“Deep color, very long legs…an impressive, but approachable red.”
On Saturday, July 23, 2005, a collection of twelve friends gathered in our front room for a Mystery Wine Tasting. The group included an insurance agent/Packer’s fan; an Apple computer geek who recently relocated from Chicago; a Wi-Fi freak from Florida whom I love dearly; a web developer from Aloha; a second year internal medicine resident doctor at OHSU; a marketing diva who prefers Chardonnay; a social worker who prefers vodka; an expert on mobile phone technology; a nurse from Okalahoma; a legal assistant that raises Arabian horses in Estacada; and of course, myself, the event planner. We also had a former sommelier that has since transitioned into the role of a physical therapist and moved to wine country. Combined, our palates have experienced more delicious wine under twenty bucks than Robert Parker can shake a vine at.
At any rate, the rule was simple: Bring a disguised bottle of red wine from Oregon.
Each bottle was opened and anonymously placed inside a black sock for the blind tasting. Score sheets rated the wine’s appearance, aroma, taste/body, and finish. Each category had the potential to score 5 points, with an overall 20 possible points per bottle, or 240 combined points from the group. The selections featured wines that cost between $10 and $37. The final ranking was as follows:
(Total Points out of 240), % to perfection, Average Overall Score
1- 2002 "Coup d' Etat Blend"
Andrew Rich
(213), 88.75%, 17.75
2- 2003 Cabernet
Eola Hills
(200), 83.33%, 16.67
3- 2002 Pinot Noir
Lemelson
(198), 82.50%, 16.50
4- 2002 Cabernet
Edgefield
(194), 80.83%, 16.17
5- 2004 Pinot Noir
Erath* (Second bottle)
(171), 71.25%, 14.25
6- 2003 "M" Meditrina Blend
Sokol Blosser Winery
(170), 70.83%, 14.17
7- 2003 Pinot Noir
Chateau Benoit
(168), 70.00%, 14.00
8- 2004 Pinot Noir
Erath* (First bottle)
(165), 68.75%, 13.75
9- 2002 Nuthouse Pinot Noir
Argyle
(163), 67.92%, 13.58
10- 2002 Pinot Noir
J.K. Carriere
(153), 63.75%, 12.75
11- 2002 Pinot Noir
Stone Wolf
(142), 59.17%, 11.83
12- 2003 Pinot Noir
Cooper Mountain Vineyard
(128), 53.33%, 10.67
*Sometimes, life throws you curve balls. Coincidently, we tasted Erath’s 2002 Pinot Noir twice. Not only did we taste the same bottle twice, we tasted them next to each other. It is quite fascinating that this happened in the first place, not to mention that there was a fair difference in the score.
Overall, I learned the following:
- No two bottles of wine are ever exactly a like.
- Food greatly influences the taste of wine.
- Pinots have a tough sell against thicker, more beefy wines.
- High prices don’t always mean better wine.
- Everything is relative.
I hope you’ll enjoy the following short summary of each wine in the order it was tasted. Keep in mind that we had no idea what we were drinking.
Cheers!
p.s.
June’s Wine Spectator has an article entitled “Oregon Pinots Push the Envelope,” on page 78. At the end of the article Harvey Steiman highlights some favorite local wines from Oregon.I was delighted to find that four of our selected wines fell within his words.
