Friday October 21, 2011
Hosted by Janet and Matt
We finished the alphabet after tasting almost 100 different Cabernets. I included the final ranking at the bottom of this blog - feel free to skip around! You won't go wrong with any of these wines. They are delicious!
I received some feedback on this blog with a request for prices. I will start adding that information to this and future blogs. Also, I wanted to share a note I received from a local wine store owner after sharing our top ten list with him. He wrote: “I got the Black Stallion 2009 in the store and you won’t believe that everybody likes this 2009. Some of the customers buy by the case. This will be available all the time. That credit goes to you. I am really thankful to you. Looking forward to hearing from you.”
We needed to bring in some expert wine tasters to help us determine which Cabernet Sauvignon of our Top Ten was the BEST. Besides, we really missed our friends and this was a really good excuse to get together for some games, not to mention wine.
For this tasting the bottles were randomly numbered from 1 to 10. At our “normal” tastings I do all of the scribing. For this tasting I created score sheets, and each taster had to write in their comments and scores. Jess and Meg did their tasting on Sunday so the wines had a chance to breathe a lot more.
NOTE: Bob wrote his last name on his score sheet – did he think we wouldn’t know who he was?!?
Bottle #1 Earthquake
Becky: “Smells good. Smooth. Fruity. A little bite on my tongue with the bean dip.”
Bob: “Fresh. Smooth. Lite. Smells good.”
Karen: “Full aroma. Deep color. Dry finish. Berry. Bite at the end. Smoky”
Matt: “Bold. Fruity. Smooth.”
Janet: “Berry. More Merot-y. Smooth.”
Mike: “Smooth. Good color. Velvet finish”
Jess: “Smells darker. A hint of fruit.”
Meg: “Dark color. Good strong flavor.”
Bottle #2 Rodney Strong
Bob: “Bitey. Spice. Not the top.”
Karen: “Light aroma. Peppery. Less dry finish than #1.”
Mike: “Spicy. Lighter color.”
Becky: “More bite than #1. Thinner. Taste on the tongue not in the whole mouth. Good with Buffalo Chicken dip.”
Matt: “Fruity. Young. Musty smell. Light.”
Janet: “Peppery. More cab. Spicy.”
Jess: “Subtle bite. Kick in the mouth. Smells like a vineyard – outside walking in the rain.”
Meg: ”Fresh smell. Kick in after taste.”
Bottle #3 Meridian
Bob: “No smell. Basic. Weird.”
Karen: “Fresh scent. Smooth. Flavorful. Dryness”
Mike: “Smooth.”
Becky: “Vanilla smell. Very light smell. An element of dryness”
Matt: “Bite after taste”
Janaet: “No smell. Smooth”
Jess: “Nice taste. Good with cheese – a 7 with cheese.”
Meg: “Not very aromatic. Good with cheddar.”
Bottle #4 Quickfire
Bob: “Good color. Nice”
Karen: “Deep full aroma. Very long dry finish. Subtle beginning. Not deep in color”
Mike: “Flat. Lighter color.”
Becky: “Nice smell. No bite. Blackberry. A subtle fruit.”
Matt: “Nice smell. Nice, long finish. Muted. Subtle.”
Janet: “Muted. Not good in mouth. Would not buy.”
Jess: “One of the stronger smells. Almost tastes like candy, but not too sweet. Just how I like it.”
Meg: “Just the right amount of sweetness.”
Bottle #5 Estancia
Bob: “Bold. Valumpt?? (couldn’t read Bob’s handwriting). Weak. Tart.”
Karen: “Full aroma. Deep color. No bite. Dry finish. Velvetty. Tart.”
Mike: “Bold. Full body. Red solid color.”
Becky: “Deep color. Velvetty. Full bodied. Initial score was a 9. Second taste was 8.”
Matt: “Bold. Smooth. Dry.”
Janet: “Real cab. Robust.”
Jess: “Fruity smell. Really clear taste. Nice. I like it.”
Meg:” Fruity smell. Good. Not heavy. Pretty good drinking wine.”
Bottle #6 Black Stallion
Bob: “Full. Dry. Dusty.”
Karen: “Deep color. Earthy smell. Very dry. Currant.”
Mike: “Dry. Color good.”
Becky: “Iron. Dry. Makes me thirsty.”
Matt: “Rough. Strong. Alcohol.”
Janet: “Rough. Dry. Pucker. Earthy. Smells like grass. Parched.”
Jess: “Smooth. Fore me after tate is dry.”
Meg: “On the drier side (for me).”
