| A Girlie Wine Tasting |
Know your grapes: An interactive tasting night How confident are you that you could tell your Merlot from your Pinot Noir? Or perhaps you know a real wine bore who pronounces emphatically on every glass before they’ve even had chance to taste it. Whether you want to test your own knowledge, or put someone else to the test, this tasting is for you… Just gather together a group of your friends, some wines (see our choice below) and see what you come up with! The Wines (all wines are tasted blind and results given at the end) The Sauvignon Blanc: 1998 "Pouilly Fume" Domaine de la Forge The Riesling 1999: Dr Loosen Riesling Kabinett The oaked Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc: Villa Maria 1998 "Private Bin Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay" The Pinot Noir: 1998 "Earth Filtered Pinot Noir" from Foxwood. The Merlot :1998 "Ch De Vary Merlot The Friends: Julie: “I think I can tell the difference between a cheap bottle and a good bottle. I wouldn’t know the difference between the grapes, especially red as I don’t drink red wine anyway. Now that I’ve got children I don’t drink as much as I used to and I can’t drink real crap any more – I’d rather have nothing at all”. Rebecca: “I have a college summer’s holiday’s worth of working in a wine bar where I used to taste so many different types of wine. I usually drink Fitou or Chardonnay or just buy 3 litre boxed of red vin de table from the supermarket”. Sue: “I’ve done a bit of tasting before – especially whites – and I think I can tell the difference between a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon. At the moment I usually buy Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand or Argentinean Malbec”. Erika: "I usually like very rough red wine: what I like to think of as peasant style. My husband Geoff and I usually drink between one and two bottles a night. You could say we like our wine!" Stella: "I like white wine. I like it white, dry, fizzy and very cold, like Cava. I also like very quaffable red. I think I can tell the cheap plonk from the better quality stuff; now that the millennium has been and gone I've bought a lot of millennium bubbly at a reduced price and you can tell that it's different from the usual". Gill: "I don't know a great deal about wine. I like wine from Australia, Argentina, Portugal and Spain. I don't usually buy French as I think it often tastes a bit bitter. The taste I like is oaky, smoky and barrel fermented. " The procedure The labels on each wine are covered but the wine isn’t decanted. This means that if someone knows their bottles (e.g. wines from the Mosel Valley in Germany usually come in tall green bottles) they can make an educated guess at what it is. Other than that, all they have to go on are their sensory powers of perception – sight, smell and taste. Wine No1.The Sauvignon Blanc. Julie: Quite refreshing with a long aftertaste.. but it does taste of chemicals. Guess: Sauvignon Blanc. Rebecca: Ugh, I thin I would only drink this with cheese…and it's giving me a headache (she makes a grimace). It’s quite harsh and acidic and I couldn’t slug this down. Definitely not me! Guess: Sauvignon Blanc. Sue: golden but pale colour. Very crisp with a strong smell. Quite acidic and has a strong aftertaste. I reckon this should be drunk with food. Guess: Sauvignon Blanc Erika: Pale lemon and dry. Quite refreshing, I’d drink it with cheese. Guess: Sauvignon Blanc. Stella: Very perfumed and I can taste the acid on the side of my tongue. Needs food though. Guess: Sauvignon Blanc. Gill: Pale lemon colour, quite dry, tastes high in alcohol. This is too dry for me. Guess: Sauvignon Blanc. Score: 6/6. A typical Sauvignon Blanc for all. Wine no.2 The Riesling Julie: Very pale and sweet. Quite fruity at the same time, and very smooth. Guess: Riesling. Rebecca: slightly green tinge to it. Smells of sweet green apples. It was nice but I wouldn’t go overboard. Guess: Riesling Sue: Pale golden, fruity. Guess: Riesling. Erika: Pale, definitely low n alcohol