Blind Wine Tasting

In a recent blind tasting, wine trade members and shoppers chose M by Michael Mondavi, a limited production cabernet sauvignon, over a few options of Bordeaux wines, with an average price of almost $500 per bottle. Led by Daniel Greathouse of Heidelberg Distributing Company, the blind tasting was part of a Bordeaux seminar at the World Series of Wine conducted at Cleveland’s Renaissance Hotel. 36 participants were seated at tables with samples, as each taster ranked the wines by preference and rated them on a 100-point scale. Scores were based on the number of first place votes, and the formula of three points for first place, two points for second place and one point for third place votes. Here are the final results: 1st place: 2005 M by Michael Mondavi, Napa Valley Suggested retail: $200 2nd place: 2006 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild Pauillac Average retai: $500 3rd place: 2006 Emblem Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford Suggested retail: $49 4th place: 2006 Emblem Cabernet Sauvignon, Oso Vineyard Suggested retail: $49 5th place: 2006 Chateau Margaux Average retail: $500 “As cabernet producers around the world improve soft tannin development and produce wines that are more accessible at four or five years of age, these comparisons become more relevant than a generation ago when ‘new world’ wines were seen as having an early tasting advantage over European counterparts needing a decade to show well,” said Greathouse, a Bordeaux importer. “Based on the first-place position of M by Michael Mondavi, we look forward to entering it into another blind tasting, this time with California cult cabs and a few Southern-Hemisphere and European competitors for a broader perspective of this new entry on the world stage.” Via: Nappa Valley Register