Wine tasting: We knew it was a real party when...

Well, as they say, it's not a real party until someone's erupted in flames. By this measure our wine tasting party became legit when Jeff leaned back on one of our mood candles. Luckily we were able to get the fire out without any real damage other than his shirt, but it could have been a problem. We decided to blow out the candles...

Otherwise our wine party was a great time. 18 people in total came out to sample some of the crowd's favorite "value" wines. In our world value means under $15.

We had a blind tasting which meant that everyone put their wines in a paper bag, labeled them with a letter, and put them into the mix. People could rank the wines from 1-10, or just put a green or red sticker on the wines they liked or disliked.

Our entrance:

 

Wines began collecting:

 

The party:

The entertainment (Shawn on guitar, myself on the didge):

The spread:

 

From right to left:

A) Sterling Vinter's Collection, 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (Central Coast)
B) Northwest Cellars, 2003 65% Cab 35% Merlot
C) Cheap Red Wine, California
D) Terra Blanca, 2002 Merlot, Washington
E) Chateau Beaulieu - Comptes de Tastes, 2003 Bordeaux
F) Rabbit Ridge, 2003 Syrah (Paso Robles)
G) Fat Bastard Chardonnay, 2005, France
H) Cheap Red Wine, California (again)
I) 7 Deadly Zins - Lodi Appellation - 2005 Zinfandel
L) Kahurangi Estate - Old Vines Riesling, 2004 Riesling, New Zealand
J) El Paseo, 2002 Tempranillo, Spain
K) Lockwood Vineyard, 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Monterey

And the winner of the night? Rabbit Ridge 2003 Syrah:

 

I have a bunch of photos from the event up on my flickr account.

Go check them out!

Special thanks goes out to Cheryl and Megan for helping get our house together for the party. It was no small feat.

Until next time!

- Aaron