"Definitely a Cab with that structure" opined the young wine buyer to my right. His authoritative declaration swung it for the rest of the group. You could sense the collective anxiety and the look on everyones face spoke volumes. If he's so sure, he must be right seemed to be the unspoken declaration. His gaze swung over towards me. "What do you think?". "Maybe a Merlot, - can't be a Carmenere" I said with as much confidence as I could muster. It was, perhaps inevitably, a Chilean, Central valley Carmenere.I was at my first Wine Diploma class and we were playing a version of Wine Options, the Antipodean game that poses a series of questions of a blind wine taster such as What's the Grape? Is it New World or Old? Whats the age?. The point is well made. Don't guess, practice describing wines accurately and follow the logic based on what you know.
Which brings me to the wine above, one of a number I've bought to practice tasting "classic" wines as a reference point. So for the record, this is clear, medium ruby in colour, has a clean fragrance of youthful crushed dark fruit and vanilla oak on the nose, medium (slightly green?) tannins with high acidity, medium length and is of good quality. Ready to drink and will improve a little in the bottle. Definitely a light Merlot/Cab blend and a tribute to the consistency of the Wine Society to be able to offer this at £6 a bottle. Drink with any roast meat.
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