Meeting 3: February 27, 2008: Shiraz

There are not winners or losers at these tastings, these meetings of the Withrow Park Ball Hockey League Wine Club.

If there were, we'd call it a wine "league" wouldn't we then? We'd keep score wouldn't we?

Ah, there's already enough winning and losing going on in the hockey league (mostly the latter for Team Black in '07) to not have to continue that grind in the off-season.

But I felt somehow like...well not like I lost last night...but that I was "off my game"; that I had underperformed on the night. It just did not go right for me. I felt slow, lethargic, like I needed a better warm-up or something. I swear, if I'd had another hour, I would have done a better job with my picks...

But these are just excuses.

I noticed for instance that Pinot Paul came in carrying a debilitating cold and congestion and did not once whine about not being able to perform up to his always stellar abilities.

You know, every night of tasting, just like every hockey game ever played--is different and you have to adjust. And Pinot Paul adjusted quietly like an old pro. Chris Chelios would be proud.

By the way, this tasting fell on the night of a Leafs game. So we actually watched a bit of the Leafs-Florida game at the beginning and the end of the night. And it seemed to work! Imagine combining hockey viewing and wine.

I think actually, there is great virtue in such a practice for Leafs fans, for taste after taste of interesting wine can create the illusion that the Leafs too are part of something great, something excellent, something fine in the works.

(So, last night, was it the wine that caused me to think that the Leafs had actually won a game in a shoot-out?)

But I digress, I digress, I digress...

Where are those tasting sheets now?...

(Vinovich lifts his hands off of the keyboard and reaching for the sheets is distracted by the glass of wine he always keeps by his side. He takes a long, slow mouthful and lets the wine linger in his mouth..."Ahh...")

Whoops, yes, yes...the tasting sheets.

But first a little sneak-peak of the video coverage of the tasting event (the full-length version available for download from Leafstv.com for $24.99) :

~ Some Hockey Talk ~

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Please excuse the above digression. (Yes, it is true that no one from the WPBHL gave me the nudge-nudge-wink-wink that the Leafs would be practicing at the very rink where we (bourgeois) iron-men duke it out on ball hockey nights. And as a result I was not able to take my son to this once-in-a-life-time event. No worries mates but keep your heads up when you're trying to fish the ball out of the corner this spring boys...)

Digression you are my middle name... But the wine, yes the wine. And the information from the tasting sheets...

The theme was Shiraz. Otherwise known as Sheer Ass. (Or is that the name of the girl who danced on Shane's lap at the Vegas tournament?) In France, the Motherland of Wine, it is originally know as Syrah. Pronounced Sir-Ah.

Here are the wines now, then:

1. Glen Eldon Dry Bore 2004 Barossa Australia 14.5% alc $27.55

2. Landskroon South Africa 2004 Paul de Villiers 14% alc $18.65

3. Rutherford Hill Merlot Napa Valley California 2003 14.2% alc. $27.55

4. Heartland Director's Cut 2005 Langhorne Creek Limestone Coast South Australia 15.9% alc $32.50.

5. Yvon Mau 2006 Shiraz France 13% alc. $9.20

6. d'Arenberg McLaren Vale d'Arry's Original Shiraz Grenache 2005 14.5% alc $19.60

And here's the video evidence of how the players played them:

~ Playing The Wine Game ~

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And here is the text version of the player's picks:

Cabernet Chris's Rankings:

1. Yvon Mau 2006 Shiraz France 13% alc. $9.20

2. d'Arenberg McLaren Vale d'Arry's Original Shiraz Grenache 2005 14.5% alc $19.60

3. Heartland Director's Cut 2005 Langhorne Creek Limestone Coast South Australia 15.9% alc $32.50.

4. Rutherford Hill Merlot Napa Valley California 2003 14.2% alc. $27.55

5. Landskroon South Africa 2004 Paul de Villiers 14% alc $18.65

6. Glen Eldon Dry Bore 2004 Barossa Australia 14.5% alc $27.55

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Cristal Chambers' Rankings:

1. Glen Eldon Dry Bore 2004 Barossa Australia 14.5% alc $27.55

2. d'Arenberg McLaren Vale d'Arry's Original Shiraz Grenache 2005 14.5% alc $19.60

3. Heartland Director's Cut 2005 Langhorne Creek Limestone Coast South Australia 15.9% alc $32.50.

4. Rutherford Hill Merlot Napa Valley California 2003 14.2% alc. $27.55

5. Yvon Mau 2006 Shiraz France 13% alc. $9.20

6. Landskroon South Africa 2004 Paul de Villiers 14% alc $18.65

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Stevie Sancerre's Rankings:

1. Heartland Director's Cut 2005 Langhorne Creek Limestone Coast South Australia 15.9% alc $32.50.

2. Rutherford Hill Merlot Napa Valley California 2003 14.2% alc. $27.55

3. d'Arenberg McLaren Vale d'Arry's Original Shiraz Grenache 2005 14.5% alc $19.60

4. Landskroon South Africa 2004 Paul de Villiers 14% alc $18.65

5. Yvon Mau 2006 Shiraz France 13% alc. $9.20

6. Glen Eldon Dry Bore 2004 Barossa Australia 14.5% alc $27.55

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Johnny Vinovich's Rankings:

1. Landskroon South Africa 2004 Paul de Villiers 14% alc $18.65

2. d'Arenberg McLaren Vale d'Arry's Original Shiraz Grenache 2005 14.5% alc $19.60

3. Glen Eldon Dry Bore 2004 Barossa Australia 14.5% alc $27.55

4. Yvon Mau 2006 Shiraz France 13% alc. $9.20

5. Heartland Director's Cut 2005 Langhorne Creek Limestone Coast South Australia 15.9% alc $32.50.

6. Rutherford Hill Merlot Napa Valley California 2003 14.2% alc. $27.55

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Pinot Paul's Rankings:

1. d'Arenberg McLaren Vale d'Arry's Original Shiraz Grenache 2005 14.5% alc $19.60

2. Glen Eldon Dry Bore 2004 Barossa Australia 14.5% alc $27.55

3. Rutherford Hill Merlot Napa Valley California 2003 14.2% alc. $27.55

4. Landskroon South Africa 2004 Paul de Villiers 14% alc $18.65

5. Yvon Mau 2006 Shiraz France 13% alc. $9.20

6. Heartland Director's Cut 2005 Langhorne Creek Limestone Coast South Australia 15.9% alc $32.50.

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So what does it all mean then?

Well...on average the group of five preferred #6 the d'Arenberg McLaren Vale d'Arry's Original Shiraz Grenache 2005. You'll note that it was not a pure Shiraz and that it was high in alcohol at 14.5%. And at $19.60 it was also not the most expensive wine in the batch: a reassuring thought for those of us who like to drink quality wine on a daily basis.

In terms of the most expensive wine, the Heartland Director's Cut 2005 Langhorne Creek Limestone Coast South Australia at $32.50, Stevie Sancerre was the lone man to pick the high alcohol wine (15.9% alc) as his number one.

Numbers aside, here's some more video complete with adjectives and descriptive language, demonstrating how the boys "felt" about the wines:

~ Feelings ~

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As you have seen, while I felt a bit off my game tonight, there were no real losers on this the 3rd meeting of the WPBHL Wine Club.

When you have great people earnestly striving to find the greatness in wine, you have only victory.