April TASTING NOTES:

Value Reds -April 17, 2004

Entry Wine:
2002 Forestville Merlot $3.99 21 votes

Tasting Wines:
1) 2001 Queen of Hearts Pinot Noir $9.99 0 votes

2) 2001 (not the 2000 listed in the full list) Smoking Loon Syrah, CA $6.99 14 votes

3) 2002 (not the 2000 listed in the full list) Crystal Valley Cellars Syrah $11.99 3 votes

4) 2002 Goats do Roam, S. Africa $8.49 3 votes

5) 2000 Apollonio Terrragnolo Primitivo, Italy $9.99 17 votes

6) 2001 Cline Zinfandel, CA $8.99 12 votes

7) 2001 Castle Rock Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa $10.99 22 votes

8) 1999 Amberhill Raymond Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon $10.49 15 votes

9) 2001 J. Lohr, Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles $11.99 24 votes

10) 2000 Ch. Les Tours Seguy Cote de Bourg Bordeaux $9.99 1 votes

Best Wine: #9 with 24 votes
2nd Wine: #7 with 22 votes
3rd Wine: Entry with 21 votes

There appeared to be three major voting clusters. The top 3 wines had 21-24 votes. There were 4 in the middle with 12-17 votes. There were 4 wines that clearly no one liked - with 0-3 votes.

Program Notes:

Fred Fant introduced the evening and gave a brief overview the wines we would be tasting and the process used to select the wines.

What was unusual about this tasting was that it was a blind tasting in that the wines were not identified up front. However, everyone was given a list of the 32 wines that were evaluated to select the entry wine and the 10 other wines. The eclectic list of 32 was chosen

(program notes continued)

based upon either consistent good reviews or from personal recommendation from one of the committee members. All of these wines were chosen as they were priced under $15.00 The pre-tasting for the committee was a long ordeal in that these 32 wines were tasted blind and because of the large number it wasn't an easy undertaking. The full list of 32 wines were provided for everyone but because of the large number of wines were from many regions and many grape types, it wasn't very helpful as a guide to help everyone. For those who don't have a copy of the list or would like an extra copy - contact Fred Fant.

Several notes of caution were mentioned by the committee. There can be significant variation from year to year with some of these wines. So if you find a different vintage of one of these, try a bottle to see if you like it.
Some of the Highlights

" The 2000 Bordeaux (#10) was tannic, closed and somewhat dry - unusual as this was from a good vintage.
" The wines were grouped by Varietal type, but this wasn't obvious in the beginning. Because of the variation in regions for some of these wines it was difficult to determine which Varietal the wines were.
" The entry wine was the #3 favorite. One possible reason was that this wine was open to the air much longer than the others so it had time to open up and develop. The other wines were opened just before pouring. For many of the wines time was required to fully identify and appreciate the flavors.
" There appeared to be three major voting clusters. There were 4 wines that clearly no one liked - with 0-3 votes. There were 4 in the middle with 12-17 votes. The top 3 wines had 21-24 votes.

Committee:
Jan (up the tree and on his back) and Elmeda Klapetzky, Fred and Molly Fant, Bill and Sue Fay, Bill and Mary Rochford, John and Mimi Bacilek, Cathy and Dave Seteklenski, Chuck and Joyce Biss, Caroline and Paul Gorski, Tom and Laura Hatch, Steve and Teddi Yuschak

CHAPTER BUSINESS

" May Tasting for Hospital Joe Moore gave a profound and enthusiastic announcement about the upcoming "Taste of Our Community" for the Monroe Community Hospital Foundation. It will be on May 21 from 6-9 pm. Tickets are $40 and can be bought at Marketview Liquor, Wegmans and the Development office of the hospital. The focus will be new world wines with many Finger Lakes wines.

" Many extra 2002 AWS bags available. Angel Nardone announced that she is giving away the extra bags from the 2002 National AWS Convention. Contact her if you want any.

" Our local chapter website is:
www.elmeda.com/awsroch.htm

The site contains will contain newsletters, the latest flier, and a link to the National Chapter website. Please send any comments back to Jan Klapetzky (jank1@eznet.net).

UPCOMING TASTINGS

June 19: Alsace and NY Whites (Pete Czora)