You can save a ton of money by choosing a venue that allows you to serve your own wines, because you don't get charged the mark-up - we didn't choose that option, so it was especially important that we got great value.
Rule #1 - In order for our venue to charge us the minimum cost per bottle we were told we could select wines that were up to $13 retail. If we picked more expensive wines the venue would simply charge us more, and we'd like to stick to the minimum while getting the biggest bang for our buck.
The Wines - We selected 5 whites and 5 reds between $9-$14, and invited our friends over for a blind tasting.
The Whites:
- Raimat Albarino Chardonnay, Spain $ 13.99
- Bleasdale, Langhorne Crossing, Verdelho/Riesling/Chardonnay, Australia $ 12.99
- Concha Y Toro, Sauvignon Blanc, Chile $ 12.97
- La Vielle Ferme, Cotes du Luberon, France $ 13.99
- Trapiche, Astica, Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon, Argentina $ 9.00
The Reds:
La Vielle Ferme, Lasira, France $ 13.00
Bleasdale, Langhorne Crossing, Cab Sauv/Shiraz/Petit Verdot, Australia $ 12.99
Viu Manent, Malbec, Chile $ 12.99
Finca Los Primos, Malbec, Argentina $ 9.96
Paiara, Negroamaro/Cab Sauv, Italy $ 9.99
Blind Tastings - EssentialsThere are two basic ways we determined the winner. First, we asked each guest to taste each wine, and rank it 1-5 with one being their favourite. For this to work they had to rank each wine, and not skip any or duplicate any. So no half marks or anything. We kept in anonymous, so people would feel comfortable and not be influenced by each other. Guests tried the wines in whatever order they wished. As a back up, we checked which bottle emptied first, second and so on. And hey, when all else fails, this is a sure-fire was to handle the most casual of blind tastings.
Blind Tastings - How To
- Make a list of the wines, and assign each a number.
- Wrap the bottles in tin foil to cover the labels, and write the number on each bottle.
- Print out slips of paper with the number of each wine on it, and provide one to each guest.
- Ask guests to rank each wine, with #1 being their favourite, and giving the highest number to their least favourite.
- Add up the scores at the end.
- The wine with the lowest total score wins (i.e the wine most guests have ranked as their favourite).
The Winners
These two nearly tied. The Bleasdale is more complex with an elegant texture, and the Trapiche is a ridiculously fantastic value with crowd pleasing hits of tropical fruit.
The Whites:
#1 - Bleasdale, Langhorne Crossing, Verdelho/Riesling/Chardonnay, Australia $ 12.99
#2 - Trapiche, Astica, Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon, Argentina $ 9.00
The Reds:
#1 - Paiara, Negroamaro/Cab Sauv, Italy $ 9.99
#2 - Bleasdale, Langhorne Crossing, Cab Sauv/Shiraz/Petit Verdot, Australia $ 12.99
The Paiara came out on top, but we went with the Bleasdale because it is better balanced, a better sipper and because we felt we would get maximum value (the venue charged us the same end price whether we selected a $10 or $13 wine). You can't go wrong with the Paiara though. It's a bit rustic, but a pretty terrific value for a nice pizza wine our friends loved. The price has gone up a couple of bucks in BC since our tasting, but it's still worth it.
I love this next wine, and will definitely be buying it more often. Classic gooseberry and mouthwatering acidity that reminds me of summer. It scored high among the whites, but we didn't think it's sharp acidity would make it a wedding-style crowd pleaser other than at a warm weather outdoor affair.
#3 - Concha Y Toro, Sauvignon Blanc, Chile $ 12.97
We had high hopes for these wines, but they were completely knocked out of the scoring.
La Vielle Ferme, Cotes du Luberon, France $ 13.99
Raimat Albarino Chardonnay, Spain $ 13.99
Viu Manent, Malbec, Chile $ 12.99
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