This was a close one. Only three points separated our first-place wine from the second-place bottle, and our bronze finisher was behind by only two points. Our winner was also the best value of the night. Indeed, one could purchase two bottles of the winning Margaret River Chardonnay for the price of one bottle […]
World of Chardonnay #3 Read More »
We have had Riesling featured in our blind tastings in the past, but this was our first comprehensive comparison of examples from around the globe. Split evenly between Old World and New World appellations, we aimed to showcase a wide variety of wines, all in dry to nearly dry styles. Our top three wines
This was only our third comparison of Albariño (the last was in June 2019), and while previous competitions included only Iberian versions, this time we threw in two from South America. For the second month in a row, the winner was also the best value of the night, coming in at only $15, a classic
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Somewhat surprisingly, this was our first comparison of six bottles of Chenin Blanc. Paired into teams of two, we pitted Team France against Team South Africa and Team United States. Overall, we were happy with how well these matched with a range of foods, and while all shared similar aromatics and high acids, each
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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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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
Fondue Challenge #2 Read More »
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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Back in May 2011, we had our first World of Syrah tasting, where we pitted six bottles of Syrah/Shiraz from around the globe against each other, with Columbia Valley in Washington coming out on top, and South Africa coming in last. Over a decade later, would we see similar results? No! This time, an intense, texturally