Blind Tasting - South African Merlot
The wine had a medium dark colour which we determined had the look of Cab Sauv or Merlot (we got a little lucky with the Merlot guess). We also could tell that it was a soft and very well balanced wine (which at 14% was a nice surprise). Immediately, it seemed to have some New World sensibilities and by that we mean it had some interesting notes on the nose like Pepperoncini and fruit forward with not much in terms of oak. So, that lead us away from the European countries, but beyond that we had trouble figuring out whether it was South America, Australia, or South Africa (which it turned out to be). As we narrowed it down, it was down to Cab Sauv and Merlot and South America or Australia. We went Cab Sauv and it was Merlot and obviously we didn't get the Country. It is amazing how much your senses can lead you in a direction, but we were pretty happy to even get close on the grape.
Ultimately, it was 2009 Flat Roof Manor Merlot from the Stellenbosch in South Africa which is $13.99 at the NSLC here in Nova Scotia. It is a great wine for the price. We have not historically been huge Merlot drinkers but a wine like this makes us want to re-evaluate that. It had nice soft tannins and was definitely not too hot. It played the role of being Cab Sauv-like really well which gave it the body we like but was it not overly sharp. Again, a really solid wine.
Ever done a blind tasting....did you get close? We really enjoy the guessing. Sometimes we get close and sometimes it is like we were tasting something from Mars. Either way, it is a fun way to test yourself and get a sensory experience. It can make a great tasting party as well, where you can see if you and your guests can figure out the wine as a group. We have done it on a couple of occasions. If you are interested in planning one, let us know and we can give you some tips about what worked for us.
Keep on drinking!
Chris & Shannon
Comments
Post a Comment