Tonight I have a buddy!

My husband is off work tonight, so I decided to share my wine with him while I do my new tasting. We have the previous Alamos Malbec, Rex Goliath Pinot Noir, and boxed Merlot along with a boxed Cabernet Sauvignon which I have not yet tried.

First I must mention that I recently read a book which I really enjoyed: "Swallow This" by Mark Phillips. One of the things I learned from it is that I may not be getting these bottled wines at their best for these tasting flights. Apparently wine can become "off" in just a few days after uncorking. Well, to be honest, I've never noticed this. Sure, after a few weeks or certainly months an opened bottle of wine will go bad. But just a few days? I'm not too worried about it.

So let's start with the Cab, since it's new to me. It smells a little bit green and has a somewhat tart taste (which I guess I'm supposed to call acidic). Hud thinks it tastes watered down and bland, but I'm not getting that at all. It's not bad. I'd buy it again.

The Merlot kind of smells like vanilla, but not like a cupcake or anything. It's a little more sour than the Cab. Hud says it tastes more dry and tart. I'm not really noticing that it is any more dry than the others. It has a slightly different flavor from the Cab, but I think they're about equal.

OK, maybe the Malbec has turned by now. There was a lot of sediment in the bottom of the bottle and it tastes a little odd. Maybe it's unfair to compare it to the others, because I'm afraid it's been exposed to air for too long and it's not at its best. Hud says it tastes less tart, but at this point I'm not sure how valuable his opinion is. It does taste a little weird, though.

The Pinot Noir is kind of bland. I can smell grapes (imagine that!) and it tastes like beer. Hud thinks it would be better with a little Jack Daniels in it. Of course, Hud thinks just about everything would be better with a little Jack Daniels in it. I didn't try that.

Hud's final prouncement was, "I don't know. They all taste like crap." I don't know what's wrong with him, because I say they're all pretty good. My least favorite is the Rex Goliath, but even that is decent. I think next time I'll just keep my wine to myself. No sense in wasting it on someone who doesn't appreciate it!

Heaven on Earth!

Today my definition of joy is being home alone with five different kinds of wine. I finally have time to do the new taste test I've been itching for. I am so happy that, not only am I showing you my own sorry attempt at photography, but I am also allowing you to see that I drink my wine out of water goblets. (Gasp!)

The five contenders are my four most recent acquisitions previously blogged about (Forest Glen White Merlot, Sebeka Cabernet Pinotage, Le Grand Pinot Noir, Blackstone Cabernet Sauvignon), and Franzia Merlot in a box. (Yes, in a box, but I have an excuse. I always keep some sort of boxed wine on hand just to make sure I don't run out. These things are necessary when you live in a dry county and you have to drive to Arkansas to restock).

That's the White Merlot in the foreground, of course, and then the other four are rather indistinguishable from each other in the picture. The boxed Merlot is not quite as inky as the other three, and the Cabernet Sauvignon is maybe slightly more purplish, but I really don't think there's any way I could tell the true reds apart by just by looking at them. OK, truth be told, I probably couldn't tell them apart by tasting them, either. I'm not that good (yet. But I'll keep working on it).

The White Merlot is definitely the lightest and sweetest of the bunch. No surprise there. The boxed Merlot is not quite as sweet as the white, but is a little plain compared to the other three. Unfortunately, I can smell nail-polish remover in the Cabernet Pinotage (just like wikipedia warned me), though it is faint. Odd that I didn't catch this scent previously. Even more odd is that I still like the taste. I mean, it's nothing like what I imagine drinking nail-polish remover would be like.

The Blackstone Cabernet Sauvignon has the most unique bouquet of the five, and I am trying to put my thumb on what I'm smelling, but I'm having no luck. I called it green banana before, and I guess that's the closest I can manage this time too. I think the Pinot Noir smells the most fruity, the Cabernet Pinotage has a tangy whiff, the Cabernet Sauvignon smells heavy and somehow bright, and the boxed merlot kind of reminds me of smoky barbecue or Worcestershire sauce . . . ? Oh, and by the way, yes I DO realize I am comparing what amounts to apples, oranges, peaches and carrots. But I see no problem in this, since I am trying to decide what I like best.

The White Merlot kind of seems to have a beer-y aftertaste. This may be because it is better straight from the fridge (and I have allowed it to sit out and breathe just as long as the true reds for this taste test). I may make this my summer wine, for a chilled drink, but for the purposes of this taste test, it just does not stand up to the other four. So White Merlot is low man on the totem pole this time around.

