A Successful Tasting Evening Indeed

What do you do when you have 52 wines to taste and 10 great palates in the same room? You take your time (6 hours total), savor the moment (literally) and just hang on to enjoy the ride!

(Thanks to Page Wine Cellars for hosting)

That's exactly what we did on the evening of April 2 for the second Local Wino tasting panel where wine experts came together to help us evaluate wines for the next catalog and web phase launch. It was actually hard work and kudos goes out to everyone who participated along with all the wineries that contributed their wines for the event. (See the panel video intros here).

Cutting to the chase, the main purpose of holding a blind tasting like this is to create discussion as we taste through all the wines as to the consumer appeal of each of the wines within their respective categories. We tasted in six distinct categories - 1) Sauvignon Blanc, 2) Chardonnay, 3) Pinot Noir, 4) Red blends, 5) Cabernet Sauvignon < $50, and 6) Cabernet Sauvignon > $50 (under $100). No points ratings per-se, rather open forum discussion about the purpose of each wine.

When you have so many differing palates in the room, it is hard to get too many clear consensus winners, and there were many factors considered in tasting through each category. However, the one primary goal was to make sure we were thinking of things from the consumer point of view of how approachable (i.e. palate friendly) the wines were related to the varietal or category. Additionally, the wines had to be great overall values for the varietal represented. That being said, there we several good discoveries and at least (2) wines in each category that were clear favorites of the group and many others that had above average marks or comments.

We will be zeroing in on the final (24) wines we are going to choose for the next phase in the coming weeks. These wines will be announced here once all the notes are gathered, the wines revisited in some cases (i.e. singly tasted again) and details of each wine discussed directly with the producers to insure proper availability to the consumer.

Make no mistake, all of these are special wines that combine outstanding quality, great values and ideal varietals (or blends) organized categorically for the consumer to enjoy. Now the real work begins in pairing down to the wines best suited for the Local Wino offer wine enthusiasts everywhere.

Stay tuned...

Cheers,
Local Wino Team