Match 5: McManis Cabernet Sauvignon vs. Domain Saint Gayan

Please do excuse your faithful commentator for not being that much faithful. I am, mea culpa, almost a week late. That said, let me tell you about last Friday's match.

The wines were decanted one hour before the match

The Brutal Judge was not enthusiastic, I wasn't either. One of the wines was his sure bet to win the world cup, the other would probably be too young. When the glasses arrived, we couldn't really tell them apart. The color was basically the same: a gorgeous violet-red.

I have to confess I had a bit of a cold that day, so my nose wasn't working as it should. The thing is I could really smell the first wine. The scent of blackcurrant, toasted almonds, honeycombs and a lot of vanilla were impressive. As to the second wine, I couldn't detect anything. The Brutal Judge informed me afterwards that it had notes of cherry, violet and toasted spices, the kind you mix when you want a flavorful curry. My nose was off.

Almost no difference in color.

 Then we tasted both wines. The first was good in the beginning. Not much structure, sure. But kind of nice at first, with lots of vanilla and honey. That was basically it. It's acidity was off balance and, despite the very long finish, you got that feeling in your mouth like when you eat something really salty. I have to say I spend the whole evening drinking water... The second wine was a whole different story. You could taste plums, lots of fruit and liquorice. It had a very long and agreeable finish and well-balanced tannins.

But there's always something. I confess the fragrance of the first wine really did it for me. And not being able to smell the second one made me not like it as much. So I voted for the first one, whereas the Brutal Judge voted for the second. After a long time discussing it, we reached a verdict: the winner was the second wine. I had to concede because of my nose. Had I been completely sound, the tie would probably have been avoided.

The first wine remained almost untouched.

The identity of the wines was not much of a mystery. You could see that the first one was younger and the oak had not had time to be absorbed, so to say. It was, of course, the American McManis. Domain Saint Gayan goes through to the next match a worthy contender.

Match 7 is in a couple of hours. Let's see if I can write about it with as little delay as possible.

Match 3: Dona Maria vs. Passo delle Mule

Due to stock reasons we decided to begin this World Cup round with the odd matches, we had the first one a couple of weeks ago, then we had number three: Dona Maria vs. Passo delle Mule. Do not, O Patient Reader, try to look for match number two in the google search box, you will not find it yet.

Dona Maria 2007 vs. Passo delle Mule 2008

 That said, we kicked-off last friday afternoon with a much anticipated tasting. Would the Italian wine take revenge on the Portuguese for the first match result? Or would the Portuguese reds keep on winning the challenges?

The Brutal Judge and myself had two glasses before us that showed interesting colors and were actually very similar: both were ruby-red, but the second wine was slightly deeper than the first. When we took a whiff, the first one smelled of ripe red berries, strawberry and a bit of sweet cherry. The second one had hints of prunes, leather, some kind of greenish wood like pine, a bit of violets and a lot of dead horse in the sun making everyone miserable with the stench. Not a promising start for wine number two. A whole hour in the decanter wasn't enough to tame it.

The defeated wine remained in the glass. 

When we tasted the first wine, the red berries and strawberries from its bouquet were there, as was a hint of ripe, delicious figs. Its structure was immaculate with well balanced tannins and it had a nice, long finish. Overall, an elegant wine. The second wine, however, kept on disappointing. You could barely sense the hints of prune, violets and leather due to its acidity. It wasn't well balanced, it wasn't elegant, it was as though you were drinking homemade vinegar from 1952, probably the year the horse died of sun exposure.

It wasn't really a hard decision. The first wine won unanimously. When the label was revealed, it read Passo delle Mule. To quote the Brutal Judge: "The mule outran the horse". Of course it wasn't that much of a race, since the horse died at the starting line... No one expected Dona Maria to lower the standards this much. It will be hard to find a wine that is worse, I'll tell you that! All in all, a fair victory for Passo delle Mule.

Match 1: FSF vs. Foradori

FSF 2004 vs. Foradori 2006

 It was a great kick-off, but the wines did not surpass our expectations. The first thing we, your faithful commentator and the Brutal Judge, noticed was how different both wines were. As it was a blind tasting, I shall not address them by name.

The first wine had a beautiful ruby red color. The second was darker and more mysterious. When it comes to the nose, the first one was an explosion of red berries and vanilla, with hints of something like rosemary or sage. Very fragrant indeed. The second wine was less prone to our noses, but smelled of black berries, a bit of sweet cherry and a slight presence of tobacco.

Both wines were fairly different in color.

When we tasted wine number one, all that fruit from the nose was left behind. However, there were delicious hints of plums, some dried fruit and green olives, with a long, delicate finish. Too bad it didn't have much of a body. The second wine presented hints of blackberries and violets, with a short, but nice finish. This one lacked body as well.