as it tastes like an alcopop. Guess: Riesling. Stella: Quite sticky on the glass, very smooth. Guess: Riesling. Gill: Sweet and pale. Guess: Riesling. Score 6/6. Despite many experts describing this wine as dry, all our tasters identified it as sweet. It only goes to show that it is only in the mouth of the beholder! Wine no 3. The Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc blend. Julie: Almost urine coloured! A bit syrupy. Mmm. Like this very much. Guess: Chardonnay Rebecca: quite syrupy. Quite oaky. Very drinkable. Guess: Chardonnay. Sue: Oaked Chardonnay no doubt about it! Erika: more golden, medium alcohol. Would be nice with food or on its own. Guess: Chardonnay Stella: Lots of expectations of sweetness and a tingling on the tongue. Quite Smokey actually. Guess: Chardonnay. Gill: Butter and Vanilla. I know what this is because I drink it at home. Guess: Chardonnay. Score 6/6. These girls know their whites! I wonder how well they will do on the red wines. Wine no.4 The Pinot Noir Julie: Light and summery, very fruity. I could imagine sipping this outside in the garden on a hot summer's day. Guess: Pinot Noir. Rebecca: Quite tannic. I can also taste blackcurrants..well, at least some sort of fruit! I'd say it was very drinkable but does taste mass produced. It's pinker than the others. Guess: Cabernet Sauvignon. Sue: Oooh, quite fruity and smoky. I can taste redcurrants and think it's a summery little number. Guess: Pinot Noir….no, Merlot…. No, Cabernet Sauvignon…..oh, I don't know. Erika: Rough but nice. Sort of a mass market wine. Guess: Cabernet Sauvignon. Stella: I can taste blackcurrants definitely. Quite tannic. Guess: Cabernet Sauvignon. Gill: Plummy and woody with a bit of vanilla in there too. Guess: Merlot. Score 1/6. Only Julie managed to identify the Pinot Noir. Wine no.5. The Merlot. Julie: this doesn't deliver. It smells promising but the taste just isn't there. It's very much like cheap plonk with no character. Guess: Merlot. Rebecca: I can taste cherry. This reminds me of a house wine at a curry house. It doesn't have the flavour of the previous red, certainly. Guess: Merlot. Sue: this is earthier than the last and thinner; more watery. It reminds me of some cheap house wine that I had in a pub once that made me ill. I'd say this was nothing more than cheap plonk. Guess: Cabernet sauvignon. Erika: Quite cloudy and earthy. The smell reminds me of damp earth after a rainfall. It's also quite watery and a bit disappointing. I don't think it tastes very alcoholic either. Guess: Pinot Noir. Stella: Watery and thin with no staying power. It tastes like a young, cheap pub wine. Guess: Pinot Noir. Gill: Plum coloured and tastes of blackcurrants. Guess: Cabernet Sauvignon. Score 2/6. Slightly better but still pretty bad. Let's see what the girls themselves had to say: Julie: I usually drink white wine in the summer and red wine in the winter but this did sort of change my mind a bit. I could imagine drinking the Pinot Noir in the garden on a hot summer's day and really enjoying it. Rebecca: I was surprised how much I like the Riesling whereas before I wouldn't have gone near it. I'll also stay well clear of things that say Merlot as I really didn't like it much. Sue: I was surprised that I couldn't tell the difference between the reds. I must admit I have been looking at Rieslings but I'm still not convinced they’ve improved enough since my student days to actually fork out on a bottle. Erika: I thought I liked Cabernet sauvignon but I realise now that my taste is really for Pinot Noir. I do drink it differently now. I sip it more. Stella: I thought it was a real education. It made me think about wine rather than just guzzling it down or losing the taste in a meal. I will now give reds more of a go as I was quite impressed with what I tried. Gill: It confirmed what I do like really. My favourite was the Chardonnay and that's the one I would drink anyway! |
| Posted: 25/04/2005 20:23:35 Last Updated: 25/04/2005 20:30:59 |
Chick Lit > Gourmet Chicks :: A Girlie Wine Tasting