Weekend Eats Part 3/5: Judgment of Pasadena

Before coming over to my parents' house, my mom had asked me to pick up 6 bottles of "A to Z" Pinot Noir, an Oregon pinot that she likes that is sold at Whole Foods. Now, I have had it several times and it is fine, but it is not that good. And at $20 per bottle, it is certainly no bargain. I picked up two bottles for her and came up with an idea: we would do an informal, blind tasting to see if there is a pinot that my mom might like more than the A to Z.

Later in the day I went by Trader Joe's and picked up three bottles of less-expensive pinot as well as a bottle of Oreana ?, a Santa Barbara red table wine that my friends and I have enjoyed over the years.

I put the wines in bags and numbered them.

"Are you including the A to Z in the tasting?" my mom asked.

"No," I said. "I guess I should have to see if we would have liked that."

"Yes, you should have," she said, "but it's no big deal."

My parents, Elizabeth and I and our friend Carla all tasted them. We made notes and ranked the wines in order of our least-favorite to favorite. I tallied the scores. Would you like to know the results? Okay.

#5 (Dead Last): The A to Z. I know I said I didn't include it in the tasting. I lied. At $20 per bottle, this was by far the least popular of the wines. My dad, mom and I judged it our least favorite, Carla her second-least favorite, and Elizabeth thought it was right in the middle of the 5.

#4: Black Mountain. This was a $5.99 bottle, one that I know I've had somewhere before - although I can't remember where - but I do not think I will ever buy this again. TJ's has too many good wines to bother with this one. It was the least favorite of both Elizabeth and Carla.

#3: Oreana ?. Another $5.99 bottle, everyone detected cherry flavors, and extreme sweetness that mellows after a few minutes. I will certainly continue to buy this wine.

#2: Mission Point. My dad was the last person to finish his scoring. In fact, he took longer than everyone else put together. He takes this stuff seriously. So, while waiting, I tallied up the the scores for the rest of us and realized two wines were tied for first. My dad's voting would determine the winner.

As it turned out, he did not care for this wine. He correctly identified that it was from the central coast, but noted that it is just "much too young" to be taken seriously. And I suppose he has a point, though everyone else liked it more than he did (his was the lowest of the scores this wine received) and it was only $8.99 for the bottle. I would have no trouble purchasing this again, if it weren't for one fact:

#1: Blue Fin. This was the top choice for both my mom and dad, and the second-favorite for me, Carla and Elizabeth. And it's only $3.99 per bottle, the cheapest of the wines we tried. The most common words used on the notes were "mellow" and "light."

My mom was blown away by the results, not just because the pinot she claimed to really like finished in last, but because the clear winner was something that costs one-fifth the price. The six bottles she asked me to get at Whole Foods would have cost $120. Six bottles of Blue Fin, that we all liked much more, would have cost $24.

After our informal tasting, we moved out to the patio and my dad opened a bottle of 1962 Louis Martini Cabernet that he said looked like it might still be good. He was particularly impressed with the condition of the cork. And it was still good, a little harsh on the nose at first but mellowing significantly as it breathed.