The Game

Earlier this year, before I got sick for a month after we came to Memphis, Carrie and I started to play a game with our wine drinking. Carrie has a better palate for wine than I do in terms of picking out smells and flavors. Also, we have been working on identifying the terroirs of different regions, shown in the disproportionate amount of Alsatians we have had recently.

For those of you who don't have a subscription to Wine Spectator online, there is a game called "What Am I Tasting?". They give a description of a wine, and give about 5 choices for: Varietal, Country or Region of Origin, Age, and Appellation. Well, Carrie basically bats about 99% on this thing. If you have played the game, you know that it is easy to eliminate some of the choices, and also, you are going to match up your answers for consistency. For instance, you aren't going to pick a California Riesling from Sancerre, or an Italian Semillon from Sonoma - those don't work on any level. Plus, if the description is a white, it is going to be 1-2 years old, and if it is red it is 3-5 years old. But still, Carrie is uncanny at this thing.

Well, we decided to play our own version of this game, but make Carrie rely on her own nose and taste buds for the description instead of having it handed to her. The game was this - I would pick the wine for the night, either off the rack or from the store. I would have her go to the car while I stayed in the store and bought the wine so that she wouldn't see what I was getting, and we may or may not drink the wine I may or may not have just bought. Then, I wasn't going to make her pick out the Appellation just yet, because, c'mon. I mean, if I chose an Argentinian wine, she could probably guess Mendoza since about two-thirds of the wine comes from that region. Or if it was California, she could give me Napa, Sonoma, or other. Or Michigan - Old Mission or Leelanau. (I kid - I wouldn't do that to her.) But, I was hoping for grape and country and some sort of region - if I got a Sauvignon Blanc, is it a French Sancerre, or from NZ, or California Sonoma, etc.

The first week that we did this, I chose a Cote du Rhone as the white(Domaine du Vieux Chene 2005), which was something I had never had before and really wanted to try. I was worried that it might be a harder one, because I think she had had a Rhone white before, but I was unsure. To make up for it, I bought a Chilean Cab as the red (Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto Marqués de Casa Concha 2004).

That night, we got some cheese (Pierre Robert, plus the goat cheese from Whole Foods which is my favorite) and opened the white. Actually, we already had another white open, because I was worried that the Rhone would not pair with the cheese. That, and Saturdays at the Millfills are a 3 bottle minimum per couple. The white was a new one for me, and I really liked it. (Our tasting notes - rich, luscious, very delicate, but big. Nose of honey, anise, sweet peach, flowers. Tastes: fennel, butterscotch, anise, pineapple, honeyed caramel. Yeah, these are Carrie's notes - I think I contributed "pineapple" to all that.) Carrie had to think about this one from the description that we came up with - but, the delay turned out to be mainly because it needed to open up somewhat. After much discussion, I made her give me a guess. She talked it out - she thinks it is a Viogner maybe, but she tells me it is definitely French. In fact, she really thinks it is a Rhone from the terroir! Bravo Carrie! I wasn't going to make me give an exact, but I think identifying the right grape (well, 1 of the 3) and the country and the region is a success for a wine with which neither of us are very familiar.

I go ahead and open the red, because I know the Cab needs to breath. Carrie gloats a little about her correct guess of Rhone, as she should. I cook the food (steaks of some sort, I can't remember), and once I have it all cooking, I go and pour the red. Carrie still has a little bit of white left, so she puts the red aside. Then, she says to me, "I'm gonna go ahead and smell it." She takes a whiff - "Wow. Well, that is definitely a Cab." She doesn't even look over for confirmation. She takes another whiff - "Wow - there is definitely some green pepper there. Shannon, this is a Chilean Cab." No, seriously - it might not have even taken that long. I have made her promise me a dozen times since then that she didn't cheat somehow - she really nailed it from the smell alone!

(Of course, she initially got excited because we have a vertical (almost) of the Don Melchor Concha Y Toro from 1999 on, but we have 2 of them from one year and we plan on drinking one of those soon. So I felt bad for a minute, but I got the regular Concha y Toro Cab for like $5 off, so whatever.)

Since that night we have played the game numerous times. Carrie hasn't had slam dunks like she did that first night, but I think part of that is my fault. See, I am using the game to get wines that I probably couldn't get Carrie to agree to otherwise - an Italian white, a Minervois, a $10 Malbec, a Chenin Blanc, an Alsatian Gewürztraminer (wow - only missed 2 letters on that one the first time!). The big disappointment was on the 2006 Tres Picos - I thought she would get it, but she said Australian! To be honest, it was in that style, and completely unlike the previous 3 vintages (don't get the 2003, but the other 2 are highly recommended). Also, it didn't pair well with the short ribs I made, which were actually the best meat I have ever eaten (that's what she said). No seriously, I have never had meat cooked that perfectly, and I am not just flattering myself - it felt wasted on a wine that didn't quite pair well with it. You don't realize how much food/wine pairings are important until you have a superior of one with an inferior of the other.

I have some ideas going forward for the game, but I think I will keep it simple. Plus, with the budget restraints we have right now due to the wedding, Carrie knows that generally it is going to be something we can afford. She isn't going to guess a 199o Brunello!