Vine to dine
By Peter Burke
Most of you will have heard the expression – a little knowledge is a dangerous thing – and without doubt this is as relevant to wine as it is to most things.
My reason for bringing this to your attention is simply that earlier this week I was asked to organise a blind tasting of Bordeaux wines for a group of novices and experts. For those of you who are unsure of what a blind tasting involves, this tasting included a wide price span of Bordeaux red wines from £3.79 to £9.99, off sales pricing. The wines were decanted into numbered bottles, all the same type, and those who were tasting had to make comment on appearance, nose, palate, come to conclusions and guess what RRP the wines would sell at in local off-licenses.
To my surprise, the vast majority agreed on three of the selection, both on price and quality and the findings were as follows:
Under £7: both for quality and price Château Peyau 2002 came out tops. On the palate the wine was supple and long lasting with flavours of figs and morello cherries. This wine is available to taste at a Winemark store in your area.
Under £10: the other two wines rated very highly were Château Bel Air la Poncher 2004 which scored 92 Robert Parker points (Robert Parker is a leading wine expert and scored wines out of 100). Good presence on the palate with a long finish.
Château de La Ligne 2004 (which won a silver medal in Paris a few weeks ago): a well structured wine with great length and long finish on the palate. Excellent balance of fruit and tannin. Both wines are available from independent off-licence outlets.
