Wine tasting Party.

[jamesngalveston]

I invited some friends over to sample some wine. Bottled this morning.
They had no idea where it was from, are from what.Are how old.
After everyone had a glass. I asked them what they thought.
Excellent , really good, I like it, what is the maker, who makes it.,nice grape taste, really full bodied, a little dry, semi sweet, etc.
THEN I LAID THE HAMMER.
I made it from blackberries at the farm.

These were suppose to be wine connoisseurs, LOL.

 

[JohnT]

LOL,

I know the feeling..

We had "gathering groups" with our church where a group of us would meet for dinner once a month. I supplied the wine.

At one point, one of the folks at the party picked up the bottle, searching for a label (I do not used labels). When he looked puzzled, I came up to him and said "don't you just HATE it when wine lables fall off?". He said "I just wanted to see if I couldn't buy a case of this. It's wonderful". He had no idea that I made it.

I Still chuckle about it.

 

[jamesngalveston]

To be quite honest...I still can not believe the wine I made is as good as it is. Its better then what I had hoped for, even though I rushed it along.
I have two different dragon bloods going... both smell excellent.
Cant wait to bottle them.

 

[BernardSmith]

I don't mean to be mean but I guess I don't understand or miss the "hammer". You invite friends over to taste something that looks like grape wine, is bottled in iconic wine bottles, that tastes not too dissimilar from grape wine and that you presumably served in the same kinds of glasses that people serve grape wine. They express pleasure because of the taste and mouth feel and the like but the stinger was what? That the fruit used was not a specific variety of grape which they did not anyway falsely identify but a blackberry grown in your grounds? But people apparently find and enjoy in grape wines of all kinds, a multitude of flavors that are not "grape" (whatever "grape" might taste like ) - They find and talk about flavors such as blackberry and cocoa and licorice and smoke and cranberry and grapefruit and plum (http://www.mywinetutor.com/winevarieties.html)... so what gaffe did your friends make? Is it not possible for blackberries grown in your garden to have complex flavors that might in some shorthand way be called "blackberry" but in fact be as complex as (or almost as complex or even more complex than ) varietal or mixtures of grapes? I guess I am at a loss. I don't see your friends' gaffe. I see folk enjoying something and using the clues you gave them to make reasonable assumptions about what they were enjoying. There is no obvious "gotcha" unless it is the surprise that fruit other than grapes can result in a delicious wine.

 

[jamesngalveston]

Thank you Mr. Smith.

 

[Stressbaby]

I don't mean to be mean but I guess I don't understand or miss the "hammer". You invite friends over to taste something that looks like grape wine, is bottled in iconic wine bottles, that tastes not too dissimilar from grape wine and that you presumably served in the same kinds of glasses that people serve grape wine. They express pleasure because of the taste and mouth feel and the like but the stinger was what? That the fruit used was not a specific variety of grape which they did not anyway falsely identify but a blackberry grown in your grounds? But people apparently find and enjoy in grape wines of all kinds, a multitude of flavors that are not "grape" (whatever "grape" might taste like ) - They find and talk about flavors such as blackberry and cocoa and licorice and smoke and cranberry and grapefruit and plum (http://www.mywinetutor.com/winevarieties.html)... so what gaffe did your friends make? Is it not possible for blackberries grown in your garden to have complex flavors that might in some shorthand way be called "blackberry" but in fact be as complex as (or almost as complex or even more complex than ) varietal or mixtures of grapes? I guess I am at a loss. I don't see your friends' gaffe. I see folk enjoying something and using the clues you gave them to make reasonable assumptions about what they were enjoying. There is no obvious "gotcha" unless it is the surprise that fruit other than grapes can result in a delicious wine.

Yeah I don't understand this either. I look at it this way, either:
A) You are not mocking them, they could accurately assess the wine, they assessed your wine as good, ergo you made some good wine. Congrats.
B) You are mocking them, they could not accurately assess the wine, they assessed your wine as good, ergo you did not make good wine, your wine was bad.

It can't really be both ways.

 

[jamesngalveston]

jeez...I am not a wine drinker, I wanted others that are suppose to be just that, to tell me if it was good are not...
If I would have told them that it was home made, they more then likely would have not liked it are thought it second rate, you know. something like not bad for homemade wine.
So, I guess, I was mocking them to an extend.
I guess if it is a sugar fermented liquid without huge things floating in it
and not smelling like vinegar it is wine.

 

[Arne]

If they like it, great. If not, and you do like it, still great. I like to have some constructive responses when people taste my wines. Doesn't mean I will change a thing, most of them are made like I like. Most will say they are not quite sweet enough, sometimes too sweet. Anyway, the winemaking is supposed to be fun. Also fun to have people say "You made this??" Makes you feel like you did something at least halfway good. Sounds like you are well on your way to making great wines. Have fun with it and keep it up. Arne.

 

[JohnT]

Take it easy on James folks,

I take it as him enjoying the results he achieved and that others found joy in it as well.

