)- pale straw in color it had mineral, pear and apple on the nose. Nice acid balance in the mouth with grapefruit and crisp apple that shut down way too soon. MS – 86
2000 Trimbach Reserve Pinot Gris ($12) – petrol on the nose with a good deal of honey and melon flavors and an unusually long finish. Good effort which we agreed might not be ideal for the occasional wine drinker. MS – 89
2000 Chateau Souverain Chardonnay ($17) – after the other two wines, the oak from this chard was a bit overwhelming. Definitely not a wine I would suggest to accompany food as the oak overpowered the pear flavors leaving me with a sweet woodsy vanilla flavor (not something I personally like). MS – 85

Flight#2
2000 Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot ($44) – bending the rules a bit, this textbook merlot exhibited classic cedar and cherry on the nose with a burst of dark cherry and blackberry flavors pushed along by plenty of tannins. This wine tasted even better the next day revealing some chocolate flavors suggesting it will benefit from a couple of years of quiet time. MS – 93
1998 La Cuvee Mythique ($13) – a blend of Syrah (35%), Mourvedre (30%), Grenache(20%) and Carignan (15%) this somewhat odd wine had a very sweet, cotton-candy nose that was completely out of balance with its tobacco laced flavors. Left us all scratching out heads. MS – 83
1996 Bodegas y Vinedos Alion ($26) – A Spanish gem that was probably the find of the night. Intense concentration that offered up cassis, plum and anise in a well structured package. The only problem with owning a case of this wine would be keeping your mitts off of it until it develops even further. MS – 92

Flight #3
1999 Catena Malbec ($19) – Very nice wine that had just enough tannins to support the straightforward cherry flavors. Nice party wine. MS – 87
2000 Clos du Caillou Cotes du Rhone ($13) – Disappointing wine with little to no evident aroma and muted flavors of smoke and cherry. MS – 84
1999 Longwood Shiraz ($21) – Huge extracted McLaren Vale Shiraz with cherry and black pepper balanced by interwoven tannins. Tasted even better the second day. I believe WS (85) missed the boat on this one. MS – 90

Flight #4
1997 Gallo Frei Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon ($20) – Dusty cassis and ribena nose that had me fooled into thinking this was of Rutherford origin. A great deal of tannins framed ripe cherry and cassis flavors with some vegetal notes (sage?). Excellent QPR and a great match for the steak sandwich’s we had from Clery’s. MS – 90.
1998 Clarendon Cabernet Sauvignon ($20) – More restrained than the Gallo with blackberry and cherry flavors that needed a bit more tannic oomph to make it better. Still, a good quality cabernet. MS – 88.
2000 Ridge Sonoma State Zinfandel ($20) – A blend of Zin (75%), Petite Sirah (16%) and Carignane (95) that had me searching for a piece of toast to spread it onto. Smelled like strawberry jam with an avalanche of raspberry, strawberry, and tart cherry flavors coming through. Not exactly my style of wine but its flavors and 16% ABV would even put Ebenezer into the holiday spirit. MS – 86

After Event “Sticky” –
2001 Margan Botrytus Semillon ($18/375ml)– Golden honey hue that showed plenty of citrus and melon aromas with fig, apricot and honey flavors that were kept in check by a great acid balance. Very nice. MS – 91.

In summary, the tasting was a success leaving everyone with some ideas for their holiday parties. Thanks again to everyone including F40 for the gifts, decanter for including us in on his tartar/wine staining experiment(!) and everyone for the good wine and great times.

Boston, thanks for posting. I was wondering if anyone took notes good enough to post. I looked at my notes today and they are pretty much weak to non-existent. However, since the tasting is still fresh in my mind here are my thoughts:

Flight #1
Switch the scores for the Trimbach and Souverain and you roughly have my scores.

Flight #2
Agree on all three. The Alion was also my WOTN when taking QPR into consideration.

Flight #3
I liked the Catena much better than you did, around a 90 score. Regarding the Clos du Caillou, I think it was a slightly off bottle. We all agreed that something was missing in the nose and two of us who had it before vouched that it is a much better wine than the one we opened. The other bottles I have had would score 90-91.

Flight #4
The Gallo was my other WOTN taking QPR into consideration.

Finally, I'm sure that some people may be shaking their heads after looking at the hodge-podge list of wines. We did this on purpose as part of our holiday wine search and that fact that we have not done this before as a group. We thought it would be fun and educational and it was. I don't recommend this format all the time since it can make tasting the wines difficult but to do it once in awhile can be fun.

Sorry I missed the holiday smorgasboard. We seemed to have determined that steak sandwiches from Clery's are the perfect food for late night wine tastings. See you all on the 7th for round #2 of the holiday theme!

Decanter / Rigga,

I feel like I just caught my wife in bed with another tasting goup.....ahhh man I mean! Does anyone want to share a ride to the tasting on the 7th? We can smoke cigars on the way down. See you guys on the 7th. If anyone is up for pulling a few corks before then let me know.