March 20, 2008
Brad Courtney's House
We all gathered at Brad's house on a somewhat typical Spring day for this month's tasting. It was cold and wet. All ten members were able to make Brad's tasting, something not accomplished in over one year. After we tasted two very nice 2006 Sauvignon Blanc's from New Zealand, a Hunter's and an Allan Scott, we all sat down to take care of some business at our annual meeting.
The first order of business was to consider whether each member of the group should purchase Reidel stemware to replace our old set of glasses. The pros and cons were debated earlier via e-mail and at the meeting and, after some discussion, the membership agreed that each member would purchase a case of the Cabernet/Merlot Reidel stemware for all subsequent tastings. We then proceeded to our annual elections and Greg Bunnell was voted to stay on as Secretary and webmaster. The membership also voted Neal Bell as this year's President. Loren Bunnell then addressed the group and summarized a recent article he came across in the San Francisco Chronicle regarding wine preferences. A link to that article can be found at here: San Francisco Chronicle.
Loren Bunnell discussing the SF Chronicle article with Steve DeShaw and Brant Blodgett
Our new President, Neal Bell
The group then migrated to the tasting table where we were offered a single glass of red wine. The object of the exercise was to identify the qualities and characteristics of the wine. After everyone took their notes, we moved forward with the first flight of wine. The guesses included everything from Cote du Rhones to Amarone to Zins to Chateauneuf du Pape. During the flight, our new President presented hobbled member Steve DeShaw with a treat a la Larry Davis that went something like this:
Doing chores Steve got bolder and bolder
Till he fell from the roof to a boulder
Yet he's here on his ass
Sipping wine from a glass
Using a recycled shoulder!
We all had a good laugh, rejoiced in Larry's memory and Steve's fortune that he's well on his way to recovery. We then moved forward to the second flight of wine. As with the first flight, guesses went from Cabernet to Syrah to Zin to Chateauneuf du Pape. Only three members were close that the offerings were from Southern France, to wit, the lovely 2001's from Chateauneuf du Pape. Brad also asked each member to identify the lone glass with one of the eight wines offered during the two flights and only two correctly identifed their wine.
Overall, the Domaine de Beaurenard Cuvee Boisrenard scored the highest with a rating of 90. It was followed closely by the remaining seven bottles with the lowest scores at 87 points. The wines were very consistent with each member's average ratings between 88 and 91 points.
To go along with the wine, Brad set out bountiful plates of bread, cheese, walnut and garlic rubbed lamb. The cheese plate included Swiss Emmenthaler Cave Aged Raw Milk, Sheep Rustico Pepato Mitica, Swiss Appenzeller Extra Raw Milk, Chatelain Triple Creme Brie, and Aged Parmegano Reggiano.
For dessert, we all enjoyed the Plum Frangipane Tart along with a 2005 Covey Run Ice Wine and a NV Yalumba Museum Reserve Muscat.