WTN: Cab Franc and Merlot Blind

Very short notes from another blind tasting and lunch at Pepato with Arnie, Johnny, Jojo, Vince and Monty. As is our practice, we open and bag our own wines as we arrive while the restaurant staff marks the bags and randomizes the pouring. There was some discussion about paying for the lunch of whoever brings wine #1 but we decided to keep it friendly this time but maybe in the future we'll make it more competitive. Each of us would only select our top 3 wines.

Wine #1 - Very dark. Smoky at first with some chocolate coming out with time in the glass. Rich. Dry finish. Soft tannins. Good length. New World? My #3 Group #1. Duckhorn 3 Palms Merlot 2001.

Wine #2 - Meaty nose. Medium-bodied. Soft tannins. Rather prominent acidity. Old World? Group #3. Chateau La Fleur de Bouard 2000.

Wine #3 - Slight oakiness. Medium bodied. Caramel. Soft tannins but with good acidity to give it structure. Well-balanced. My #1 Group #2. CedarCreek Platinum Reserve Merlot 2002 British Columbia.

Wine #4 - A little musty but improves later with some overt oakiness. Very soft. Seems hollow. Sweet. Abrupt finish. Lacked structure for me. Tied with the La Fleur de Bouard as Group #3. Pride Cabernet Franc 2005.

Wine #5 - Good fruit on the nose. Young, tannic. Very good but needs time. Jojo thought it was flat, though. My #2 Group #4. My wine. Havens Bourriquot 2002.

Wine #6 - Stinky, fishy, vegetal, soft. Clearly the loser here. Group #5. Pavillon du Chateau La Croix Figeac 2000 St. Emilion Grand Cru.

Well, that's twice in a row Monty won first place - last week with Reserve de la Comtesse 1996 and this time with Duckhorn. We're thinking of doing Rhone, Syrah or Burgundy next time.

We finished with some dessert wine:

Ganton and Larsen Prospect Winery The Lost Bars Vidal Ice Wine 2006 - Oily, peach and gentle lychee. Sort of like subdued Gewurztraminer. Very good.

Jay,

A minor correction - my Pride Cab Franc tied for THIRD with the La Fleur de Bouard, not for second place with the CedarCreek Platinum Merlot.

BTW according to Vince who brought the wine from BC Canada, its important not to have a space between Cedar and Creek as apparently there's another Canadian wine named Cedar Creek or something like that.

Thanks. Noted and corrected.

Thanks for the notes, sounds like fun. I love blind tastings.

[Jenise]

To my tastes, the Three Palms vineyard produces the best merlot in Napa Valley. Not surprised that the Duckhorn (Sterling also makes wine from this vineyard, or used to, which has also been impressive even in times where other Sterling wines weren't) made such a good impression. Always so impressed with the range of wines you get, Jay.