You can still see the stickers on the glasses.

A decision had to be made and it was a difficult process. The Brutal Judge thought the second wine showed potential, your faithful commentator preferred the first one. After giving it much thought and consideration, the Brutal Judge changed his mind and voted for the first one. Its identity was then revealed: the label read FSF 2004. All in all, not a spectacular wine, but a worthy winner. I guess I failed my first prediction when I said Foradori would win the match.

Place your bets!

Your faithful commentator is going to leave you his predictions for the WC:

Last 16

FSF vs. Foradori ---> Foradori
Château Picque-Caillou vs. Graham Beck The Ridge Syrah ---> Château Picque-Caillou
Dona Maria vs. Passo delle Mule ---> Passo delle Mule
Erasmo vs. Zanna ---> Erasmo
McManis Cabernet Sauvignon vs. Domaine Saint Gayan ---> Domaine Saint Gayan
Passadouro vs. Cumulus Shiraz ---> Passadouro
Saint-Joseph Offerus vs. Ca' di Pian ---> Saint-Joseph Offerus
Les Trois vs. Quinta das Baceladas ---> Quinta das Baceladas

Quarter-finals

Foradori vs. Château Picque-Caillou ---> Château Picque-Caillou
Passo delle Mule vs. Erasmo ---> Erasmo
Domain Saint Gayan vs. Passadouro ---> Passadouro
Saint-Joseph Offerus vs. Quinta das Baceladas ---> Saint-Joseph Offerus

Semi-finals

Château Picque-Caillou vs. Erasmo ---> Erasmo
Passadouro vs. Saint-Joseph Offerus ---> Saint-Joseph Offerus

Final

Erasmo vs. Saint-Joseph Offerus ---> Erasmo

Hopefully I'll get at least two of them right!

Kick-off

Finally! The Wine WC is starting today. By the way, WC stands for World Cup in this case, don't be tempted to leave comments suggesting other meanings for WC!

The rules are as simple as can be. 16 red wines are competing for the title. All wines have to be from the Swedish Systembolaget's beställningsortiment. No wine can cost more than 200 Swedish crowns. We have four Portuguese, four Italian, four French and four from the New World. Seeing as your faithful commentator is only knowledgeable in Portuguese wine, and his much esteemed Brutal Juiz, henceforth Brutal Judge (the English version maintains the richness of the original), is more into Italian wines, an e-mail was written seeking counsel from the biggest Swedish specialist. Those of you who can actually read Swedish will find the e-mail here. Those of you who cannot will find it there anyway...

I might as well give you the comprehensive list of wines:

Foradori 2006, Teroldego, Trentino-Alto Adige

Ca' di Pian 2007, Barbera d'Asti, Piemonte

Zanna 2006, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Abruzzi

Passo delle Mule 2008, Nero d'Avola, Sicilia

Passadouro 2006, Douro

FSF 2004, Setúbal

Dona Maria 2007, Alentejo 

Quinta das Baceladas 2004, Beiras

Château Picque-Caillou 2006, Bordeaux

Les Trois (Mont Tauch) 2006, Fitou

Domaine Saint Gayan Gigondas 2006, Rhône

Saint-Joseph Offerus (Chave) 2006, Rhône

Graham Beck The Ridge Syrah 2006, South Africa

Erasmo (Viña la Reserva de Caliboro) 2005, Chile

Cumulus Shiraz 2007, Australia 

McManis Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, USA

The calendar and order of the tastings are completely random. The Brutal Judge, being a matlab master, developed a code that really does surpass me and my understanding. All I had to do was push a button (Enter) and the wines all fell into place. The order is as follows:

# 1 : FSF vs. Foradori
# 2 : Château Picque-Caillou vs. Graham Beck The Ridge Syrah
# 3 : Dona Maria vs. Passo delle Mule
# 4 : Erasmo vs. Zanna
# 5 : McManis Cabernet Sauvignon vs. Domaine Saint Gayan
# 6 : Passadouro vs. Cumulus Shiraz
# 7 : Saint-Joseph Offerus vs. Ca di Pian
# 8 : Les Trois vs. Baceladas

The competition follows the format of the FIFA World Cup knockout stage. So, the winner of game 1 will play the winner of game 2 and so forth... The game rules are basic. The two judges, the Brutal Judge and myself, taste both wines and pick the winner. In case there is a draw, each judge assesses the wines following the criteria below:

4 points for taste;
3 points for bouquet;
3 points for complexity.

The wine that scores more points moves on to the next stage.

The kick-off is scheduled for six o'clock this afternoon. May the best wine win!