Last night I grabbed a few friends and headed out for a simple meal, wine, and a few laughs. I told the group I'd handle the wine. I walked in with a box loaded with brown bagged wines and informed them we'd be doing a blind tasting of similar wines.
Flight one: Cabernet Sauvignon.
Wine 1A- Light in color showing very little on the nose. No varietal character to speak of. Overly sweet in the mouth with a short finish. Nothing seriously flawed but absolutely nothing to make me want a second sip.
Wine 1B-Distinctive cabernet nose of currants. Not overpowering, not unpleasant. I have to say that on it's own I wouldn't have given this wine a second look, but compared to wine 1A this was Chateau Latour.
Flight two: Merlot
Wine 2A-Light in color showing very little on the nose. No varietal character to speak of. Overly sweet in the mouth with a short finish. Nothing seriously flawed but absolutely nothing to make me want a second sip.
Wine 2B-Very solid plummy nose. Balanced but simple. A nice wine.
Flight three: Syrah(Shiraz)
Wine 3A- Now we're talking. Spice and black fruits soar from the glass. A very complex, big wine without any sense of heavyness. Nicely balanced with a peppery finish. Wine of the night for everyone at the table. Paired well with Salmon Oreganata.
Wine 3B-Light in color showing very little on the nose. No varietal character to speak of. Overly sweet in the mouth with a short finish. Nothing seriously flawed but absolutely nothing to make me want a second sip.
Wines 1A, 2A, and 3B were all the Charles Shaw labels. $2.99
Wine 1B-Stephen Kent Cabernet Sauvignon 1998. $60 (What a sin)
Wine 2B-Falesco Merlot Umbria, Italy. $13
Wine 3A-Summerfield Shiraz Classic-Victoria, Australia. $20 on closeout and worth every penny.
I live close to a Trader Joe's and in the hundreds of times I've shopped there have never tried any of their wines. The labels they carry that I know are more expensive than I've seen elsewhere so I just don't bother.
The Charles Shaw wines were all similar. Quite monolithic with no defining character. In their defense they are not unpleasant to drink and at the $2.99 price point I can see why they sell well. They also serve an important purpose in the marketplace as I assume people who hadn't had reason to try wine would do so if the cost of entry is so low. I guess the only true measure would be to compare this to jug wine or bag-in-the-box in a blind tasting to see what wins. If anyone has a masochistic streak please write me and send the notes. My tongue still isn't speaking to me today. I'm gonna have to break into the good stuff tonight to make up for what my palate went through last night. How's that for dedication?
PS-I'm working on pushing out notification via email. Please hang in there as I try to locate a 12 year old kid to show me how!
Later
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1 comment:
I live in the city, and Trader Joe's sometimes has great prices on wine. The best thing I got was a double magnum of Amarone (Conte di Bregonzo) for 30 bucks! Crazy. Not the greatest Amarone I've ever had, but at that price it didn't have to be.
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