Game #5: Kiwi Ozzy Cabs

A nice little tasting boys.

We welcomed one new member - The Prime Minister - and he you will recall had to recuse himself due to his winery owning New Zealand Papa.

Nice to try meat instead of cheese; sorry about the lack of heat on the grill - just fixed it tonight: an error in putting together the sparkling new bbq: a crimped propane hose. Could do meat again next time. The grill hits 550 to 600 degrees now!

But enough about meat. Let's talk about wine and who won tonight in Game #5 of the Wine "League": it was definitely the night of the underdog.

Here are the wines that were presented to us by Pinot Paul:

A. CJ Pask Hawkes Bay Gimblett Road New Zealand Cabernet Merlot Malbec 2004 14% alc $19.80
B. Wolf Blass South Australia Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $25.95
C. Bendigo Langanook Cabernet Sauvignon (Merlot & Cabernet Franc) 2004 Australia 14% alc $40.95
D. Martin Ray Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 California 13.8% alc $38.70
E. Barossa Vines (Grant Burge) Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $9.95
F. Craggy Range Winery Merlot Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels Vineyard 2002 New Zealand 13.5% alc $42.65

And here's how we individually ranked them:

(For this blog we will be bolding in red the most inexpensive wine)

(Transcribed tasting notes are in quotes)

Cabernet Chris:

1. Barossa Vines (Grant Burge) Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $9.95: "Smooth. Smooth. Light."

2. Wolf Blass South Australia Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $25.95: "Fruity bouquet. Better second time. Smoother. Bitter."

3. Craggy Range Winery Merlot Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels Vineyard 2002 New Zealand 13.5% alc $42.65: "OK. Oaky bouquet. Full. Good."

4. Martin Ray Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 California 13.8% alc $38.70: "Alcohol bouquet. Ugh. Bitter on second."

5. CJ Pask Hawkes Bay Gimblett Road New Zealand Cabernet Merlot Malbec 2004 14% alc $19.80: "Nice. Chocolate. Bad chocolate."

6. Bendigo Langanook Cabernet Sauvignon (Merlot & Cabernet Franc) 2004 Australia 14% alc $40.95: "Crazy bouquet. Tart start/finish - as in nut. This is a nutty wine."

The Prime Minister:

1. Barossa Vines (Grant Burge) Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $9.95: "Pepper. (Shiraz) Mellow finish."

2. CJ Pask Hawkes Bay Gimblett Road New Zealand Cabernet Merlot Malbec 2004 14% alc $19.80: "Spicy. Peppery Nose."

3. Bendigo Langanook Cabernet Sauvignon (Merlot & Cabernet Franc) 2004 Australia 14% alc $40.95: "Black currant nose. Mellow. Merlot."

4. Martin Ray Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 California 13.8% alc $38.70: "Earthy. Mouldy. A bit thin."

5. Craggy Range Winery Merlot Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels Vineyard 2002 New Zealand 13.5% alc $42.65: "Cabby nose. Full."

6. Wolf Blass South Australia Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $25.95: "Earthy. Slighty sour notes on finish."

Pinot Paul:

1. Barossa Vines (Grant Burge) Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $9.95: "Green. Stemy. Med finish. Very Nice."

2. Craggy Range Winery Merlot Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels Vineyard 2002 New Zealand 13.5% alc $42.65: "Vegetal. Wolf Blass. Decent."

3. Wolf Blass South Australia Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $25.95: "Green stemy nose. Nice finish."

4. Martin Ray Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 California 13.8% alc $38.70: "Cabernet. Bit tannic. Little nasty."

5. CJ Pask Hawkes Bay Gimblett Road New Zealand Cabernet Merlot Malbec 2004 14% alc $19.80: "Short finish. Little fruit."

6. Bendigo Langanook Cabernet Sauvignon (Merlot & Cabernet Franc) 2004 Australia 14% alc $40.95: "Bright fruit nose. Jammy."


Stevie Sancerre:

1. Bendigo Langanook Cabernet Sauvignon (Merlot & Cabernet Franc) 2004 Australia 14% alc $40.95: "Fruity. Sweet. Smooth."