The Pinot Noir is a very pleasant wine. The Cabernet Sauvignon has a nice zippy feel to its finish. The Cabernet Pinotage has a really good flavor. Even the boxed Merlot is nice. I can't decide which one I like best! Fortunately for me, I don't have to.

Time for another experiment!

This time it's a Malbec, the Lindemans Pinot Noir, and a boxed Merlot. The Malbec is a Don Miguel Gascon 2008 from Argentina's Mendoza wine region. I did another blind taste test and here is what I found:

First, I was not able to guess which wine was which. I had never tasted the Malbec before, but I got it and the Pinot Noir mixed up. (That means I guessed the Merlot correctly, though!) All three wines were very similar in color, with the Malbec perhaps a slightly more purplish dark red. The nose varied very slightly between the three, though I liked the smell of the Malbec the best--it almost had a hint of vanilla and nutmeg hiding in it. I had trouble describing the smell of the Merlot; all I could come up with was buttery garlic, but that's not quite right. The Pinot smelled somewhat sour (but not in a bad way), with a strong smell of alcohol, and a greenish, almost asparagus-like odor. All three wines had a very smooth taste and for some reason even seemed almost bland to me, which is odd because I normally think of Pinot Noirs as quite spicy. The most interesting flavor I noticed was that the Malbec had a distinctly tea-like taste, which is all the more odd because I originally found this Pinot Noir to have a tea flavor but I didn't notice that at all this time around.

No clear winner in this round. (Unless it's me!) All three wines get two enthusiastic thumbs up.

An Experiment

I have four kinds of red wine in the house right now: A box of Chianti, a bottle of 2007 Ruffino Chianti, the Crane Lake Merlot I've been working on, and my prized bottle of Vino Nobile. I decided to try a little experiment tonight: a taste test. I tried to do a blind test by myself, by numbering the bottom of each glass and then switching them around like a shell game. I first assessed the color of each wine, then the nose, and ended with multiple taste tests. 

The first glass was a clear garnet wine which smelled fresh, clear, bright and green. My first thought on tasting it: "This is GOOD!" I was pretty sure it wasn't the Vino Nobile; this one, to me, seemed to have a sharp finish as opposed to the smoothness of the Nobile. It was spicy, not dry, and went down easy. My guess was the Ruffino Chianti.

The second glass was a clear garnet wine with a heavy, soft smell, almost of sour cream or vanilla; of the four wines, this one smelled the most different. The wine seemed thick as I swirled it. Right away I was thinking Vino Nobile, because I remember it being heavy and velvety. It tasted smooth, velvety, soft and buttery, with low acid.

The third glass was a clear purplish-red. This was a pretty good clue to me that this was the Merlot, as it was the only one of the four that looked different. It smelled very much like alcohol, with perhaps a faint cherry smell. I thought the taste was the worst of the four; it was tart, and it made me make a face when I drank it.

The fourth glass was a clear garnet and smelled like some sort of nut; perphaps hazelnut. Next to the Merlot, this had the worst taste. It was perhaps the most dry of the four (it certainly left my mouth with a strange dry feeling) and it had a bad aftertaste, almost sour. My guess was that this was the boxed Chianti.

Well, I was correct about the first glass (Ruffino Chianti--good!!) and the third glass (Merlot--no reason to bother buying this one again). But, surprise surprise! I mixed up the boxed Chianti and the Vino Nobile!! I can't believe I loved the Vino Nobile so much when I tried it in Montepulciano, but I didn't even like it compared to Chianti in a box!! I guess that answers my question about whether I want to spend a bunch of money getting some Vino Nobile shipped to me (Um, no). An eye-opener! 

Crane Lake Merlot 2007 California

Another Crane Lake El Cheapo. Here's how they describe it: "A medium-bodied, round wine with classic black currant and plum fruit flavors on the palate and a smooth finish." Well, that description makes it sound really good, but after my previous Crane Lake experience, I was rather leery. 

But good news! I like it!! Surprising, after the other bottle of Crane Lake. I have a hard time tasting the black currant and plum (I would have called it cherry... but maybe that is just because I ate a bunch of cherries today and they're on my mind). So, this may not be the best wine I've ever had (Vino Nobile still holds that title for me) but for $3.99, not bad! And it was really good with a square of Choxie dark chocolate espresso bar. Mmmmmm. It doesn't get much better than this!