The perils of blind tasting . . .

Didier Dagueneau used to say of blind tasting that "a glance at the label is worth 20 years of wine tasting" and I whole-heartedly agree.

Check out this video of some of the most famous wine palates of Europe and the U.S. tasting blind a set of Bordeaux wines from the 2001 vintage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1leRdKluE7I

I think you will be surprised just as they were.

Cheers.

Justin

Prosciutto di San Daniele and Friulian Wine Tasting

The two most famous exports from the region of Friuli in Italy are Prosciutto di San Daniele (ham from the town of San Daniele) and Friulian wines.

Today, in conjunction with the Association of Italian Sommeliers, I showed my Ronco Severo wines paired with two different types of Prosciutto di San Daniele.

2006 Sauvignon
2006 Tocai Friulano
2007 Pinot Grigio (Ramato)
2007 Refosco
2005 Schioppettino
2005 Merlot

The wine that seemed to go best with the salty and fatty ham was the Ronco Severo Tocai Friulano 2006. This wine is fermented on the skins for 42 days so picks up quite a bit of color and tannin from the skins and actually can be considered more of a red wine than a white wine.

Fermented only using native yeast and not filtered or fined in any way as well as no added sulfer at bottling makes this wine about as natural a product as you can get. Plus the grapes are grown using biodynamic principles.

Everyone seemed to really dig the wines and that makes me happy.

Above is a photo of me at the restaurant where the tasting was held. I make look hale and hearty in the photo but have a huge cold. Ugh.

My "behind the burner" expert profile

Plus, Jenny made me answer all these questions about how I got in the business (ahhh, yes, Gallo Hearty Burgundy!) and what my favorite wines are (all of them . . . ) and then she cleaned up my messy, terse answers and added a dash of personality and I actually come off pretty good!

Check it out here.

How to Choose a Wine for a Dinner Party

Hey!

My friend Jenny Meier is writing freelance articles on wine and food for a new online site called www.behindtheburner.com and in her last article quoted me extensively (okay, so maybe extensively is a touch of an overstatement).

Go here to read about how to choose a wine for a dinner party.

Cheers.

J