Blind Tasting #3 - Cupcake Merlot

Ok, so we might be getting a little carried away with the whole blind tasting thing, but bottom line it is fun.  So, this time we also went back to the Cupcake Vineyards well again.  This time it was their 2009 Merlot.  We tried the Cab and loved it so we thought, we want to try more Merlot, so let's start there.  At $14.99 (on sale) it seemed like a good value.  So, Shannon was the guinea pig for blind tasting and right off the bat she found it to be a familiar wine and it led her away from Old World and over to New World (check).  She then went through the look of the wine which was dark, very dark.  This pushed her in the Cab, Zinfandel, Merlot direction and she narrowed it down to Cab and Merlot (pretty good so far).  She said, that it smelled and tasted like a California wine once she ruled out Argentinean Malbec (check).  After that she made the call, California Cabernet Sauvignon (oh so close).  She did a great job.  She kicked herself for not sticking to the Merlot based upon look but really who could blame her choice considering there was a good amount of toasted oak on the nose and a very plummy taste with a slightly sharp finish.  Overall, top marks for deducing the area of the world and getting down to a shortlist that included the correct grape.

So for us, we have found trying to narrow down what in the world a particular wine is, to be just plain fun.  We are going to try and get more ratings on wines done over the next week or so, just to keep that end of experience going as well.  We have an Australian Shiraz/Cab (2008 Hickinbotham) to taste which should be great.  We are targeting Monday Decmber 19th, so if you have one or hand or time to get one over the next few days feel free to taste along.  Stay tuned for that.

On a separate note, is there anything that you are interested in discussing?  Are there any gems you have tasted recently?  We would love to hear about it.  Again, we have opinions galore and plenty of cyberspace time to get them out, but as we mentioned early on we want this to be a discussion and any input is appreciated.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon