Blind Tasting with Ed and Jordi

This was the final week's WSET class for Ed and Jordi so they wanted to have a big tasting as "practice" for the exam. However, by the end there was quite a lot of drinking going on so the tasting notes deteriorate towards the end! All the wines were tasted blind... which explains the unusual order in which the wines were tasted. However, you knew which number your wine was so wines 2 and 3 were tasted non-blind for me.

1. Chateauneuf du Pape, Domaine de l'Arnesque. (Vintage not noted)
Pale colour (some had it down as PN). Black cherry on the nose. Ripe fruit. High acid and juicy character on the palate. Young, but developing. Dusty tannins. I guessed New World Grenache, so got the dominant grape right. However, it could have gone either way. I went against PN since I felt the tannins were too noticeable and dusty. However, there was also something which Ed was convinced what carbonic maceration so I nearly guessed a cheap S. France Cinsault where part of the wine has undergone carbonic maceration. This shows the randomness of blind tasting!

2. Cartoixa, Scala Dei, Priorat 2006
This was one of my wines so not tasted blind
Opaque and black. Intense nose of vanilla and black fruit. Some oxidative character. Noticeable wood. High tannin, but still has a very soft and polished mouthfeel - tannins felt in balance with the acid. This was drunk with a plate of coppa (head cheese) - the pairing worked well. Some earthy, tobacco notes. Developing. Opened up amazingly in the glass, which indicates that it should probably improve for many years - particularly since this had been double-decanted a couple of hours prior to the tasting. Jordi's initial guess was that this was a priorat, so he was bang on. However, he talked himself out of it in the end and went for something else... a lesson in trusting your instincts.

3. Jim Barry, McRae Wood Shiraz, 2006
This was one of my wines so not tasted blind
Opaque, inky black. Ripe black fruit - youthful nose. I felt that there was definitely noticeable black pepper, but nobody else identified this... which probably explains why it wasn't correctly identified as a Shiraz (lots of people thought some sort of Cabernet-dominated blend). The wine is lifted and aromatic, something like menthol pretty striking on the nose. Noticeable oak. This is very full bodied. High acid and tannin, but balanced. Tastes very. very young. Liquorice aftertaste. Minerality on finish. Superb.

4. Domaine Gayda, Grenache
Insubstantial, not sure how much of this was because the previous wine overshadowed it in body so much or whether it was just how the wine tastes. Light body. Smells of cherry and some banana. Very high acid. Very sour finish. I thought this was a beaujolais, which I dislike a lot. Apparently this is a grenache. Not a fan of this one either way.

5. Kaiken Ultra Malbec 2009
I thought I'd clearly identified black pepper on the nose for this one, so I talked myself into calling this a shiraz. It was actually a malbec! Ripe black fruit. Black pepper. Dusty tannin, juicy acid. Intense palate. Floral/violet notes on the nose. A little austere finish. Very nice.

6. Vina Alberdi Rioja Reserva 2006
"Meaty, oxidative. Probably a rioja." Finally I got one right!

7. Weingut Wintner Riesling Trocken 2006
"Definitely a riesling. Slight spritz. Sour apple. Very acidic. Austrian Riesling?"
No, actually from Rheinhessen. Got the grape right though.