WTN: Bordeaux Blind at Old Manila

The regulars gathered for a Bordeaux grapes blind tasting at Old Manila, the Peninsula Hotel's flagship restaurant, last Monday. So far, all the regular participants have won at least one blind tasting with the rather surprising exception of Jojo, who started this whole thing.

All wines would be served double-blind and no comments on the wines' assets or liabilities while scoring. Each one votes for his top 3 in order, with the top wine getting 3 points, second place two points etc. Wines must be made from Bordeaux grapes but from anywhere.

Wine A - Dark purple. Good fruit on the nose. Dry. Well-balanced. Juicy. Soy sauce. Medium to full-bodied. Long finish. Still a bit tannic, indicating it could probably improve a bit more with time. Very good. My wine. Chateau Reynella Basket Pressed Cabernet Sauvignon 1998. Group #4.

Wine B - Young. Dark. Mint/tobacco nose. Quite sweet, rich, oaky. Very tannic. Good balance for its type. Very long. Needs time. Definitely New World. Unfortunately, compared to everything else, this was just so freakishly over the top. Would probably have done very well in an all Oz or all Cal competition. Harlan The Maiden 2003. Group #5

Wine C - Young, dark, a bit of a stink that took some time to go away. Barnyard. Full-bodied. Meaty. Ready to drink. Very good. Almaviva 2001. My #3. Group #1. Monty's wine. Monty dethrones Johnny and is the undisputed champion with 3 wins with Johnny and me coming in next with 2 wins each, and Arnie with 1 win.

Wine D - Herbs, sweet fruit. Medium-bodied. Lovely, easy to drink. Elegant. Torres Chile Manso de Velasco Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. My #2. Group #3. I'm surprised at how forward this is. It was real tough for me choosing between wines A,C and D for my number 2 and 3 spots.

Wine E - Very lean, soft, hollow. Good nose after an hour in the glass but no other improvement. Possibly a flawed bottle. Chateau Leoville Barton 2001 - Group #6 (last). Jojo brought this bottle and he thought he could take down the reigning champion with it but everyone agreed there was something wrong with it. Better luck next time

Wine F - Closed on the nose. Good fruit and balance. Spicy. Dry finish. Good complexity. Excellent now but there seems to be room for a bit more improvement with time. Chateau Gigault Cuvee Viva 2003. My #1. Group #2.

The next blind tasting should be really interesting - bring any red wine.

[Jenise]

So whoever brings the #1 vote getter takes the crown home? That's fun--that probably ups the ante on what people bring--not that they wouldn't bring good wine to you. Btw, there was a label on your list I'm not familiar with, this one: Chateau Gigault Cuvee Viva 2003. It's from where?

That's right! There's some discussion as to whether the winner's dinner should be paid for by all the other guys but not everyone's on board with this idea yet. Competition might get nasty! In case of a tie, the cheaper wine wins so people really should be creative in this contest. In this dinner, I brought the cheapest wine by far and it beat a Harlan Maiden and Leoville Barton!

One of my friends who joins us in these events also has another group that does the same thing but they're all Bordeaux freaks so no one dares to bring any wine from outside Bordeaux. The merest whiff of Syrah or oak is instant death in that group. We're a little more relaxed.

The Gigault Cuvee Viva is a Bordeaux, Premieres Cotes de Blaye.