Virginia Wine Bloggers Blind Tasting Party

We hosted a Virginia Wine Blogger blind wine tasting party the other evening.  It was a lot of fun and a chance to meet and talk to each other.  Some of our guests have been blogging for years.  Some, like us, are fairly new to Virginia Wine blogging.  Even with several regrets, we hosted a large and diverse group at the party.
This party was Carol's idea.  We invited many of the Virginia wine bloggers we knew about to participate in a Virginia wine tasting party featuring blind tastings of different varietals. We asked that they help by contributing to the tastings by bringing at least 2 bottles of the same varietal (or same/similar blends) from different Virginia wineries. We planned to compare our 2 Albarinos, and later added 2 Petit Verdots.



Carol thought it would be really interesting if we did this as a blind tasting, so we asked everyone to  mask their bottles, and just label with the varietal/blend and "A" or "B" ( and "C" if they really wanted to get crazy, as many of them apparently did ).

We also asked that each blogger brought some kind of snack/ tidbits that would go well with the wine they brought.  We made up score sheets for everyone, put some turkey meatballs in a spicy BBQ sauce in the crock pot and prepared the house for a fun evening.  Our guests brought some cheeses, spinach cheese dip and chips,  chocolate covered grapes, special cookies that go with wine varietals, fresh breads, a prosciutto and cheese plate, olives, flatbread crackers, and gourmet pretzels. We included some dark chocolates which were supplemented by others during the evening.

Virginia Chardonnays revealed

Kristy Wine Vine  and the Swirl Sip Snark team each brought two Chardonnays to taste. There was probably more variation in the Chardonnays than in any other grouping that evening  Here were the Chardonnays we tasted blind: 2009 Veramar Reserve, 2009 Blenheim, 2010 Willowcroft, and 2010 La Grange.  Winner: 2010 Winery at La Grange Fletcher's Chardonnay by a rather overwhelming majority.

Virginia Viogniers revealed.

Colleen and Andrew from Wine Cruisers and Frank from Drink What You Like each brought two Viogniers.  I liked each of the Viogniers and each received at least one vote.  Viogniers tasted: 2009 La Grange, 2010 Paradise Springs, 2009 Delaplane Cellars, and 2008 Annefield. 
Winner: 2008 Annefield Vineyards.  This was the clear favorite. 

Loudon County Albarinos revealed

Carol and I supplied the Albarinos.  We tasted the 2010 Chrysalis and the 2010 Willowcroft.
Winner: The 2010 Chrysalis in a close vote.  One taster wrote "Chrysalis Honeysuckle.  Apricot.  Sweet finish."  Most everyone liked the Albarinos and asked if other Virginia wineries planned to grow it.

Allan from Cellar Blog provided three Nebbiolos:  2007 Breaux, 2001 Breaux Barrel Select, and Barolo from Italy.  Winner: The 2001 Breaux Nebbiolo.

John from Hagarty On Wine provided three Cabernet Francs.  I liked all three Cabernet Francs.  They all had good fruit and good after taste.  The winner received the vast majority of the votes.  Cabernet Francs tasted included a 2009 Desert Rose, a 2010 Hagarty Cellars from John's private collection, and the 2009 Rappahannock.  The winner was the 2009 Rappahannock Cellars Cabernet Franc by a wide margin.  But again, most folks really liked all three.  The Rappahannock Cellars had a fuller body and slightly more intense flavors.

Carol and I provided two Petit Verdots for this tasting including a 2008 Chester Gap and a 2008 Pearmund Cellars.  The winner was 2008 Pearmund Cellars by overwhelming vote.  One blogger said the Pearmund was "very approacable."  I had written "very fruity."

Virginia Petit Verdots revealed

Allan from Cellar Blog provided two Meritage-like blends and  Kristy Wine Vine provided a Cabernet Sauvignon which we placed in this group.  Wines in this group included 2007 Breaux, 2007 Delfosse Grange Cru Oliver , and a 2009 La Grange Cabernet Sauvignon (a varietal, not a Meritage-like blend).

Red "blend" revealed

The decisive winner was the 2007 Delfosse Grange Cru Oliver. Again, one blogger commented "very approachable."

We all had a great time.  Many of the participants were open to the idea of having another VA Wine Bloggers blind tasting party sometime soon and hope to include several other bloggers who couldn't attend this one.