On an evening not so long ago, we opened three bottles with two friends and one blind tasting ensued.

One of us doesn’t drink pretty much anything. I know, can you imagine? He is one disciplined dude. So, we felt it was likely a safe bet to leave him in charge of bringing each of us 3 glasses to taste.

One wine was a little too old and it showed. Mas de la Rouviere, Domaine Buman, Bandol AC, France, 2004, 14% abv – for C$39 this Mourvèdre was way past its prime and quite frankly, a disappointment. Clear and bright, medium garnet with legs noted, on the nose it was dead. There was a little bit of stewed plums, but we had to search hard for that. On the palate, there were wet leaves, mushroom, cooked plums and old leather. With no fruit and no finish, it was simply WSET ‘acceptable’. I wonder if it had been stored incorrectly prior to purchase; it tasted cooked.

One wine was a little young (but beautiful nonetheless) – Chateau de Cedre, Malbec, Cahors AC, France, 2009, 13% – for C$36.99 it was clear and bright, deep inky purple with legs noted. On the nose, we picked out violets, blackberry and blueberry, plum, greener tannins, and a medium acidity. Developing, on the palate, more black fruit followed- with black cassis, blackberry and field berries. WSET ‘gooD’ (the D end of good verging on ‘very good’), it was extremely popular with one of our group in particular, ahem, Tina.

But the third wine was juuuuuust right. Actually, it was WSET ‘outstanding’ – Jordan’s magnum of 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley was clear and bright, deep ruby with legs noted.
On the nose, it showed black currant and blackberry vine with raspberry and some tender greenness. The same medium plus intense flavour characteristics shone through along with light leather, smooth tannins, violets, vanilla spice and oak. With a medium plus acidity, this wine was beautifully integrated, complex and balanced and will only continue to get better. Only wish I had more…