The Vintage Wine Tasters met this past Wednesday for their bi-monthly blind wine tasting to taste and judge six Chardonnay wines priced under $20. Our host Ray decided to mix things up a little so he purchased three oaked Chardonnays and three unoaked Chardonnay wines. As per usual, the wines were bagged and scored using a unique 25-point scoring system. There were four wines from California one from Australia, and one from France. Read the rest of this entry »

You have to really love Zinfandel wine to go to this event. Parking is a headache (field day for the meter maids) and with the giant afternoon crowds you sometimes have to claw and kick your way to the front of the line to get your taste of a favorite wine. We are one of the lucky ones who get to go in early at the trade and media session which begins two hours before the public gets their shot. Since most wine drinkers these days are buying wines for under $20, we thought we would concentrate on finding the best Zinfandel wines in that price range. There were three tasters in our group and we probably only got to taste wines from about one-third of all the wineries that were pouring. We did find some gems under $20 and a few that were $21 to $25 that were so good, we had to list those as well. Here are our favorites of the Zinfandel Grand Tasting of 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

The Vintage Wine Tasters met this past Wednesday for their bi-monthly blind wine tasting to taste and judge six Syrah/Shiraz wines priced under $20. Our host was Vintage club member Jim who did an extraordinary job researching and selecting six excellent examples of Syrah wine. As per usual, the wines were bagged and scored using a unique 25-point scoring system. There were four wines from California and two from Australia. Interestingly, the two Australian wines were our first and second choices. The Results:
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Once again the Vintage Wine Tasters discover yet another amazing wine bargain. This time, a Pinot Noir wine for $17 from a wine-growing area in California unknown to almost any wine expert or critic. The Vintage Wine Tasters met on this past Wednesday and tasted six highly-touted bargain Pinot Noir wines. We wanted to see if we could find a delicious Pinot Noir for under $25. Any Pinot Noir wine lover knows what a difficult task this is as prices have soared ever since the “Sideways” movie glorified Pinot Noir and knocked poor Merlot for a loop. Read the rest of this entry »

To recap, the Vintage Wine Tasters, a group of non-industry people who love and enjoy wine, have been meeting informally for many years to taste and judge wine. At our previous meeting in June, we decided it was time to go public with our wine judging expertise. We posted the ratings for six Zinfandel wines we evaluated that day in June on this blog.

Little did we know what would happen next. Within minutes of the blog post, the social media sites sent out a wave of comments and tweets that reverberated throughout the online wine world. Within days we were inundated with tempting offers to be sent samples of wine. Talking notes appeared on wine shelves: “Vintage Wine Tasters Select Sobon Rocky Top as Best Zin.” We were astonished but quite pleased that the wine world was looking for a new voice in wine ratings. About those wine samples! We have agreed, unlike many wine critics, to refuse all samples of wine and vow not to be swayed by any winery, wine shop, or distributor. Read the rest of this entry »

This was the second annual tasting of Spanish and Portuguese varietals made by American wineries. There were about 40 participating wineries in this year’s event and they were pouring mostly Albariño and Verdejo in the whites, and Garnacha and Tempranillo in the reds. Most of the wineries were small and obscure wineries from California. There were a few Oregon wineries and one from Arizona. I would say that at least half of the wineries were new names to me.

Thank goodness I was in the pool of Press attendees who were allowed in two hours before the public. Building A at Fort Mason was jammed even in the press event. I concentrated on red wines only and was able to taste at least one wine from all the participating wineries. Here are my favorites of the tasting. Read the rest of this entry »

On Thursday, a group of seven wine aficionados, who call themselves the Vintage Wine Tasters, gathered together to taste and judge six Zinfandel wines from the 2006 vintage priced under $20. This group of veteran wine drinkers and wine collectors have been meeting informally for years. After much serious discussion, the group determined they needed to impart their expertise and wisdom on the Web 2.0 wine world. This post marks the first official public announcement of their wine tasting and recommendations.

Why go public now? Time is ripe for a new breed of wine critics. People are getting tired of the Robert Parker and the Wine Spectators of the world. It is time for a new voice that rocks the wine world. The Vintage Wine Tasters have years of wine-tasting experience dating back to the days of Hearty Burgundy and Red Mountain wine selling for one dollar a gallon. Read the rest of this entry »