The Wine Evangelist

Weather
Whether the weather be fine
Or whether the weather be not
Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot
We’ll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.

As you’re all aware wine grapes, and therefore wine,  are much dependent on the weather. Too much rain, too little rain, rain too soon, heat, cold, frost…all have an impact on the quality of the grapes from year to year (vintage to vintage).

Depending on where the vineyards are, grapegrowers and winemakers are dealing with too much heat or not enough heat. Most winemakers here in Northern California are predicting a late harvest - two or even three weeks later than usual but most are not terribly forthcoming on what is happening in the vineyard.

Look out! Fred Peterson is stepping up and stepping out. Fred, a long time friend, is one of the most knowledgeable people I know when it comes to vineyards (especially Sonoma County vineyards) and he’s an awesome winemaker too.

Here’s what Fred has to say about 2010.
“Watch what you pray for… your prayers may be answered.” 

After two straight years of below average rainfall and talk of drought, the late winter and spring rains more than made up the rainfall deficit.

That was the good news.  Read the rest here…

As for the Cabernet Shootout, due to weather conditions, we’ve extended our deadline for the receipt of wines. We’ve heard from many of you who have been reticent to ship your wines in the incredible heat that has been plaguing the East and South. We will now be accepting wines for submission until July 23rd. Our incredible panel would love to taste your wines.

P.S. The very cool wine weathervane pictured above can be purchased through Sterling Wine Online

The Cabernet Shootout begins tomorrow with our first tasting of 32 amazing wines.  My taste buds are ready!

Wineries may submit Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Blends to be judges in this unique competition.

Producers from all over the world are submitting their best wines Cabernet Sauvignons and Cabernet Blends to us. But only a few wineries have sent their Cabernet Francs.

If you make an incredible Cabernet Franc, we’d love to taste it!

The most amazing Cabernets are showing up at my door daily. The UPS, Fedex and GSO delivery folks stagger up the steps carrying the wines for the Cabernet Shootout. My family room is piled high with the delivery boxes. Each wine submitted by the wineries is catalogued, sorted, and prepared for the Cabernet Shootout prelims and finals.

We’ve received wines from 30 different appellations worldwide and we’ll still be accepting submissions for another week…Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Blends. Yum!

The quality and notoriety of the wineries who are submitting wines is exciting. Top wineries who have not sent us wines before are sending us wines, and they’re sending us their best! We are honored and very respectful of the wines we receive. Our 40+ panelists are going to be so pleased with the excellent wines that they will be tasting.

Our tasting process is unique within competitions in that it employs the following procedures:

• All wines are tasted blind. (How could you ever do it differently?)
• All wines are tasted without reference to producer, appellation or price.
• Each wine is judged and reviewed on its own merit.
• All wines are tasted by at least two tasting panels before the finals.
• A maximum of 32 wines is tasted per day – four flights of eight wines each. We have arrived at this formula and find that in this format, each wine can be tasted with clarity and concentration without palate fatigue.
• The wines are rated using a 100 point scale. Copious notes are required and the notes and the ratings must have continuity or the scores are not recorded.
• Scores and comments are recorded and reported by gender at the end of the Cabernet Shootout process.
• For the Finals, the wines receiving the highest scores at the end of the prelims process will be placed into flights and evaluated by our team of judges at the finals. Judges, again, will only be asked to taste 32 wines.
• Although we would prefer not to use a point system to rate the wines, we have not come up with an alternative method that allows us to select the top wines that are tasted by our final panel and those that will be tasted by consumers at a very exciting consumer event this fall, in Chicago. (More to come on this soon.)

Follow our Cabernet adventure as we taste old friends and discover lots of new ones.

If you’re a winery and wish to submit your Cab Sauv, Cab Franc or Cab blend register for the Cabernet Shootout – there’s still time.

I’m looking forward to fireworks, barbecues, family, friends, and some great wines this 4th of July weekend.

Lots of friends are going to be stopping by so we’ll have great food and wine to share.

Just like everyone out there, I’m thinking red, white and blue this weekend.

BLUE AND WHITE: Point Reyes Blue Cheese

RED: Deeply hued Cabernets.
Big, wonderful Cabernets to enjoy. I have lots of fabulous Cabs in my cellar (Cabernet Sauvignons, Cabernet Francs and Cabernet Blends) that I’ve collected over the years. In full disclosure, as a wine writer, I am often sent wines to taste by wineries so I usually get to try before I buy. When I find a wine I like, I purchase a minimum of a bottle and sometimes, finances permitting, as much as a case. (No wonder my cellar keeps growing).

Pairing food and wine is my passion. I’ve chosen Cabernet because the juicy burgers and porterhouse steaks that we’re planning to grill are just shouting CABERNET! The cheese is a bit more problematic. The tobacco and cedar flavors often associated with Cabernet Sauvignon can clash with the acids in goat cheese.  Sheep milk cheeses can start out pairing fairly well with Cabernet but leaves a lot to be desired on the finish. Cab Sauv usually works well with cow’s milk cheeses and some milder blues so the Point Reyes Blue is perfect.

In 1776, we declared our independence from King George and the British Empire. This weekend, I’m going to embrace another king…King Cabernet.

The 2009 Cabernet Shootout results are very interesting. It’s been a long time since there was such a difference in scoring between our male and female judges.

It’s not uncommon for the genders to differ on how they perceive and evaluate the aromas and flavors but the scoring is usually fairly consistent. Not this time!

For the first time ever, we will list the wines tasted twice with scores and comments gender so that you can compare and contrast the diversity. Stay tuned…