Mo 4/28 Special - Alan Wins Bordeaux Wine Tasting Competition

On Monday evening a wine tasting and competition was conducted onboard by Diane, representative of the Bordeaux L'Ecole Du Vin.  Around 100 passengers participated.

We went through a tasting of one white and two red wines from Bordeaux, Diane instructed us on the differences and characteristics of wines of the region.  We then were poured a mystery wine and were asked to answer questions about it.  The questions, based on what we had learned in the tasting included (the ones we remembered):

• Is the wine a Bordeaux left bank or right bank wine? (it was right bank, lighter with more merlot)
• Was the wine aged on oak? (yes as evidenced by the presence of a vanilla flavor)
• Was the third component of the wine Cabernet Franc or Merlot? (Merlot based on characteristic flavors)

People had to stand up or sit down based on their answer to each question.  After the qualifying questions only three people remained in the competition.  The final question was:

• What was the age in years of the vines used to make the wine?

One person guessed 17 years, one 25 years, and I guessed 32 years (knowing the vines in this region are likely to be older).  The actual answer was 35 years.  Diane said this was the closest answer she remembers receiving in the competition.   As the winner I received a bottle of the mystery wine, a 2015 Chateau Les Rocques, Cotes De Bourg.  

All those years of wine tasting are finally paying off with the recognition I deserve!