Here Comes the Sun, It's All White!

My wine club loves blind tasting, no matter how terrible we are at it. We would take turn to pick a theme and host the tasting. Like pros, we would hold our glasses up to sniff, swirl, and sip. Unlike pros, we almost never spit.

White wine blind tasting panel

It was our turn to host the past tasting. Our theme was "Here Comes the Sun, It's All White"--a terrible Beatles wordplay.

Well, the sun was barely out in Seattle that fateful weekend. But like all good Seattleites, we grabbed our jackets and sat out in the patio.

We were blind tasting white wines. Everyone named the wine they brought after a famous white person whose description might fit the wine, and that is the only clue as to the appellations, grape varietals, and maybe vintages of the wines. That was harder than you might imagine even for the ones who had taken all kinds of wine classes to refine their taste buds. And as the evening went on (remember we didn't spit), our judgement became at best comedic! Did I mention that we also had a bottle of bubbly and a couple bottles of white with dinner?

If you are curious, here's the line-up of what we had that night, with a few hints as to why the names were chosen:

Aperitif

NV Scharffenberger Brut Excellence

With Dinner (Thai)

2009 Pichler-Krutzler Riesling Loibenberg

2014 Domaine de la Tour du Bon Bandol Blanc

Blind Tasting
Penelope Cruz (Spanish varietal) - 2013 Adamant Cellars Gateshead Vineyard Albariño
Lolita (too young) - 2015 Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc
Amy Schumer (American, full-bodied, funky) - 2010 Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Chardonnay
Grace Kelly (American, elegant) - 2013 Clos Pierre White Salmon Vineyard Chardonnay
Maria von Trapp (Austrian varietal) - 2015 W.T. Vintners Underwood Mountain Vineyard Grüner Veltliner

Experimental (for those who dared)
1975 Bolla Valpolicella

Palate Cleanser 

2003 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne

Dessert

2007 Pieropan Recioto di Soave Classico Le Colombare

Wonderful line-up

My Verdict: Blind tasting is a lot of fun and rather humbling. However, don't let that stop you from having a grand time! Cheers!

Here's the score sheet