Tasting Wine Competition Participant Submissions

Our first meeting of the San Diego Chapter of the American Wine Society was hosted by a member in their private home. This member was a volunteer at the 9th Annual Winemaker Challenge International Wine Competition. As a reward for his great service, then sent him home with 42 open bottles of wine that had just been poured for the judging. As a true Oenophile our host did not want this great wine to go to waste, so he had us over to help unburden him of this great gift. Our group obliged his request and quickly set to work testing a variety of offerings placed in 3 separate locations to help with flow.

We all brought snacks to share, with a smorgasbord of crackers, cheeses, chocolates, baked flatbreads, puff pastries & so much more. We called our meeting to order and got down to chapter business. We offered up 2 options for next month's host locations. We had a reminder of annual dues to the National Chapter, with local chapter fees to come soon. The agenda for the next month's meeting set, we began our exploration of wine.

I began with 3 glasses and I prepared a plate of selections of crackers, cheeses & other items to hold a spot at the table. With no rhyme or reason to the bottle placement, I devised a system. Get 1 glass from a bottle at each table. The long table had mostly reds, so I filled my first red and set it down. I headed into the kitchen and found a Virginia Red. On my way to the patio I was asked if I had tried the White Bordeaux? No I had not, side tracked but Mmmm, it was tasty. I sat down and found a god pairing for each of the wines and had a few sips before moving on.

I completed a full rotation on my 2nd go-round of 1 wine per display, getting a nice Pinot Noir from the garden, another white from the kitchen & a red from the long table. I also got another puff pastry. I sat down and found that the white wine did very well with the shrimp & spinach flatbread. I kept up the rotations, discussing my selections with members who passed through the room, got recommendations on what to pour next and enjoying some great wine.

Tasting Wine Competition Participant Submissions

The wines I tasted today:

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