Blind Team Challenge is coming up this week here in Edmonton!

As many forumites will know, I was fortunate to be the winning captain of a termendous foursome last winter. Well, the next challenge is coming up this week and my team is ready...and we will not be toppled!! The event lasts over 2 hours, three whites and four reds and lord knows how many rounds of questions. Six teams of four compete, reps, store owners, sommeliers etc. Fun evening all round, no prizes just the satisfaction of winning (again). Stay tuned for all the action forumites!
Michelle from the last event is not available so Mike Berezowsky, who posts here as Mike B, will be wearing her champions tiara!! The team is......

Mike " how come I can`t find white Valpollicella" Berezowsky.
Richard "wish they would blend Syrah into my claret" Beeken.
Steve "the Brits should produce more Chardonnay" Richmond.
Bob " sign up for the Rachael Ray wallpaper offer" Parsons.

Vegas odds have you going the distance at 4:1. Go Team!

[James Roscoe]

Vegas odds have you going the distance at 4:1. Go Team!

I've got my money on Team Parsons. Go Bobbsies!

Well, thanks Bill. Am having some good training trying to find the ultimate white wine to go with crab cakes.
Richard, a lawyer, has a strong Bordeaux/Calif palate whilst Steve is good with Oz and anything else red! Mike is untested but will come through strong. I will be all over the place but expect some big fruit bombs from the guy who is putting it all together!! The other teams are strong but we will prevail!!

WOW! Sounds like more fun than the Niagara Falls, NY vs Niagara Falls,Ont. Chess Match of 1974. (I was second board for NY)

Mike is untested but will come through strong.

Yikes, no pressure there. Fortunately, I've been, er, practising steadily for the last few days.

- Mike (I only drink Bourdeaux with 100% Cab Sauv) Berezowsky

Great stuff Mike. As long as we top the ladies from Liquor Select, I don`t mind where we place, if by chance we made a few mistake guesses along the way. Spikes team is usually pretty strong, big Oz influences, but we had better points in the last round hence we won!!!

Just bumping this up as today is the big day for Team Bobsie. Repeat Champions? After all the white wines I have been tasting with the crab cakes,should nail them pretty good!!!

Well, aagh hum, just staggered home with the realization that Team Bobsie is no longer the champion! The team was well hung, drawn and quartered and we were not even in the top three! Bunch of upstarts stole our thunder. We did sort of OK on the whites but stank out the joint with the reds. Explanations/excuses/reasoning/whatever to follow as soon as I have recovered from the humiliation!!!! Perhaps Mike B will be here soon to explain what went right, sorry, wrong?

The team was well hung...

Bob, I think that attribute may be useful in a different kind of competition!

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. I am a Chicago Cubs fan, so believe me when I say 'there's always next year'. Besides the fun was in the competing, not the winning.

Besides the fun was in the competing, not the winning.

Absolutely, it was fun.

Now I could go on about the wines not being representative of their varietals (which they weren't) and the fact that the winning team was stacked with two employees from the store where the contest was held (which it was), and the stacking of the red wines with syrah/shiraz blends . . . but who am I kidding. We just did really poorly. So poorly that we somehow confused a Gruner Veltliner for a Sauvignon Blanc

Though, in our defense, it was a terrible example of GV. Very grassy. And almost completely dead. At least we identified that awful Chardonnay. It tasted like someone soaked a log in it.

The other lesson is to go with our instincts. On a few of the wines we were right with our first assumptions, but then second guessed ourselves.

I didn't bother keeping any notes, but Bob took down some of the names. Maybe he'll post them later when he's recovered from the crushing loss.

I didn't get them right, but my WOTNs were the '93 d'Arenberg d'Arry's Original, and the '02 Silver Syrah-Mourvedre. (I still say making all the reds Syrah or Shiraz blends was a dirty, dirty trick!)

(On the upside, I was worried I'd be the weak link, but we all did consistently bad )

Nicely summed up there Mike. I also thought going with 4 Syrah/Shiraz blends for the reds was bizarre. How on earth did Ed think of that!!? Guess we will have to explain here why we stank the joint out! Its tough to have to explain how a Syrah/Mourvedre was thought to be a Bordeaux!!!...and how a probable Italian turned out to be a Cab/Shiraz from Bleasdale!!
Plus we were pipped for fourth spot by a bunch of lady rookies, the BSJ`s. I heard the word Pinot Noir from their table, we were not that bad!!

I heard the word Pinot Noir from their table, we were not that bad!!

True enough. Nor did we pick the D'Arry as a Musar, as someone from the Liquor Select table did. I think Otto would have been disappointed.

To our credit, I think we were closer on picking which varietals were blended with the Syrah/Shiraz wines, even if we didn't get them in the right glasses.

Ah well, a comeback would add more drama anyway.

As they say, que syrah, shiraz . . .

Sure sounds like you had fun though. And you have lots of time to practice till next year.

Gee, thanks Bill!! After Round 5, I was thinking of hanging a dead goose over our table!! Anyway, will reveal all asap.

Anyway, will reveal all asap

Please do keep some things revealed there, buddy.

Its tough to have to explain how a Syrah/Mourvedre was thought to be a Bordeaux!!!...and how a probable Italian turned out to be a Cab/Shiraz from Bleasdale!!

Take heart boys, remember that none of us did particularily well at the 'blind' portion of our 'Ric's' dinner either.

As for the wine selection--I shall chastise Ed et al at the first opportunity.

Still sounds like fun--sorry I missed it

Ruth

I was sure you were going to win! But I love blind tastings: I find they're so much fun and educational at the same time. Any notes coming up? Or did I somehow miss them?

No, am stalled with other things right now but will list asap.