Tasting Cabernets with a Blindfold on

While none of us attending the Empty Glass' first blind wine tasting were actually wearing blindfolds I did have to close my eyes when they were poured. The reason for this was because I knew what each bottle looked like, even if they had brown paper covering the bottle. So, that is the idea of a blind tasting, you are not supposed to know what each bottle is. We began the tasting by telling everyone in the room about the noble grape Cabernet Sauvignon which is the basis for some of the best and some of the expensive wines in the world. Typically consists of aromas, such as Blackcurrant. This is then normally added to by the influence of oak aging which adds complexity to the palate and nose, with notes of cedar-box, cinnamon, vanilla etc. depending on the type of oak used.

The reason for blind tasting is to be able to objectively judge each bottle on its own merits as opposed to looking at a bottle that has Bordeaux on it and assuming it will be the best one. The results of the tasting were interesting and it was a very tight race between the top three. The wines were scored by each of us out of 5, 1 being something the taster would never ever drink again and 5 being the best thing that they have ever tasted. The results were as follows;

1. Longview Devil's Elbow Cabernet Sauvignon, Score: 29 available for 17.99 in O'Briens

2. Torres Gran Coronas Cabernet Sauvignon, Score: 27.5 available from most off licences for 15.45

3. Peter Lehman Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon, Score: 25.5 available from the Mill for 10.95 or two for twenty

4. Lafite-Rothschilde Légende, Score: 22 available from O'Briens at 12.95

5. Heartland Cabernet Sauvignon Limestone Coast, Score: 20 available from the Mill at 14.95

6. L'apostolle Cabernet Sauvignon, Score: 16 available from the Mill at 8.99

What was most interesting about this tasting was the variation between wines from the same region such as the Heartland and the Longview. Both displayed the typical Adelaide eucalyptus, but the Heartland was taking a long time to open up. While all the wines were decanted for half an hour before the tasting some of them would have benefited from longer. For example the Heartland tasted much better two hours later. However the results were a very fair assessment of the wines and what impressed me most was how well the second cheapest wine did. The Lehman Cabernet Sauvignon punched well above its weight. While it is a fruitier style and perhaps not  as complex as the Torres and the Longview, it blew the pants off the others near it, including a Bordeaux from the eponymous 2005 vintage.

So, what did this tasting teach us? All the hype about famous Bordeaux names with equally famous vintages are apparently not up to tackling New world wines that are slightly more expensive or in one case cheaper. Tasting notes for the wines themselves will soon follow this article.

Remember, be informed, price and hype does not always denote quality.

With Special thanks to the Mill Wine Cellar Maynooth who supplied tasting glasses (and also stock the over-achiever Peter Lehman Cabernet that was the winner for me in its quality and price).