Wine Wise Guys Wine without the Attitude!

May 2007 - The Wine Wise Guys' Bordeaux-Style Tasting!

To kick off the summer season, six of the Wine Wise Guys (Jan, Elmeda, Paul, Carolyn, Tom, Laura) gathered for a blind tasting of Bordeaux-style wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, merlot, etc.). There was no price limit on the wines. Some were favorites that the couples wanted to share with the group; others were new finds that had not even been tasted.

As usual, each of the eight entries was wrapped in foil and then put in a brown paper bag. The capsule foil with identifying information was removed and the bottles were then assigned numbers. The Wine Wise Guys tasted each wine and recorded their findings on their score sheet. The name and price of the wine were revealed only after the tasting was complete and the score sheets tallied.The top two picks of each person were collected and used for the rankings.

Coming out on top were Justin 2003 Isosceles and the Château Labatut Bouchard 1998Premiers Cotes de Bordeaux. Below is a description of the Justin Isosceles taken from the Justin Vineyards Web site. We were unable to locate any current information on the Château Labatut Bouchard.

		From the Justin Vineyards Web site: 2003 ISOSCELES Vintage Summary The vintage began with the warmest winter since 1996. As a result, our grapevines began their growing season two weeks earlier than normal. A warm spring followed and in early June, temperatures began to climb and the ripening followed. A few cool spikes in late August allowed the vines to slow down and rest before the critical period prior to harvest. September and October followed with warm consistent weather that ripened our crop and provided the microclimate to ripen the grapes evenly. Merlot, a thin-skinned grape variety was harvested in late September. Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon have much thicker skins, and need more time in the sun to ripen their well-structured tannins. Harvest for these two varieties took place in late October, just before the warm weather ceased. Tasting Notes The 2003 ISOSCELES has subtle earthy tones that combine with a hint of leather aromatically in this deep, inky black hued wine. The entry is soft and subtle with ample black fruit and coffee. Cherry, currant and a hint of plum evolve into layers of chocolate and caramel on the mid-palate. A soft, seamless finish is balanced by flavors of spicy French Oak.
2003 ISOSCELES		The Wine Wise Guys agreed with Justin's tasting notes, finding this wine to be a standout!

Complete tasting results are below. Please note that the 5th place wine is not a bordeaux style. It was smuggled into the tasting, btu we seemed to like it anyway.

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