AWS National Tasting Project 2019

Though interesting, I’m not sure if anyone got any sense of the terroir.

The American Wine Society coordinates a National Tasting Project every year.  Each chapter tastes and rates the same six wines as every other chapter in the US and other countries where these wines are available.  The following notes are those from the West Michigan Chapter tasting panel  number 2 (13 participants).  This year, the subject matter revolved around the sub appellations or AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) within the larger appellation of Napa Valley.   There was no attempt to align varietal or producer, so, each wine tasted represented a brand or producer, a varietal, a vintage and significantly a Napa Valley sub appellation such as Calistoga, St. Helena, Rutherford, Oakville, Stag’s Leap and Los Carneros.   Because all of these appellations are located on the Napa Valley floor, I threw in a Chardonnay from Spring Mountain as a warm up wine as people arrived and got settled.   All of the wines were opened two hours prior to tasting them.

Each taster was given a map of Napa Valley as well as a description of each of the appellations from which each of the wines in the tasting originate including information on soil types, temperatures, elevation, fog cover and the most frequently encountered varietals within that appellation.   All of the wines were in bags to keep all information other than the sub appellations hidden.   I’m not sure what the AWS committee was thinking regarding three or four variables, but, being blind or not blind probably didn’t matter.   No one including myself had any feel regarding terroir identification, vintage, varietal or brand.  It could have been a double blind mish mash of anything as far as any of us were concerned.   In my opinion, if we were trying to show that each terroir has a special flavor, we should have tasted wines, all of the same vintage, same varietal with at least a pair of each sub appellation.   I once participated in a Napa Valley hillside vs. valley floor wine seminar.   Though we did have multiple brands, all were the same varietal and vintage with some 25+ wines.   With that many wines, a definite pattern took shape and the taster’s ability to put the wines into two distinct categories was statistically significant.  By the way, with the exception of the warm up, the RM Pinot Noir and the Hoopes Cab, none of the other wines list a specific sub appellation on the label.   Hopefully, the AWS committee had inside information in coming up with these wines which I assume were chosen to demonstrate their specific terroir.   I list that sub appellation in parentheses because I am simply assuming the AWS committee did their homework. The prices may not be 100% accurate.   So, regardless of the purpose or pointlessness of the tasting, here are the results:

WARM UP WINE

2016 Smith-Madrone Chardonnay, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain, 14.4% ABV, $47  Although we didn’t score this warm up wine, I did solicit comments.   In spite of the copious oak treatment, it was very fresh and citrus-like.   The oak does more to broaden the palate than impose a woody flavor.  The finish was likewise, long and lush with a refreshing zip.  Overall, I believe it would have come in with a score of gold medal*, had it been scored.

AWS NATIONAL TASTING PROJECT

UPDATE: The final national scores have been published. CWJ is the average score given by the AWS Certified Wine Judges nationwide and AWS is the average score given by all American Wine Society members nationwide.

2017 St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley (Rutherford?), 12.5% ABV, $18  This wine offers up a fine fresh clean nose; more like Bordeaux than is typical of California or New Zealand.  The mouth feel is crisp without being acid.  The balance is very appealing.  My score 15.8, group average score 17.2,  SILVER MEDAL CWJ 16.4 / AWS 15.8

2017 Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir, Napa Valley, Carneros, 13.5% ABV, $26  Due to a couple of low scores, this wine came in “last” even though most of the tasters liked it quite well.   I felt it perfectly demonstrated cool climate Pinot Noir in every sense.  Though not exactly my favorite wine either, I cannot deny the rich Pinot smell of earth, cherries and buttermilk paired with very ample fine tannic silkiness and rich long finish.   My score 17 points, group average score 16.8, SILVER MEDAL CWJ 16.1 / AWS 15.4

2015 Whitehall Lane Tre Leoni Red Blend, Napa Valley (St. Helena?), 14.7% ABV, $29  The deep red-black color and fine aroma invite the fresh, plump mouth coating texture.  It feels like there is more to come, though just a bit closed at the moment.  My score 16 points, group average score 18.2, GOLD MEDAL CWJ 16.1 / AWS 15.9

2015 Stag’s Leap Winery Petite Sirah, Napa Valley (Stag’s Leap?), 14.5% ABV, $36  The color is absolutely black!   Yet, it is hardly over the top by any means.  The aroma is fine and elegant with plums, cherries and very ripe black berries.  It has a certain “tasted in the winery’s cellar” appeal to it.   Like the nose, it is light feeling in the mouth finely balancing weight with fresh juicy fruit texture carrying nicely though to the finish.  My score 18, group average score 18.2, GOLD MEDAL CWJ 16.1 / AWS 15.9

2014 Summers Estate Wines Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Calistoga?), 14.2% ABV, $30  Here’s another wine with a rich black-red robe and super elegant currant, cherry and cedar nuances in the nose with jammy, yet fresh, long, classy, finesse filled texture on the palate.  My score 17.9, group average score 18, GOLD MEDAL CWJ 16.2 / AWS 16.5

2014 Hoopes Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Oakville, 14.9% ABV, $59  It’s never easy to justify the price, but this is a truly beautiful Cab with enough maturity to show class and complexity with a mouth feel that is both plump and edgy while balancing powerful yet smooth tannins throughout.  My score17, group average score 19, GOLD MEDAL CWJ 16.7 / AWS 16.7

*Using the AWS 20 point system, a wine scoring 18-20 is gold, 16-17.9 is silver, 14-15.9 is bronze and anything below 14 is not awarded a medal.

Enjoy in Good Health!

A. Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner