WINE TASTERS’ CHOICE

FLOWERY PROSE and foreign phrases aside, it’s the taste that counts when the cork is popped and you and those dear to you are left with a bottle of wine. With this in mind, we assembled a panel of restaurant owners, wine experts and consumers and seated them, on two occasions, before a selection of wines. We asked our judges first to taste and enjoy, then to describe exactly what they thought of each selection.

In order to keep opinions “above barrel,” the identities and prices of the wines were kept secret until each tasting was complete. Part of the good news gleaned from the panel consensus is that a higher price doesn’t necessarily mean a better wine. One $4 beauty consistently triumphed over others costing three times as much.



OUR FIRST wine-judging affair took place at La Cave Wine Shop and Bar. The 1980 red Bordeaux were the controversial wines subjected to our scrutiny. Those in the know were skeptical of this vintage for several reasons. First, it arrived on the heels of the highly touted 1978 and 1979 vintages, which have produced powerful, long-lasting wines; and second, it is” already being overshadowed by the anticipation of excellent 1981 and 1982 Bordeaux vintages.

But the light, soft 1980 wines are overcoming their image problems, as well as a difficult past that makes it a wonder they exist at all. The spring of 1980 was cold and wet, producing late and thin flowering. Sunlight is essential for three major components of wine: sugar, acidity and tannin. The sugar is necessary for the fermentation process while acidity adds balance and body. The sun of late September and October built up sufficient sugar and acidity, but did not increase the tannins to the levels necessary to produce an intensely fruity, long-lasting wine. There was much irregularity in the readiness of the grapes at harvest. With late, strong sunshine and the use of Sumicley, a recently developed chemical that helped guard against rotting of the young berries, the grapes pulled through. The fruits of 1980 were more than survivors; Wine Spectator deemed the product “excellent, current drinking wine.”

The homeland of these wines are four very different growing areas: the Pomerol, St. Emilion, the M6doc and Graves. The Medoc is probably the best-known viticultural area of Bordeaux. Its best Chateaux were classified by quality in 1855 and, with some notable exceptions, the classified Chateaux generally produce the best wines. A classified wine is easily recognized by the words “Grand Cru Classe en 1855” on its label.

Our judges, however, tasted the wines without the benefit of the labeling information. We based our choice of wines on their availability in Dallas and included a large number of first growths because of their astonishingly low prices (brought on by the 40 percent devaluation of the French franc against the dollar). All the first growths we tasted were less than half the price of their 1978 counterparts. The most expensive first growth in our tasting sells for $34.99.

The results of the tasting showed the Léoville Las-Cases as the best buy; but the Pomerol, La Conseillante, gained the devotion of at least one judge, who placed it a clear first.

Second place went to Chateau Margaux. At $26.49, it’s a bargain by Margaux standards. The Margaux area is known for producing some of the most feminine, elegant wines of the Medoc. Margaux typically have a powerful, flowery bouquet and an elegantly structured flavor with just a hint of violet. With the Chateau Margaux that our panel tasted, the bouquet was at first restrained, but after an hour it opened up to reveal the subtle aromas of cedar intermixed with cherries. The taste of the complex flavors and fruit intensity strongly suggested a fine vineyard that had rigorously selected its vats.

Chateau La Conseillante, a typically soft, well-balanced and rounded wine from the Pomerol, took third place. The fourth-place winner, Cos d’Estournel, had the distinction of being nobody’s favorite, but it was high on everyone’s list. It betrayed its past in the picturesque village of St. Estéphe, an area in the Medoc known for hard wines that usually take many years to mature.

The other wines we tasted placed in the following order: fifth went to Chateau Figeac (St. Emilion); sixth, Chateau Lynch-Bages (Pauillac); seventh, Chateau Cheval Blanc (St. Emilion); eighth, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (Pauillac); ninth, Chateau Beychevelle; 10th, Chateau Lafite (Pauillac); 11th, Chateau Latour (Pauillac); 12th, Chateau Ausone (St. Emilion); and 13th, Chateau Gloria (St. Julien).

It was surprising that low scorers included the first growths Latour, Lafite-Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild (which all hail from the area surrounding France’s most famous wine town, Pauillac) as well as their usually soft and velvety St. Emilion counterparts, Cheval Blanc and Ausone. One judge stood up for the Ausone, insisting that it was rich with fruit and vanilla in the nose and was complex on the palate. He suggests that it only needs to be cellared for one or two years.

Alfonso Cevola, a panel member who works with wholesaler Arwood Stowe, summarized many panelists’ sentiments: “Many of these wines would receive rave reviews if they came from Napa at the same or higher prices.” His comment is proof of the difference that a label can make. After a decade of price escalation that made French wine an expensive substitute for Californian, the tables have turned. Many average-quality California Cabernets sell for more than the respectable Leoville Las-Cases and La Conseillante ($14.99 each). For current drinking, these and many of the other 1980 red Bordeaux are better than the 1978s or 1979s and are well worth sampling.

Overall, the absence of greatness in this vintage should not be interpreted to mean that they are bad wines. Drink them now-possibly in preference to comparably priced California Cabernets-with beef, lamb or venison.

OUR SECOND panel tasting took place at Turtle Cove Restaurant. Our purpose this time was to provide a comparison of the quality and styles of California Pinot Noir. The wines we selected are available in Dallas and are good for current drinking (we believe that buying a red burgundy for today is preferable to investing in untested bottles and trying to guess which will age best in the future).

Pinot Noir produces the best of all red wines; it is the noble grape of the Cote d’Or and is known for its intense, full-bodied, ruby-red wines, its limited production and, as might be expected, its high price. Since the skins are dark, they can impart a great deal of color if left for several days or virtually none if removed within a few hours. One of the best growths from an average vintage can cost anywhere from $35 to $100, but a very good Pinot Noir vintage is said to occur only once a decade. A fairly simple village wine (a blend of the produce of many vineyards) can easily cost $20.

Those high prices drove many growers to transplanting-themselves and their grapes- to other parts of the world with climate and soil characteristics similar to Burgundy. Consequently, one of the places in which Pinot Noir came to grow was California. But the American West is a less than perfect environment for the sensitive Pinot Noir grape. Most of the region is too hot, resulting in overripe grapes and fruit that so far has been larger but less intense than the Burgundy grape. In Burgundy, sugar must invariably be added during fermentation, but in California sugar is neither permitted nor necessary because even the state’s coolest regions receive more sun than Burgundy.

With its difficult past in California, we were worried that we might not find enough Pinot Noirs worthy of being polled. We narrowed the field from 67 to 13 and agreed upon a selection that included a wide range of prices.

The Chateau Chevalier was the winner. The panel’s general impression was that the wine had a deep purple color indicating a young wine, but that it was amazingly soft to the taste. It may improve with one to two more years in the bottle, but it is unlikely that it will ever be a superstar. Beaulieu Vineyards took second place. This 1979 wine, from the Cameras region, is a relatively light wine that many experts believe is the best Californian Pinot. It probably will not cellar well, but it is a good choice for current consumption. Another wine that placed well is the $9 Tulocay, which was judged to be a more strident, fuller-bodied wine than the Beaulieu Vineyards, but with a less pleasant aftertaste.

Among the disappointments in our contest were the relatively poor ratings earned by Acacia and Mondavi. The Mondavi vineyards are working hard to improve the quality of their Pinots, experimenting with barrel charring and innovative fermenting procedures, but, so far, the effort hasn’t improved the taste of the wine. The much-hyped Acacia (Lee Vineyards’ Pinot Noir) was judged by the panel to have an acidic, unbalanced flavor and an unpleasant aftertaste.

The Sokol Blossor from Oregon was also a disappointment. The bottle we tasted had the ripe banana odor indicative of high ethyl acetate levels, implying that it was probably a bad bottle.

One bit of light on the bleak horizon was the French Burgundy inserted for comparison. The Gevrey-Chambertin was the most expensive bottle in the test and was included to determine how easily the foreign wines can be distinguished from the Californian variety. It ranked fifth.

The consensus of the judges is that PinotNoir remains California’s problem child. Only three wines received a group average ofseven or more points on a scale of one to 10,and none of the wines that were tasted receivedan average grade above eight points. We foundthat as price increased, the group’s rating tended to increase, but only slightly. The bestvalues, given the price-rating relationship, arewines produced by Louis Martini and BeaulieuVineyards. Interestingly, the least expensivewines (Louis Martini and Paul Masson) bothoutranked wines costing more than twice as much.