OCTOBER TASTING NOTES:

"National Tasting" Caifornian Cabernet Sauvignon, October 18th, 2003

Tasting Wines:

1) 1999 Geyser Peak "Block Selection" $27
2) 2000 Geyser Peak $11
3) 1999 Sterling $24
4) 2000 Sterling $27
5) 2000 Estancia $11
6) 1999 Estancia $17***
7) 1999 Hess Collection $29**
8) 2000 Hess Select $12*
Favorites:
* Voted #1
** Voted #2
*** Voted #3

Program Notes:
The National Tasting consists of a selection of wines that are tasted by many chapters of the AWS so that a comparison of scores can be made across the country. This year's theme was Californian Cabernet from four wineries, comparing the 1999 and 2000 vintages. The wines were tasted blind in pairs representing a given winery in the two vintages. In the case of the Geyser Peak and Hess, the vintage comparison was somewhat confounded by different grades of wine as it was not possible to purchase the exact match in both vintages. In general the 1999 vintage wines were preferred based on the voting at the end of the meeting. This would have been expected since 1999 was a much better vintage than 2000 in California (proving that vintage DOES matter in California). The favorite wine, however, came from 2000 and was one of the cheapest wines in the tasting.

Dave Spulick collected the individual scores and calculated statistics on the results. Max and Min values for each wine showed dramatic variations across the tasting group, clearly illustrating that one wine does not fit all palates! The top score for all the wines fell in the 17-19 range, and the lowest scores for the same wines fell in the 4-10 range. Interestingly, the preference for the '99 vintage displayed in the favorite-wine voting session at the end of the evening was not nearly so pronounced in the statistics for the individual scores.

Committee:
Ken and Eileen Beard, Peter Frisch, John and Sue Habbersett, Dave Spulick, Brian Thomas

Chapter Business:

" Mailing Dues:
Thanks to all the members who paid their $5. We will continue to collect this amount up till the end of the year so please either send your check (payable to AWS) to Rich and Pam Hemmenway, 42 Burritt Road, Hilton, NY 14468-9768 or pay a chapter officer at the next tasting you attend before the end of the year. New members are exempt from this payment.

" 2004 Chapter Officers
Nancy Hammond announced that Brian Thomas had agreed to stand for the President's position, Tone Kelly had agreed to run for Secretary, and Rich and Pam Hemmenway had kindly agreed to stay on a second year as Treasurers.

" Tastings for the Next Season:
There will be a sign up sheet for next season's tastings at the November meeting. This is the schedule as it currently stands.

DATE	TOPIC	CHAIRPERSON
March	Zinfandel Ranges from Ravenswood and Ridge	Brian Thomas
April	Value Reds	Jan Klapetzky
May	Dinner in Olde England at Warfield's Restaurant	Lorraine Hems et al.
June	Alsace (& NY)	Peter Czora
September	Night in Provence	Holly Howell
October	Switzerland	Gerhard Klose & Brian. Thomas
November	N.Y. Reds	Tone Kelly
December	Christmas Party
January	Shiraz	Fred & Molly Fant
February	Home Wine Making	Peter Frisch

UPCOMING TASTINGS:

December 6th Holiday Party Dinner (Flier enclosed in this mailing)
(Sam and Marissa Andolino)

January 17th The making of a Meritage (a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot etc):Peter Bell (Fox Run Winery)