Wine & Things

Blind Tasting Results

Pinot Passion (Blind)

Twelve Pinots positioned on the bar, each carefully wrapped in brown paper. Participants tasted any 7 of the 12 and were asked to identify characteristics they noticed. They were also asked to choose the relative price point and region that the wine came from. Eight of the Pinot’s were produced locally, the remainder came from Sonoma Coast, New Zealand, and Oregon.

Tasters were also asked to score the wines they were tasting, on a simple 1-10 scale. Below are the average scores of the top 6 of the evening’s highest rated Pinot’s.

Ken Brown 2008 Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County (7.43)
The patrons preferred this Ken Brown Pinot by a fairly wide margin. Described by our tasters as: Pepper, Floral, Raspberry and Smoke. Retail $34

Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Sea Smoke Vineyard (6.68)
From the legendary Sea Smoke Vineyard had the most votes for 9 or greater! However, there were also a handful of surprisingly low scores that kept it from ranking #1. Patrons described it as: Earth, Licorice, Spice, Cherry, Acid, and Pepper. Retail $135

Diergerg 2008 Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley (6.67)
A local producer who consistently earns 90+ scores from many reputable wine publications. This pinot had the highest rating in Leather and Cola, it was also described as Raspberry, Smoke, and Spice. Retail $44

Oyster Bay 2008 Pinot Noir, New Zealand (6.55)
Our highest ranking out of towner for the night was also one of the lowest priced. Highly rated among the Ladies who participated.. It was described as: Cherry, Floral, Raspberry, Pepper, and Rose. Retail $17

Loring Wine Company 2008 Pinot Noir, Central Coast (6.55)
One of our many local boutique Pinots, the LWC rated highly, and deemed a great value. It was described as: Oak, Cherry, Earth, and Pepper. Retail $25

Flying Goat Pinot Noir, Solomon Hills Vineyard (6.53)
This Single Vineyard Pinot was very expressive of the Santa Maria Valley AVA. It was rated highly in Smoke, Spice, and Earth.

Other special awards:
Most Spice: Foxen 2008, Seasmoke Vineyard
Most Earth: Patz & Hall 2008, Sonoma Coast
Most Cherry: Oyster Bay 2008, New Zealand
Most Smokey: Flying Goat 2006, Solomon Hills Vineyard
Most Raspberry: Brewer Clifton, Sta. Rita Hills

***Congratulations to Glen Fidler and Deb Scanlon, they tied for first place with 18 accurate answers on the tasting sheet.
 

 

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