I agree with the "taste wine" replies. Visit vineyards and wineries and talk to the winemakers.

We also like to host blind tastings with a cheat sheet. Pour a couple of bottles each into a few large decanters and then create list of wines that includes the wines.

This was our list from a couple of weeks ago of which 3 of the wines were poured. One person out of about 40 got all 3 right.


2013 Sparkman Wilderness Red Blend (Syrah, Grenache, Tempranillo, Petit Syrah)

It brings aromas of dried herb, earth and blue and black fruit that are followed by palate-coating blue-fruit flavors, speckled with barrel spices, showing vibrant acidity.

2015 Terrunyo Block 27 Carmenere

Dark, deep red in color, Terrunyo Carmenere has complex and elegant aromas of ripe red berries, plum, spice and a hint of tobacco. Powerful and concentrated fruit flavors reappear on the palate caressed in sweet tannins. Full in the mouth with great structure and a lingering finish.

2014 Justin Cabernet Sauvignon

Dark ruby purple core lightening to medium intensity at the rim with moderate staining on the glass. Aromatic black fruit of cherry and blackcurrant jam, baking spice, dried leaf and sweet tobacco. Full bodied with bright black cherry, blackcurrant and berry fruit with an underpinning of oak barrel accents on entry. The mid palate shows continued fruit with savory herbal notes, mint and a hint of violet. The finish is clean, long and layered with lingering dark fruit surrounded by soft chewy tannins balanced by crisp acidity and subtle floral notes.

2014 Hedges CMS Blend (Cab, Merlot, Syrah)

Aromas of cinnamon, sweet plum and earthy pomegranate with hints of dried tobacco leaf, vanilla and dark cocoa powder. On the palate are flavors of ripe raspberry, milk chocolate and dried sage. Bright entry, full juicy mid-palate and a graceful finish with apparent and pleasing tannins. A nicely balanced wine, with enough acid and tannin to make this a more serious, longer lived wine that will go well with full flavored food.

2012 Alexandria Nicole Jet Black Syrah

Whole berry fermentation leads the way for this deep and dense black in color Syrah. There’s an energy driving the wine, immediately apparent in the sultry aromas of blackberries, huckleberry, mocha, lavender, and espresso. The flavors are thick and saturated, coating the mouth with dark cherry, toffee, cedar and a delicate leathery spice. A very generous mid-palate with loads of texture yet it manages to stay fresh and elegant, with juicy acidity, very fine, silky and sleek tannins, and a brilliant finish that certainly doesn’t lack for length. Impressive now, but if drinking before 2015, please decant.

2014 K Vintners The Boy Grenache

Transparent and pure are the first words that come to mind when tasting this wine. Then onto spice, tobacco, black leather, and white pepper. A full palate that comes together to an elegant and ethereal finish.

2013 Bookwalter Foreshadow Merlot

Deep ruby red-black color, clear. Ripe rich fruit with showy inviting oak aromas. Ripe pure fruit flavors refreshingly clean. Longlasting fresh fruit and oak are framed by smooth tannins. Built for a wide menu, this wine drinks invitingly well now.

2012 Obelisco Estate Grown Malbec

Aged in equal parts French and American oak (43% new), this initially puts barrel tones in the lead. Notes of toasty spices, cocoa, toffee and coffee come out in front of blue and black fruit. The flavors are sweet but reserved in style, trailing toward the finish. There's a lot to enjoy but the oak seems a little overweighted for the fruit that's in the bottle.

2013 Cambria Pinot Noir

Concentrated raspberry fruit meets with earthy rhubarb, cranberry, beet, orange rind and thyme herbs on the nose of this new project from the Jackson family. Tighter pomegranate and raspberry fruit show on the palate, alongside graphite and woody herbs. It's a reliably down-the-middle and fresh wine.

2012 Eberle Zinfandel

Supple and jammy, with floral black raspberry aromas and savory flavors of cherry pie, cinnamon and licorice that linger on the spiced vanilla tannins.

2017 Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill

With hints of lip gloss and sharpies, this wine is everything that it is supposed to be and is as easy going down as it is coming back up.

2014 Bunnell Red Heaven Hills Syrah

Chocolate covered cherry, cedar, and dirty cranberry nose. Medium, high acidity, and complex body. Earthy black fruit front. Big vanilla middle with cherries, cigar tobacco, and currants. The finish is leather, smokey cigar, black cherry, and chocolate.

2009 Chateau Margaux Balthazar

A brilliant offering from the Mentzelopoulos family, once again their gifted manager, Paul Pontallier, has produced an uncommonly concentrated, powerful 2009 Chateau Margaux made from 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest primarily Merlot with small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. As with most Medocs, the alcohol here is actually lower (a modest 13.3%) than most of its siblings-. Abundant blueberry, cassis and acacia flower as well as hints of charcoal and forest floor aromas that are almost Burgundian in their complexity are followed by a wine displaying sweet, well-integrated tannins as well as a certain ethereal lightness despite the wine-s overall size. Rich, round, generous and unusually approachable for such a young Margaux, this 2009 should drink well for 30-35+ years.

2015 Mark Ryan The Dissident Blend (Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc)

The nose offers notes of violets, black currant, and cedar. A mix of tart red and black fruits. The palate, red cherry, blackberry, and red plum. On the mid palate, cocoa and graphite linger into the finish. The tannins are elegantly balanced with the acidity.