Last night we attended a tasting where all 20 or so of the wines were presented double blind. A couple dozen matching burgundy burlap bags were used to cover the bottles, then they were stirred up and presented at random. We took a vote on California vs. Oregon before each reveal. I splash decanted my bottles at home and returned each to a clean bottle.
Most of the votes were unanimous or close. But several were more like 50/50. I did better than most with 19 out of 20 right. We started out with 11 voters but ended up with 13.
Scant notes as the bottles went by pretty fast.
1) 10 CA, 1 OR. Strawberry fruit, granite minerality, a producer from Santa Cruz Mountains that I have not heard of before, and never got my hands on the bottle to write it down. EDIT: I have since learned it was a 2016 Windy Oaks.
2) 0 CA, 11 Oregon. Classic Oregon: dark fruit, Asian spice, forest floor. 2018 Cristom Paul Gerrie Vineyard, very 'ready', a new vineyard for this great producer.
3) 7 CA, 5 OR. Alcohol seems higher, dark fruit, grippy tannins, blackberry, licorice, young. 2021 Tekstura, Willamette Valley. Apparently got 95 points from someone and entered the marketplace at $75 but is currently at Costco for $40ish. If I were still stocking a cellar for the future I'd grab a few; it has the structure for aging. Unfortunately, most buyers don't have the patience for that and a new brand w/o a track record is a tough sell.
4) 11 CA, 0 OR. Complex, very developed, pure cherry fruit, spice, brown sugar, obvious age in all the best ways, and I was initially disappointed when it didn't turn out to be my Flowers. So good! 2006 Sea Smoke 'Southing'.
5) 1 CA, 11 OR. Seems young with candied fruit, obvious tannins--but not pleasing. All treble, no bass. 2014 Panther Creek 'Jean Ray'.
6) 1 CA, 11 OR. Cherry, blueberry, truffle, sage, mint, obviously aged but not mature or old, seemed younger in fact than the Sea Smoke. Hypnotically complex, with a finish that went on forever. I knew it was going to be my Flowers because I was the only other person who thought the older Sea Smoke could have been my wine. Warren guessed it was around 12 years old but, because I asked the question before pulling the burlap, he allowed that it could have been up to 20 years old. That it turned out to be 26 years old blew everyone away. A remarkable beauty. 1998 Flowers Van der Kamp; landslide WOTN.
7) 6 CA, 6 OR. 2011 Thomas, Willamette. Light cherry but overall reticent fruit , herbs, tomato leaf, pointed acidity and tannins--tasted more like Santa Barbara than Oregon. Not much secondary development. This was the one I missed.
(8) 0 CA, 12 OR. Dark cherry and marionberry fruit, some cedar, nicely aged on the one hand but obvious tannins on the other. One of my three bottles, 2013 Lange 'North Block' (planted to Pommard clone).
9) 7 CA, 6 OR. Lighter color deceives about body and weight--cherry fruit, young, it's all there but you have to give it time to resonate. 2018 Kelley Fox Maresh Vy.
10) 11 CA, 1 OR. Pale red color, big nose, classic strawberry-cherry fruit, soft tannins, seemed 8-10 years old. 2020 Ramey Russian River.
11) 6 CA, 6 OR. Pommard textures, ripe, big, intense, fruit leans marionberry. Not a house I'm familiar with: 2015 Brittan, Willamette.
12) 1 CA, 12 OR. Shows definite age, I figured 2010ish at best. Very minerally. Was not surprised on the reveal: 2013 Rhys Skyline.
13) 0 CA, 13 OR. Dark cherry, spice, burdock root said someone, a tad alcoholic but otherwise Classic Oregon. 2016 Le Cadeaux (red label), Oregon. 14.1%.
14) 7 CA, 6 OR. Tea, dark fruit, complex, some weight, great mouthfeel. 2008 Bethel Heights 'Carter VY'. The vintage surprised everyone; the age doesn't show at all.
15) 5 CA, 8 OR. Ash, black/blue fruit, a little extracted, juicy, alcohol shows. 2000 Belle Pente Estate Reserve. 14.3%.
16) 5 CA, 8 OR. Pale color, polished (unfiltered), more pomegranate than cherry, could have been grenache. 2022 Au Bon Climat.
17) No vote taken as we recognized this as a dupe to Wine #3 above, the 2021 Tekstura.
18) 10 CA, 3 OR. Cherry pie and earth, very Burgundian, I suspected a ringer. But no, another Cali, a very good one. 2013 Clos Saron. We didn't stick around to retaste, but if we had this was one of the wines I'd have wanted to back to (after the Flowers got drained, that is.)
19) 11 CA, 2 OR. Med red, sun-baked cherry fruit, umeboshi plums said someone, ripe but more tannins than I expected. I recognized my wine, a 2015 Williams Selyem RRV. I chose it because it is, admittedly, a 'name' even if the brand no longer earns the kudos it once did, but also because it is so helplessly Californian. I can't imagine who thought it could be Oregon.
20) 0 CA, 13 OR. A monster. Thick, heavy, someone made an Orin Swift joke. 2015 Domaine Serene 'Aspect'--I was not aware this bottling even existed. Eh.
