This tasting was conducted blind with the only rule being the wines had to be nonfrench versions of Grenache-Syrah-Mouvedre blends or CdP wannabes
Wine A
Deep crimson red with a touch of bricking at the edge. Intense nose of big meat (Canadian bacon – Tom and ham hocks –James) and slight floral tinges, possibly violets. Great balance on the midpalate with powerful but smooth velvet-gloved but iron-fisted tannins, dark fruit and nice acidity. Nice long finish with echoes of dark fruit and tannins. A seamless wine with a total package of sensory impressions from the color, nose, midpalate and on through the finish. Definitely full-bodied this is a BIG wine!
With food: not much change but still great. Best with roast beef.
Wine B
Deep purple red color. Probably the darkest of the wines. Nose of black cherry, cassis and a bit overripe black fruit. Nice fruity midpalate with good balance of tannins, fruit and acidity. Nice ripe to slightly overripe dark fruit (especially black cherry). Finish is medium long but a bit short and has some alcoholic heat and bitterness to it. No echoes of fruit. However, this wine changed with time and developed into a much more complex and fruity wine.
With food: Great with the beef gravy which enhances the sweet fruit of the wine.
Wine C
Deep garnet red color. Interesting nose of spices (especially black pepper) with a black fruit underlay. Definitely most interesting nose. Nice balanced midpalate of dark fruit with a finish that is a bit disjointed at first. Nose really changed with time, after 1 hour a burnt caramel fragrance was predominant and after 2 hours sour cherries appeared.
With food: Good but not exceptional.
Bonus wine: Not GSM, but 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
Dark violet color… over extracted? Rich chocolate and coffee nose with hints of bacon and meat plus alcohol heat. Opulent midpalate of sweet black fruit especially chocolate covered blackberries. Still it has nice balance. Fruity medium to long finish. This a hedonistic wine that is an excellent sipper with finely grained tannins. This a Brian Loring wine as it’s all about fruit.
Wines rated:
All three agreed: #1 Wine A, #2 Wine B, #3 Wine C.
Origin guesses:
Tom: A: Australia, B: Australia, C: Callifornia
Bob: A: California, B: Australia, C: ?
James: A: Australia, B: Australia, C: California
Most improved wine with time C > B > A > Bonus, but Wine A still the best.
NOTE: Here is where opening my GSM a 24 hours ahead may have been an advantage. The Holy Trinity was a huge wine. It may have been closed at opening on the same day. It had sufficient time to air out since it was opened over 24 hours before the tasting. Thus the minimal change with time and mature taste at tasting time.
Wines revealed:
Wine A: 2002 Barossa ‘The Holy Trinity’ Grant Burge, 39% Grenache, 36% Shiraz, 25% Mouvedre, 14% abv (my wine)
Wine B: 2005 Cotes de Tablas, Tablas Creek Vineyard, Grenache 43%, Mouvedre 24%, Syrah 18%, Cannoise 15% 14.8% abv (Bob’s wine)
Wine C: 2002 Le Cigare Volant, Bonny Doon, 36% Mouvedre, 34% Syrah, 22% Grenache, 7% Cinsault, 1% Cannoise, 13.5% abv (James’ wine)
Bonus wine: 2001 Partal Bullas Crianza Bodega Balcona, 60% Mouvedre with some syrah, tempranillo, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. 14.5% abv