October 14, 2003
Theme: The Election Hangover (brought to you by Napa and Sonoma)
Wine: Chip and Charles
Hosts: Kate and Wayne

Chip and Charles had just come back from California wine country, and several of the wines we tasted were souvenirs. But not all of them; Chip filled out the evening’s lineup with some recommendations from Jon at Cork & Bottle.

1) "Recall." 2001 Gundlach-Bundschu Rhinefarm Vineyards Zinfandel, Sonoma Valley. $32. Average 15.6, range 13-17. The butchest wine of the evening was also the most popular. Strong cherry nose with some asphalt underneath it, and one person even caught some anise. Kate thought it smelled like the leather vessel that Robin Hood would drink his wine out of. Chocolatey, herby, peppery and fruity taste. Meaty but not cloying, Steph thought. Terri said it was unapologetic, "Sean Connery in the making." Mark said it was butch because it mixes gasoline and alcohol, "which is why men die young." Now you know.

2) "Runoff." 2001 Buena Vista Zinfandel, California. (The winery is in Sonoma.) $9 at Cork & Bottle. Average 15.4; range 15-16. An odd but appealing wine; note the consistent scores. Light-bodied for a red, and especially a zin, but it’s got a very chewy taste to it anyway. Most of us caught various berry and cherry flavors and scents. Becky, who knows her berries better than anyone your Webmaster has ever met, thought it tasted of lingenberry and blackberry. Also kind of smoky and peppery. Reminiscent of red meat, or at least makes one want to eat red meat.

3) "Primary." 2000 St. Supéry Chardonnay Napa Valley. $18.50. Average 15; range 13-17. The first wine of the evening, and a very pleasant one. Apple, butterscotch, vanilla and honeysuckle in the nose, a little bit of citrus, ginger ale and pear cobbler on the tongue. "So creamy it’s like drinking cream," Steph thought. Wayne thought it started musty but finished really well.

4) "Arnold." 2000 Gundlach-Bunschu Rhinefarm Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Valley. $32. Average 14.6; range 13-17. Starts with a ground turmeric in the nose, and then comes the fruit. Finish was a little chalky. Kate found it sweet, summery, fizzy and cute. It reminded her of Gary Coleman. Others thought it was liberal but pro-gun. It reminded one person of California also-ran Tom McClintock, inasmuch as it had integrity but also had a potentially limited appeal. Two people likened it to Louisiana also-ran Randy Ewing; one of them put it like this: "It was decent, friendly and honest. I drank the whole thing, and I didn’t notice it, and it didn’t really deliver."

5) "Kathleen." 2000 Cline Sonoma County Syrah. $13 at Cork & Bottle. Average 12.9; range 10-15. The first two seconds of the nose were bad, bad, bad. And although Becky thought it never improved -- she thought it smelled of a combination of cat pee, tobacco and sea salt -- most of us found our way to giving it moderate praise: "rich in its own way," "comforting, solid and basic." It’s like Brendan Fraser or a benign frat boy, Mark thought. It’s like Keanu Reeves, Terri thought; there’s not much to it, and it’s a little annoying, but not so much that you wouldn’t touch it. A few people found the finish chalky, antiseptic and medicinal. Chip thought it suffered by comparison to some of the other wines.

6) "Bobby." 1999 Stag’s Leap Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. $13. Average 12.3; range 11-14. Simple, fragrant, redolent of pear, honeysuckle, melon, maybe a little grapefruit. Uncomplicated, maybe a little flat and anonymous. Wayne found it pleasant but thought it lacked fruit and tasted almost like a light-bodied beer. Your Webmaster didn’t get much out of it until the temperature of it rose significantly, and that just didn’t seem right.

7) "Gray." 2000 Keenan Napa Valley Chardonnay. $17 at Cork & Bottle. Average 12; range 10-16. Poor Gray: out of a job, and the worst-performing wine of the evening to boot. Chip, who liked this one more than anyone else, identified tart pineapple flavors in it and thought it would go well with roasted chicken. Wayne, who gave it the next-highest score, thought the key would be finding the right thing to do with it; someone else suggested grilled fish as a possibility. Most people found this wine unbalanced and overly acidic and identified (mal)odors like overripe pineapple, vinegar and butter on the verge of burning.

The fake names here all refer to recent political events in Louisiana and California. Interestingly, the results of the tasting were similar to those of the California election: "Recall" proved quite popular, "Arnold" fared better than the other people, and "Gray" finished way out of the money. If the tasting is any omen what’ll happen in Louisiana, the turnout for the runoff will be higher than for the primary, and Kathleen will edge out Bobby. Anybody taking bets?