So we had the tasting last night. I arranged the wines, serve-yourself, on four named tasting tables. Guests were given four popsicle sticks on arrival. Each box had a cup next to it into which each guest could deposit a stick to indicate it was their favorite at that table. 79 attendees.
The table called White Noise held a very decent 2014 Powers Chardonnay from Washington State, a NV PG from Hester Creek in BC, and a soft, nondescript white slightly offdry and dilute blend of SB, Chenin and French Columbard also from BC. No contest for the Powers, I thought. But the nondescript dilute blend won that table. HUH?
The table called European Weekend had our three European entries: Bill Spohn's favorite, the 2014 Radio Boka Grenache, a 2015 Clos des Lumieres Cotes du Rhone, and a syrah-monastrell blend from Spain called Bodegas Piquereas which was impressive on first opening Thursday but which had pulled back a little just 24 hours later. The Grenache presented jammy and richer, the Lumieres was showing VA, and the Spanish wine had big tannins. The Radio Boka won, duh, but the Piquereas got a lot of votes too.
The next table was called '10 Years to Life' and featured medium bodied domestic reds, 2015 Big House Prohibition Red, Bota Box OV Zin (which had that ant poison flavor of Paso fruit--YUCK), and '15 Black Box Malbec (Argentina). There were actually two boxes of the Big House, two different 'lots', one opened two weeks ago and one opened just the day before. Idea was to show evolution and lot differences. The Big House(s) won.
And the last table was the biggest reds and I called it Black Power. NV Bota Merlot from California, 2015 Black Box Cabernet (Chile), and 2015 Powers Cabernet from WA state. There were two boxes of the Powers, same lot, one opened almost three weeks ago and one opened the day before. Actually all three of these showed well, but the Powers wines won, in particular for the older box.
I tasted everything and could hardly stand, to be frank, a second taste of any of them. I am NOT going to be a box wine buyer, which I knew anyway, but I can't even recommend them. I'd really liked the Lumieres when I opened it the day before but the overnight VA development was disconcerting. If I had to, just HAD to, buy any of them again? The Big House.