James, I know the feeling and this is exactly why this "hobby" is so cool. Keep it up!

johnT.

 

[jswordy]

Hahaha, the "trick 'em" part was interesting, James!

Here's the deal, though, man. You might actually be making the crappiest wine ever poured into a glass, but your friends may be too nice to let you know it.

Hey, people at wine tastings are notorious liars! Easy to figure out why - a guy has invited me over to his house to serve me free wine in a social setting, and he asks me what I think of it. Far be it from me to commit a faux pas by telling him what he is serving is swill. So I make up some BS about the grape flavor it has and etc. as a little white lie social lubricant, and life goes on.

I have never had anyone I gave free wine to say it wasn't good.

Now, here's what you do for an honest critique of your wine: Enter it in judged contests where the judges' written comments are returned to you for review. Gone will be the social component - they don't know you. Then, it will be on the merits.

 

[bchilders]

It is always nice to hear others rave about something you have made with your own two hands. I get that way when I cook for others or give stuff away from the garden and of course from making wine. I have entered three wines so far in two home winemakers contests judged by regular Joes and each one took either first or second place. I have also had to blend off some just to make it drinkable. Nothing wrong with a blind tasting party.

 

[jamesngalveston]

Well JS, you have convinced me to not have any more wine parties.
And convinced not to offer any of my wine again except to those whom I know , have no clue about wine to start with...
If i entered in a wine judging, I am afraid it would end my wine making...

Did you find that bottle of norton, you were looking for.

 

[sdelli]

Good job James! I believe what you did has good value.... If you put different wines in front of people they are not going to just be satisfied because it is a juice made from grapes.... And free... If they truly enjoy drinking wine they will be able to tell you what they think of it. I know I could.... And if I didn't know you made it I would be even more honest about what I am tasting! And that is what I think you were looking for! And it still feels good to hear from others then yourself it taste good!

 

[Runningwolf]

Well JS, you have convinced me to not have any more wine parties.
And convinced not to offer any of my wine again except to those whom I know , have no clue about wine to start with...
If i entered in a wine judging, I am afraid it would end my wine making...

Did you find that bottle of norton, you were looking for.

Jim is right about entering it into competitions. It'll be an unbiased judge and the feedback in most cases are good. The ones that aren't are just lacking info. Read the comments and pick and chose the ones you want to build on.

 

[jswordy]

Well JS, you have convinced me to not have any more wine parties.
And convinced not to offer any of my wine again except to those whom I know , have no clue about wine to start with...
If i entered in a wine judging, I am afraid it would end my wine making...

Did you find that bottle of norton, you were looking for.

I think boatboy is helping me out with that. I emailed a couple of the "big Norton advocates" in the winery world, those who are famous for saying how great it is and how everyone should grow and make it, throwing myself at their feet and begging them to give me any guidance that they could as an amateur winemaker. No replies.

So if boatboy helps me out, I will simply measure their wines and see what they did, thereby setting parameters for my own effort later.

BTW, fav jswordy brand Illinois Cellars under its Mary Michelle label makes a Norton for $10.99 a bottle! LORD, I wish they would ship it to me in Tennessee ... but no! So I have someone in Illinois hopefully helping me out with that, as well. I'd like to know what I am dealing with before I make some.

 

[Boatboy24]

Jim: picked up a bottle of Horton for you last night (and one for myself). As soon as I get a box, they are on their way. They are both 2011, so I'm tempted to let them sit for a year.

 

[Arne]

James,
Want an honest evaluation of your wines?? Next time, just invite Jswordy and me. Don't know much about wine othere than I like it or not. But both of us can swill it down and say, "Man this stuff is good, got any more??" LOL, by the way, I am sure your wines are pretty darn good. If you follow along with some of the basic guidlines on here, take some time, you can make some good wines. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[Turock]

I totally agree with the comments about entering your wine in competitions. For MANY years, this is what we did because we didn't trust our friends to tell us the truth--nor were they prepared to really critique ANY wine. We felt we needed help from the judges to tell us the faults in our wines so we could address them--and also have the judges help us to become better winemakers. We needed unbiased opinions.

We would always hang around after the judging to talk with them--they were very helpful to us in many ways. Over the years, we won many blue ribbons--and more than our share of 2nd,3rd,and 4th places. I told my winemaking buddy that we were gonna keep at it until we won Best of Show---only THEN could we claim that we knew what we're doing. If we think we're SO good at this, we wanted to prove to ourselves that we WERE! We finally won a Best of Show, and haven't entered since. It was only done as an "educational moment" for us and once we felt we had "arrived," it wasn't necessary to do it anymore.

Wine judging will make you a better winemaker---everyone should give it a try. You'll learn alot.

 

[Runningwolf]

Turock that's funny and familiar. I took a Best of Show in LA and another local. After that year, I have not entered anymore competitions. There is one I'm thinking about but probably won't make it in time. Now I enjoy going to the competitions and just tasting other peoples wine and enjoy talking to them and even judging a few.

 

[jamesngalveston]

makes perfect sense Turock..

thanks