Our challenge this month was to bring a bottle of wine that would pair with filet au poivre. David decided to make his classic version that included green peppercorns, brandy, shallots, and cream. Not having the desire (or perhaps skill) to cook this for six people, we had Ali & Andy over for dinner, with […]
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The last time we blind tasted Barolo at our monthly gathering was early in the pandemic, where due to social distancing rules we had only four tasters, seated at opposite ends of our table. So, we were eager to bring this topic back with the full complement of tasters and enjoy one our favorite appellations.
Back in January 2020 we told our guest tasters to bring a bottle of wine that would pair well with a classic cheese fondue. It was a departure from our usual format, and only included four wines, but was a fun exercise in discovering what might be a good match for melted dairy goodness. Fast forward to
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Our second comparison of Ribera del Duero wines resulted in something very unusual: Our preference was for bottles having older vintages, in specific order. That is, our favorite bottle was easily the oldest vintage, followed in second place by one five years younger, then third place by one four years more recent. And so on.
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We admit it. We are skeptical of orange wines as a whole, since experience has taught us that more often than not, one ends up with a funky, cloudy, discordant glass of wine that has more in common with a hard cider than a pure expression of a grape. Very little about this night’s battle
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We are big fans of all types of Sauvignon Blanc here at davidjohnhansen.com, so it’s a treat to sample six bottles from around the globe in a side-by-side format. Overall, there were clear similarities with these wines, showing grassy/herbal notes along with citrus/tropical fruit flavors, but we were also impressed by how different they were
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The July blind tasting was slightly different than our usual format, where instead of comparing wines from the same appellation, we selected whites produced on different islands across the globe. Credit goes to Jamie for coming up with this idea, and although these bottles mostly tasted very different from each other, many had some similar
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May was supposed to be the month of the Domestic Rosé Battle, comparing dry, non-sparkling rosés produced anywhere in the United States. But through some manner of miscommunication or mix-up, Ali & Andy brought two French examples to the table, perhaps out of reflex action. So we marched our blind tasting palates forward and without hesitation,
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It’s time to crown Ali with the title “Brunello Queen”, because this was the third Brunello Brawl she has won in row, after coming out on top in May 2018 and November 2011. Her winning bottle this time gained three first place votes and two second place votes, for a total of 26 points. Ali was
Brunello di Montalcino Brawl #4 Read More »
In a departure from our usual blind tasting format, we took up Ali’s suggestion to have a sampler of wines from the venerable winery Ridge Vineyards, poured without cover of a brown bag. We pooled our resources and put together a lineup of various styles of wine, both white and red. We’ve been fans
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