Bottle #7 White Oak
Bob: “Deep. Sharp. Dangerous.”
Karen: “Deep color. Berry aroma. Very blackberry. Dry.”
Becky: ”Deep color. Dry. Fruity but not sweet.”
Matt: “Fruit. Smooth. Nice finish.”
Janet: “Berry, but dry.”
Jess: “I like the smell. Chocolate-y.”
Meg: “Smells really good. Earty. Really good.”
Bottle #8 Ninety Cellars
Bob: “Meaty. Dry.”
Karen: “Deep color. Full aroma. Deep currant. Dry.”
Mike: “Bold color. Good smell.”
Becky: “No bite. Very dry Makes me very thirsty.”
Matt: “Nice smell. Bold color. Metallic finish. Dry finish.”
Janet: “Smells good. Fruity. Drier.”
Jess: “Yummy. Very smooth. Very subtle flavor.”
Meg: “Has some fruitiness to it.”
Bottle #9 337 Lodi
Bob: “Gone.”
Karen: “Deep color. Smells older. Musty. Tart. Crisp apples. Dry first.”
Becky: “Dry finish.”
Matt: “Earthy smell. Smooth.”
Janet: “Musty smell. Tart.”
Jess: “After ataste bolder than initial taste.”
Meg: “A little dry in after taste.”
Bottle #10 Jack Barrett
Bob: “Ewww. Hurts my ears.”
Karen: “Lighter color. Sweet. Metallic. Not dry.”
Becky: “Fruity. metallic.”
Matt: “Sweet. Nice taste.”
Janet: “Fruity. Metallic.”
Jess: “A little dry, but doesn’t make you thirsty. (don’t need to drink Niagara Falls afterwards) Hard to catch the smell on this one.”
Meg:” Very light smell. Lightly dry.”
AND THE WINNERS ARE:
Top 3 wines combining scores for ALL tasters:
First Place: Bottle #7 White Oak
Second Place: Bottle #1 Earthquake
Third Place: Bottle #5 Estancia
Top 3 wines for just the CORE tasters (Bob, Karen, Mike, Becky):
First Place: Bottle #1 Earthquake
Second Place: Bottle #5 Estancia
Third Place: Bottle #8 Ninety Cellars
Top Wine by taster:
Bob: Bottle #1 Earthquake
Karen: Bottle #8 Ninety Cellars
Mike: A 4-way tie between #1 Earthquake, #3 Meridian, #5 Estancia, and #10 Jack Barrett
Becky: Bottle #1 Earthquake
Matt: Bottle #7 White Oak
Janet: Bottle #7 White Oak
Jess: a 3-way tie between Bottle #1 Earthquake, Bottle #4 Quickfire and Bottle #7 White Oak
Meg: A 2-way tie between Bottle #1 Earthquake and Bottle #7 White Oak
After tasting almost ONE HUNDRED wines, the final TOP TEN is as follows (for all tasters):
- White Oak 2007 Napa Valley $23.99
- Earthquake 2008 $28.00
- Estancia 2008 Paso Robles Keyes Canyon Ranches $13.99
- Ninety Cellars 2007 Lot 22 Columbia Valley, WA $11.99
- 337 Lodi 2008 $13.99
- Quickfire Napa Valley 2005 Top Chef Selection $21.99
- Meridian 2008 Napa, CA (big bottle) $14.99
- Jack Barrett Paso Robles 2008 $12.99
- Rodney Strong 2008 Sonoma County $14.99
- Black Stallion 2008 Napa Valley $19.99
The final TOP TEN is as follows (for CORE tasters):
- Earthquake 2008 $28.00
- Estancia 2008 Paso Robles Keyes Canyon Ranches $13.99
- Ninety Cellars 2007 Lot 22 Columbia Valley, WA $11.99
- White Oak 2007 Napa Valley $23.99
- 337 Lodi 2008 $13.99
- Quickfire Napa Valley 2005 Top Chef Selection $21.99
- Meridian 2008 Napa, CA (big bottle) $14.99
- Black Stallion 2008 Napa Valley $19.99
- Jack Barrett Paso Robles 2008 $12.99
- Rodney Strong 2008 Sonoma County $14.99
Ranking by most expensive:
#26 Le Serre Nuove dell Ornellaia 2008 Bolgheri $63.00
#54 Turnbull 2006 $59.99
#85 ZD 2006 Napa Valley $49.99
#69 Whitehall Lane 2007 Napa Valley $45.99
#18 Quinta da Bacalhoa 2005 Portugal $34.99
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