WineXpert LE2013 tasting Saturday. Any questions you want answered?

[waygorked]

My local brew shop is hosting a preview tasting this weekend of all the Winexpert LE 2013 kits. I'm new to this whole process, and really know nothing of the event. I suspect that Winexpert is shipping a few young bottles around to various stores, hopefully with a representative. I plan to pump them for as much info as possible. If there is anything y'all would like me to find out about any of these kits, speak now, or forever hold your peace.

Personally I am extremely excited about the Oregon Pinot kit. I know virtually nothing about making wine, and just put my first kit into clearing. However, I live in the Willamette valley, and am one of those obnoxious Oregon wine geeks that will trap you in a corner at a party and rant for hours on the strengths and weaknesses of Jory vs Willakenzie soil. I plan learn the source of the grapes, as there are 7 different AVAs that fall within the Willamette Valley, all with very different characters. If nothing else, I should be able to suggest a commercially available pinot as a good representation of this kit.

FWIW, 2012 was an absolutely spectacular year for Oregon, with the word in the valley being that if you can't make a legendary wine with 2012 grapes, you should find another career. Those same sources appear to be even more excited about the 2013 crush. With any luck, the WE kit may just turn out to be a can't-miss-box-of-awesome.

 

[sour_grapes]

Yes, I am definitely interested in your report! I don't have a specific question -- I think you have a better handle on that than I do. Looking forward to hearing your comments, as I am planning to order that kit for my beloved bride.

 

[SouthernChemist]

From what I understand, the wines they showcase are just commercial equivalents to what the LE kits are expected to produce and not actual wines made from the LE kits.

That being said, I am looking forward to the Oregon Pinot. Oregon Pinot Noir was the first wine I ever had that I liked, so it has a special place in my wine heart. My guess is that the grapes are sourced from multiple locations within the Willamette Valley, so they may not tell you a specific source or even just say it's proprietary.

Another thing that would be nice to know for all the kits is any oak information. I think WE's official site doesn't mention anything about oak levels or types this year, but they have indicated such information in previous years.

 

[waygorked]

You were right, the event was not a tasting of this year's kits. Instead it was a slideshow, with tastings of similar blends that the store either sourced commercially, or blended themselves. As such, there is only so far my opinion can be representative of the reality of these kits, but here goes:

The Red Mountain cab-merlot blend looks to be the standout. They were pouring the 2012 LE kits as well. I love all things Red Mountain as a general rule, and given the quality of the (admittedly entirely different) 2012 cab kit, this looks to be a good bet.

The Pacific Quartet blend had me really excited. Until I tasted it. It was far, far too sweet for my tastes. Given that they concocted this with commercial wines, I was left really disappointed. It was like drinking simple syrup mixed with flat prosecco.

The Shiraz blend was a bit of a disappointment as well, although I suspect this was down to my bias for Washington Syrah over any and all Shiraz. The wine was entirely functional, and was fairly complex, just not really my thing.

The Viognier Chenin Blanc Rousanne blend was tasty. It reminded me of sone of the more obscure Schollum Project whites such The Prince In His Caves (although that may have been wishful thinking). Nowhere near as turbid, but similar complexity.

Finally, the Oregon Pinot. In order to represent what they expected. they poured this:

http://www.toriimorwinery.com/all-wine/2011-willamette-valley-pinot-noir-2/

Not my favorite Oregon Pinot by any stretch of the imagination. I was concerned. But then the host started discussing the last few Oregon harvests, and it became clear that his understanding of the region was questionable at best. He was making claims that were diametrically opposed to what I keep hearing from my professional winemaker friends. As a result I was comfortable ignoring his opinion. He did state that while he was not sure of the source of these grapes, in the past they came from King's Estate. They pull grapes from throughout the Willamette Valley, and indeed through the entire state to make their Signature Pinot. I suspect the kit will either be from this blend, or from whatever grapes they have in excess when making this blend. At any rate, King's Estate is unspectacular but always solid, and their higher end Pinots are always good representation of what the state has to offer.

In the end I signed up for the Pinot and the Red Mountain Cab. I look forward to both.

As for the 2012 LE kits, the Nebbiolo and Cab they poured tasted suspiciously similar. Both were very good, but it would be difficult to convince me that they were not from the same winery, much less different grapes from different countries. I preferred my month-old and incompletely cleared Eclipse Cab to the LE12 Cab I tasted. I put them in the same range as the commercial wines they poured. Certainly acceptable and even somewhat impressive.

The 2012 LE Riesling Chenin Blanc, on the other hand, was the wine of the night. This one was truly wonderful. If I'd stumbled across this at a commercial tasting somewhere, I'd go home with a case. I held off ordering the 2013 white on the off chance I could find the 2012 somewhere.

Make of this what you will.

 

[SouthernChemist]

Good information to know, regardless. I'm not sure why they bother with the commercial equivalents...I think it leaves the opportunity to be disappointed or make a judgement of a kit when it might not apply. It's unfortunate (well a little at least) that the Red Mountain blend does not come with grape skins. I understand a Pinot Noir would not need it, but it strikes me as a little odd that they would only include one kit with grape skins where the other manufacturers have two. That being said, sometimes I think we sometimes just assume that a premium red kit needs grape skins to be good and that may not always be the case.

The Pacific Quartet was pretty popular in the past, but I can't imagine that a blend of commercial wines that were meant to be solo would really compare all that favorably...particularly because the actual blend will be co-fermented.

As for the 2012 kits, I find it funny they were offering tastings of the Nebbiolo kit when it can only be about 8 months old. I wouldn't expect a Nebbiolo wine to really show its character at that young of an age. The Riesling/Chenin Blanc sounded like it would be a good wine after it had a little age on it. Did they happen to have the Malbec/Banarda for tasting?

 

[sour_grapes]

Great report. Thanks for taking the time to write that up!

 

[waygorked]

No Malbec/Banarda kit, alas. FWIW, the Nebbiolo was good, but I admit to having little experience with that grape. I know the Pacific Quartet has received some stellar reviews, but what they poured last night almost made me want to swear off white wine forever.

As for the Red Mountain blend, I suspect mine will be heavily tweaked, and will definitely include skins of some sort, or at least raisins.