I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! My brother in-law Tim invited everyone to his house this Thanksgiving and it was really nice catching up with family. As promised I brought my blind wine tasting game. I set up the bottles in pairs to be tested throughout the evening, starting with the Pinot Noirs and Rieslings. I left the Moscatos in the refrigerator until the dessert was severed so it could be tested chilled. I asked everyone to mark their favorite wine and the one they thought tasted best. Everyone had a good time comparing the wines flavors and aromas. The results were interesting and a little surprising.
I thought the Pinot Noir test would be easy. I figured most of my family would know the difference between the Rex and the OFV. The Rex a cheaper wine has a bright color and sweeter finish, much less complex than the OFV with a deep muted red color, rich flavors, and smooth finish. My husband was the only one who picked the OFV as their favorite, everyone else picked the Rex as tasting best. The winner was the Rex-Goliath at $7.
Testing the Rieslings was also an interesting test. The Sutter Home is a dry Riesling which I thought would be a nice comparison to the Lucky Duck a sweeter wine. Everyone liked both wines but the Lucky Duck won the taste test. Chalk another one up for sweeter wines.
The last wine tested was the Moscatos and no one could tell the difference, but after tallying up the votes the Oak Leaf won. There also was a total game winner, my sister-in-law Katherine correctly identified all the expensive wines. Her prize, a bottle of wine!
The overall results showed that my family liked cheaper wines.
- Pinot Noir – Rex-Goliath $7
- Pinot Noir – OFV (Willamette) $18
- Riesling – Sutter Home $7
- Riesling – Lucky Duck $5
- Moscato – Oak Leaf $2.97
- Moscato – Cloud Break $8.99
I’m already looking forward to our family Christmas party. I would like to test the Pinot Grigio, Gewurtraminer, and a Cabernet Sauvignon.
Cheers – Carrie
