As you readers know, we sometimes have a little fun and hold a blind wine tasting. My son Bobby decided to do that for my birthday and see how well I would do.
I must admit I was a bit concerned about how I’d fare. The last time I was challenged to a blind wine taste test we used six different white wines from around the world, which in a way was easier since some wines, such as Portugal’s fizzy Vinho Verdi, are pretty distinctive. Moreover, as Bobby’s goal last time was for me to try new varietals, I was unsurprisingly stumped by a couple of wines I had never tried before.
How Did We Set Up this Tasting?
There’s no one way to structure a blind wine taste test. We set this one up differently from last time so that I’d only be tasting Chardonnay, which is the white wine I drink most often.
While theoretically that would make the taste test easier, it turned out to be harder. Although Chardonnay has different characteristics depending on where it’s from and how it’s produced, the wines aren’t that varied from each other the way different varietals would be (at least to my relatively untrained palate).
The taste test also was originally going to be of five wines of similar quality and price. Bobby then added a more mass-produced cheaper bottle (Barefoot Cellars) to see if I could identify it from the others. That raised the pressure!
All of the wines were easily available in stores but ones that I don’t normally drink (so no bias of familiarity).
The six Chardonnays were:
1. Barefoot Cellars, California
2. Boordy Vineyards, Baltimore County, Maryland
3. Cave de Lugny, Macon-Lugny, Les Charmes Vineyard, Burgundy, France
4. Columbia Crest Winery, Eastern Washington State
5. Oyster Bay Wines, Marlborough, New Zealand
6. St. Francis Winery and Vineyards, Sonoma, California
Bobby also created notecards with each wine’s name, year, origin, and alcohol by volume (ABV) percentage. They were all from 2022, except the Barefoot, which had no vintage.
I was to match each wine with its notecard. No hints.
We also followed our own advice on how to hold a wine taste test at home, such as having snacks on hand and taking notes.
Here were the wines and my impressions of them:
Glass #1: Tasty, a bit oaky, a deeper color, fruity
Glass #2: Very light in color, lightly scented, slight oak, more tropical fruit
Glass #3: The lightest in color, also not much scent, floral, crisper, no oak
Glass #4: More intense scent, citrus; didn’t taste great, smelled more like Sauvignon Blanc
Glass #5: The deepest color, whiff of peach, very nice, longer finish
Glass #6; More mineral, no oak, not very distinctive
How Did My Latest Blind Wine Taste Testing Go?
I actually did better than I expected! I correctly matched two of the wines on the first try: the Barefoot (#4, the least expensive wine) and the St. Francis (#5, the most expensive bottle).
I also correctly matched two more on the second try: the Columbia Crest (#2) and Cave de Lugny (#6). The last two (Oyster Bay (#1) and Boordy (#3) then fell into place.
So at least I didn’t embarrass myself! But that’s not really the point: it was really fun to take up the “challenge.” It doesn’t matter how well you “score.”
In addition, I was introduced to several new Chardonnays that I would purchase again.
The only dilemma: I now had six bottles of open white wine in the fridge, and my family prefers red wine. Next time, please come over and help me drink them!
I hope my experience of my latest blind wine taste testing was entertaining. What other ways would you recommend we conduct a blind wine taste test? Please let us know at info@winewithourfamily.com. We’re up for it!
Should you decide to hold your own wine taste testing, let us know how you do!
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