The evenings festivites started out by each participant “christening” their glasses with a bit of sacrafictial wine. Bruce explained that by rolling the wine around and coating the glass, you are cleansing it of any odors or nuance that would interfere with evaluating each wine.
Several ounces of each of the seven wines to be judged were poured into a different glass, then Bruce asked everyone to stand up and take observe the color, clarity and intesity of each wine. #4 and #6 seemed to tie for the win inthis catogory with a beutiful dark blackish hues. #2 & #4 seemed identical to some while #3 & #5 were the lightest in color.
Going on to observe the nose of each wine, judges spoke of the fruit and spice they detected ( or didn’t)in each wine. #1 offering a strong alcohol rated equally as low as #6 which smelt heavy on the oak with a “funky” pungent nose. #5 took the nose catagory with soft notes of marrichino cherry.
The best part of this Cab challenge has to be the palate assessment. Bruce instructed judges to not look for perfection but to see where the wine actually falls on your palate. Does the wine go right across your toungue? Does it sit at the back or float to the sides of your mouth? While wine entry #1 became offensive mid-palete to most, this wine made a good benchmark as to what an unapproachable wine might taste like. #2 was noted as having a full-mouth feel with a bitter berry fruit that held a lot of tannin. #3 had a strong start traveling up to the roof of your mouth right away then ending on the sides. Jugdes stated that #4 seemed flat with not a lot of flavor except for mid-palate. This wine seems to have oxidized rather quickly. The youngest judge on this panel noted #5 as having a velvety viscocity. Multiple flavors such as: cocoa powder and black cherry were detected. The final wine tasted (#6) was said to be steady in veggie flavor and tannins but just didn’t give you that perfect experience. One judge stated, ” It has one note and that is mediacore.”
It was a unanimous vote that #5 was the clear winner, with #4 then #3 as 2nd and 3rd.
Thank you to everyone who participated. We had fun!
Domaine Danica
