The regulars once again met at Pepato for lunch. The theme: any red wine. The prize: free lunch and bragging rights.
For starters we had a white courtesy of Jojo:
Terras Gauda Rias Baixas O Rosal 2007 - Very crisp. Good fruit. Green apple and lemon. Dry and very clean. Very nice.
After orders were taken we proceeded with the tasting proper. As always, we only pick our top 3 with 3 points going to the best, 2 points to number 2, and 1 point to number 3. Points are then totaled. In case of a tie, the cheaper wine wins.
Wine A - Dark, medium-bodied, young and tannic. Tobacco. Nice balance. Easy to drink. Already showing well but should be better in a year or two. My #3. Group #2. My wine. Chateau Puygueraud 2004. I thought I did pretty well with this as I think it was among the cheapest wines we tried.
Wine B - Some heat. Very dark. Sweet, smooth, slightly acidic finish. Ripe fruit. Spice. At first a bit generic but gained some character with air. My #1. Tied with wine D for group #3. This won third place on price. Concha y Toro Don Melchor 2002.
Wine C - Nice nose. Cedar, menthol, smoke. Good fruit. Strong finish. Coffee. Just approaching peak. Very nice. Good complexity. My #2. Tied with wine F for last. Ken Forrester The Gypsy Grenache Syrah 2004 South Africa.
Wine D - Inky. Coca-cola nose. Sweet and rich. Oaky finish. Not my type. Or perhaps suffers in this company. Tied with wine B for Group #3 but lost due to price. Yalumba The Signature Cabernet/Shiraz 2002. I'm surprised by this as I thought this wine was very good the last few times I tried it and in fact I have a couple of bottles. I hope time in the bottle tames the oak.
Wine E - Stinky. Quite sweet and rich. I can't get past the stink although it seems that only one other in the group was bothered by the smell. Group #1 with 5 out of 7 voting it number 1. Winner by a landslide. Chateau Gruaud Larose 1996. Jojo finally wines one and takes the crown from Monty!
Wine F - Dry. Smoke. Smooth. This has a bit of age on it. Very soft. Tied with Wine C for last place. Reserve de la Comtesse 2003. I would never have guessed this for a 2003 Bordeaux. It seemed much older than that and not from a hot year. On reflection, I had the same impression of the grand vin. Monty, the defending champion and winner of most of these contests if forced to eat humble pie with his entry.
Congratulations to the winner! Next contest: New World reds.