The K's invited the usual Wine Stop gang for a blinded tasting of big reds - it was a great get together not just because it involved wine but the last time we saw most of them were in those pre-COVID days in 2019. In fact, the last time we visited the K's at home was way back in 2017 and they've moved on from that home knocking down the old home on a new lot and building a brand new custom home since 2021. Since it was a potluck dinner, I made a Grilled Veggie Panzanella...
And Broiled Salmon with a Bacon and Shiitake Sauce (mainly to pair with the Kosta Browne Pinot Noir that we brought)...
G's only "rules" for the tasting were that couples bring one high end wine and another mid-level wine that was less than $120 (single participants just needed to bring one wine) and the wine(s) needed to be wrapped in foil as this would be a blind tasting. As mentioned, I brought a 2013 Kosta Browne Russian River Pinot Noir to pair with our salmon dish and also because G's wife favored Pinot Noirs...
Of course, V broke the rules and uncorked four bottles though his two Pinot Noirs were meant to start the evening so they weren't blinded...
Our high end wine was a 2005 Merus which was produced by the founder, Mark Herold in his garage which eventually was bonded as an actual winery... sadly, after divorcing his co-founder, sold his interest in the wine label to Bill Foley (who has an impressive portfolio of wineries he owns)...
The rest of the wines were all pure Cabernet Sauvignon or Cab blended with other traditional Bordeaux red grapes... G tried to put them in order of increasing alcohol by volume as higher alcohol levels tend to blunt your palate so you want to end with these "alcoholic" monsters...
After everyone sampled the full lime-up, J slowly revealed each wine having tasters try to guess the winery and vintage slowly peeling back the foil. I no longer drink Cabs like I used to as 1) high end Cabs are expensive!, 2) high ends Cabs are expensive and I retired 2 years ago and 3) I don't consume a lot of foods that Cabs require like fatty steaks and BBQ. They'll overwhelm most poultry and pork dishes. But most of my guesses for the vintage of each wine was pretty close based on fruit concentration and tannins. All of the 12 Cabs were very good though many of them were in the $300 price range in the most recent vintage. Add a decade of aging or so and you're now past $400... so they BETTER be good! I liked the Lail, Robert Foley and Merus though my wine of the night (WOTN) was the Scarecrow which had a beautiful nose, a nice balance of fruit, acid and silkiy tannins and a long finish. Though most importantly, it was great reconnecting with friends that we haven't seen for ages...
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