2. Barossa Vines (Grant Burge) Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $9,95: "Balanced nose. Sweet chocolate. Balanced. Nice. Good texture."

3. CJ Pask Hawkes Bay Gimblett Road New Zealand Cabernet Merlot Malbec 2004 14% alc $19.80: "Nice nose. Lightest."

4. Wolf Blass South Australia Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $25.95: "Light nose. Viscous. Three dimensional. Spicy. Good finish."

5. Martin Ray Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 California 13.8% alc $38.70: "Nose a bit thin."

6. Craggy Range Winery Merlot Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels Vineyard 2002 New Zealand 13.5% alc $42.65: "Chocolate. Low viscosity. Spicy. Sour."


Cristal Chambers:

1. CJ Pask Hawkes Bay Gimblett Road New Zealand Cabernet Merlot Malbec 2004 14% alc $19.80: "Great nose. Fine. Excellent." (Cris - I had trouble reading you're f*cking beautiful but obscure handwriting.)

2. Wolf Blass South Australia Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $25.95: "Good stuff. Butterscotch nose. Delicious finish."

3. Barossa Vines (Grant Burge) Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $9.95: "Thin nose. Coming alive on 2nd taste. Solid. Dies..."

4. Bendigo Langanook Cabernet Sauvignon (Merlot & Cabernet Franc) 2004 Australia 14% alc $40.95: "Pro-style nose (?). Different from 1 & 2."

5. Martin Ray Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 California 13.8% alc $38.70: "Cheap Trick nose (?) Cheap."

6. Craggy Range Winery Merlot Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels Vineyard 2002 New Zealand 13.5% alc $42.65: "Sour nose..."

Johnny Vinovich:

1. Martin Ray Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 California 13.8% alc $38.70: "Candy. Barn nose. Smooth enough."

2. Craggy Range Winery Merlot Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels Vineyard 2002 New Zealand 13.5% alc $42.65: "Nose. Dry. Old Worldish. Sour."

3. CJ Pask Hawkes Bay Gimblett Road New Zealand Cabernet Merlot Malbec 2004 14% alc $19.80: "Flatter. Colour. Dark. Brown."

4. Barossa Vines (Grant Burge) Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $9.95: "Barn. Licorice. Baco."

5. Bendigo Langanook Cabernet Sauvignon (Merlot & Cabernet Franc) 2004 Australia 14% alc $40.95: "Nose - lolipop. Black. Nice spice. Can't believe the candy."

6. Wolf Blass South Australia Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $25.95: "Flat. Full Colour."

- - -

And here is our collective scoring of the wines (Lowest number denotes highest rank):

12 Points:
E. Barossa Vines (Grant Burge) Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $9.95

19 Points:
A. CJ Pask Hawkes Bay Gimblett Road New Zealand Cabernet Merlot Malbec 2004 14% alc $19.80

23 Points: (tie):
B. Wolf Blass South Australia Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Australia 14.5% alc $25.95
D. Martin Ray Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 California 13.8% alc $38.70

24 Points:
F. Craggy Range Winery Merlot Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels Vineyard 2002 New Zealand 13.5% alc $42.65

25 Points:
C. Bendigo Langanook Cabernet Sauvignon (Merlot & Cabernet Franc) 2004 Australia 14% alc $40.95

- - -

On a personal note, I feel satisfied that I ranked the cheapest wine lower than everyone else and that I had the much maligned Wolf Blast brand at dead last.

But what does THAT mean?

Who knows, who knows.

Who wins? Who loses? In this wine "league".

Perhaps this category of wine is the loser?

I said on the night of the tasting that perhaps the fact that the cheapest wine collectively rated as the best wine was in fact an indictment of all Kiwi-Oz Cabernet wines but who am I to say that?

Last month I couldn't pick out an $88 dollar Barolo - my favourite wine of all time.

I am no sommelier.

I am a mere drinker. And a mere blogger.

Perhaps the lawyers or poets in the group could weigh in with judgements on what happened with this tasting.

The one thing I can say is that those steaks that Stevie Sancerre brought were mighty fine tasting...

And next time my bbq will be sizzling hot....