Blind Tasting

Now that was fun. Barbara and I decided to do a blind tasting diner. We brought out from the cellar a few bottles of wine from our 2020 Okanagan trip. We were excited.

Dinner would be BBQ Baby Back Ribs, potato wedges and glazed carrots. 

To start the event we brought some exotic cheese and coconut shrimp. We decided upon three wines for the blind tasting.

Folonari Valpolicella Ripasso

Corcelettes 2017 Merlot

Skaha Vineyards - Impulsion 2016

The first wine we served was the Corcelettes Merlot. Our wine connoisseurs were amazing. They quickly identifying it as a BC wine and from the Similkameen. 

The second selection was the Italian wine from Valpolicella. They knew it was from Europe.

The third wine from Kraze Legzs Skaha vineyards the Impulsion they knew once again it was a BC wine.

All three wines received high praise. To pick a winner it was close. Two votes for the Impulsion and one vote for the other two wines. 

It was now time for dinner. Where it seemed like the Impulsion and Corcelettes Merlot were quickly gone. 

Just to stir the pot I opened a bottle of  Time White Meritage Oh so good! We all like this one!

Dinner was followed by carrot cake and Skaha Vineyards (port-style) Flying Change. A wonder wine.

 No Can for Me!

Great wine by its nature is mysterious, unpredictable and perhaps ultimately unknowable.

“Romance and wine encompass not only all of the senses but the mystery, history, science and art. We may never fully understand either, but sure do like trying.”

– Joy Merrilee, Winemaker, Shannon Ridge

The romance of wine begins in the vineyard and ends with a bottle of fine wine been properly served. A waiter stands by your table. They present the bottle to you. Your anticipation is highlighted. The cork is popped. Your mouth waters. You look across the table at the one you love.

The waiter pours a tasting into your glass. You smell the sweet wine. You node your approval. The waiter pours the wine and wishes you "Bon Appétit.

So now you replace that with a can of wine been popped on the table before you.

“I would not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere. I do not like canned wine. I do not like them Bob I Am.”

Give me a fancy glass give a bottle of wine, Give me the perfection of wine properly chilled, popping of the cork, the care of carefully pouring the wine. 

How do you measure your success as a winery by the quality of your wine or the dollars in your bank account? What do you take the most pride in

Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really: Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that's where you will find success."

To me, a wine in a can is a fad that makes for a quick sale. An idea that will in time fade, just as it has before. Canned wine is not a new idea. Its been done before. It's been done in France, in Australia, in China. In America, where it has come and gone.

"Wine speaks to all the senses: the eyes behold the colour, tone, and shade; the nose, the bouquet, the fingers and lips caress the cool crystal; the ears delight in the subtle swishing of the liquid; the tongue rejoices in the reward of a rich harvest." - Mary Lou Posch, wine lover.

Can a can bring all senses into play! 

To your average wine drinker who buys their wine in the local grocery, the can may be okay. If you wish to cellar your wines. buy a bottle.

Be Creative!

Sometimes I have to wonder about the wine industry. Some wineries go out and hire a marketing firm or creative design to come up with their winery logo and or design their wine labels. Then tell me why do so many winery labels look alike?

Take a close look at Phantom Creek and Copper moon. Not much of a difference. Chances are there will be no mistake as to which one you purchase the real difference is in the quality and cost.

The O Brien Estate bears a resemblance to three Canadian labels. I found all these labels in less than five minutes. Image how many more identical labels I could find if I went through the entire state of California.

 

These last two use the O symbol but they do look a bit different, however once again I quickly found 4 more wineries using a simple O. Image how many I could find if I really put my mind to it.

Does the same thing happen with winery names? Yes, it does, for a quick sample of this, I found four Larch Hill Wineries around the world and two O Shaughnessy wineries in Napa Valley. Blackwood and Ironwood are popular too. Using a tree on the label, a few wineries use almost the identical symbol here too.

DO you find it confusing?? I did receive an e-mail just last week from a lady in Ontario. A friend told her about a wine she really likes but forgot the name. She was able to describe the label. Sadly the wrong wine was purchased. 

If you Google wine labels with horses you get 5,860,000 responses many of which look alike. Try Butterflies far more butterfly labels and even harder to tell some brands apart.

If I was off to the store and my wife says " Bring home a bottle of the wine I like you know its the one with the Kangaroo on it". I am almost 100% likely to bring home the right wine. But If she said the one with the O on it, I may get the wrong wine.

Ok, so a few wineries around the world use almost identical logos. What I do not understand is the winery that uses the almost identical symbol of the older winery down the road?

Now just for the fun of it try https://jinjubyanthem.com/ to see how the symbol used by numerous BC wineries is overused.