Last Friday 13th the Usual Suspects converged on Elbert's Steak Room to see who could bring the best wine to pair with Elbert's burger. There was no preliminary white wine as is usually our custom so we got down to business immediately. Wines were served double blind. As usual we rank our top 3 with 3 points for wine #1 etc. Most points wins. In case of a tie, the cheaper wine wins. Loser pays for winner's lunch.
Wine A - Sweet, ripe nose. Well-balanced. Bright acidity. Smoky finish. Good wine but didn't do anything for my burger. Antinori Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Riserva 2004. No vote from me. Group #6
Wine B - Sweet, New Worldy oak. Very sweet cherry but still well-balanced. A little cough syrup. For me, really the only wine with the stuffing to stand up to the burger. There was some discussion just before we got down to business about what we really like to drink with burgers and what came out were Coke, rootbeer and milkshake. I guess this wine was the closest thing we had to all three. My #1. Group #5. Orrin Swift "The Prisoner" Zinfandel 2006. I think I tried this with Chinese food about a year back and didn't like it. It worked very well with the burger, though.
Wine C - Lovely nose. Blueberry jam. Meaty and dry. Rhone-like dry herbs. This has the weight to take on the burger but the flavor is a little subdued. My #3. Tied with Wine F as group #2 (for points) but since this wine was more expensive, it was demoted to 3rd place. My wine. Descendientes de Jose Palacios Bierzo Moncerbal 2003. Made from the Mencia grape. There was a bit of this wine left over which I took home and drank 2 days later. Still pretty much the same notes but the Rhone character was much stronger.
Wine D - Sweet nose and fruit. Still has a bit of tannin. Dried herbs. Very good with the burger. My #2. Group #1 by a landslide with 17 points. Only one did not rank it in his top 3 and only one (me) did not rank it #1. Montgras Ninquen 2000. A Bordeaux blend from Chile. Arnie takes the prize as Burger King.
Wine E - Light, strawberry, sour cherry. Sour wine. Did somebody bring a Beaujolais? Beaujolais is supposed to be a pretty good match for burgers but this wine was pretty awful. Ferrand Beaujolais Noveau 2008(!?) I suspect Keiichi brought this as a gag. Anyway, he was a good sport about it and paid for Arnie's lunch. At the end of the dinner, he poured out the whole bottle and there was enough sediment to do a 10 year old vintage port proud. Very strange. The only wine with no votes. Last place.
Wine F - Fragrant wood. Cedar. This has to be Bordeaux. Very dry, tannic and young. No votes from me but tied with Wine C as Group #2. However, as this was cheaper, this ended up second place. Chateau Poujeaux 1999.
Wine G - Subdued nose. Spicy, young, tannic, leathery. No votes from me. Group #4. Palacios Remondo Propriedad 2005 from Rioja.
Naturally, Jojo had to have a more serious wine so he shared a bottle of:
Chateau Pavie Macquin 2000 - A rather full, rich Bordeaux. Not quite ready and needing a few years to loosen up. Now, however, it displays liquorice, leather, sweet tobacco and mint leaf.
Lastly, Arnie and I contributed a dessert wine each:
Navarro Late Harvest Cluster Select Muscat Blanc 2005 - Grapey, candy-sweet with a great deal of acidity on the marmalade-like finish. Curiously, the acidity only seems to come in on the finish thus making the wine generally cloying and disjointed.
Blandy's 15 Year Old Malmsey Madeira - Initially, unpleasant searing acidity on the finish. About 15 minutes exposure to air improves it a lot. Christmas pudding and fruit cake. Candied fruit, mulled wine, dates, figs, tobacco, nutmeg and cloves. Very Christmas-y feel to it. Very complex and the oxidation is remarkably subdued. Great stuff. I love madeira but it seems the rest of the group were not particularly impressed.
Congratulations again to Arnie for his impressive win.