About a year and a half(ish) ago, I wrote the following article about Robert Parker.  With my latest post ranting about Wine Enthusiast‘s Top 100, I felt that rummaging through the old files was just the thing to do.  Enjoy!

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It’s not just perception. It’s a reality. Women have better taste buds than men. They are far more sensitive to nuances of foods, often have a harder time eating hot foods than men, and as a group tend to eschew bitter foods. Their olfactory senses (smellers) are better, which is why a woman is more likely to wake up smelling smoke in the event of a house fire long before her husband.

These are known facts. Studies from both Harvard and Yale make the argument; it’s based on the number of taste buds and the sensitivity of these taste buds in individuals. There are supertasters, regular tasters, and nontasters. More women than men tend to be supertasters.

So why is it that the overwhelming majority of official wine tasters and critics are men? It’s not because they’re better at the sniffing or tasting. It’s because they have better memories. And because they don’t go through menopause.

Let me explain.

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Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator are arguably the burly boys of the wine magazine world. They and their tasters can make or break the reputation of a winery (deserved or not…but that’s a debate that will never be resolved) by the flick of a pen. Or tapping of a keyboard as the case may be. Their tasting notes, ratings, and recommendations are read avidly by millions of wine fans, and we all look forward to their yearly Top 100 lists.

It is no secret that I’m quite the Paso Robles wine aficionado. What they do with Zinfandel and Rhône blends is terrific, but it’s more than that.  The talented winemakers there also do amazing things with grapes sourced outside of the region.  For instance, Hug Cellars makes some of the best Pinots I’ve ever tasted, and the grapes are sourced from various coastal areas. Other wineries, such as Sculpterra, Villicana, Ecluse, Estrella, and more, have estate-grown wines, right in the Paso Robles AVA. Quality grapes plus passionate winemaking equals great – if unheralded – wine.

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Two of my recent discoveries – although they’ve been around for a while – are two butcher shops here in town.  One, John Mull’s Meats, has been around, it’s said, for nearly thirty years since this part of town was on the outskirts of the middle of nowhere.  The other, The Butcher Block, is on Rainbow just south of the 215 near Robindale.  It’s relatively new because that area was mostly desert and dirt a few short years ago.

While my culinary adventures take me to a lot of places, Larry’s Meats had been my butcher shop of choice because it’s close to the day job and have super fresh meats, including game.

This time, I’m going to brag on The Butcher Block.  They will occasionally get in some actual veal bones, and I just got a bunch for stock. Yes, I’m tackling Demi Glace.  In their deli case, however, they have a lot of other items, and I purchased some homemade venison sausage.  Three sausages set me back ten bucks, but, hey!  It’s an adventure!

Pan seared in a tiny bit of my own version of blended oil (grapeseed and EVOO), and finished in the oven, they were stunning.  Like a famous brand of potato chips, I couldn’t eat just one.  With a salad of fresh veggies lightly dressed with olive oil, fresh lemon (yes, my Meyers are ripening), fresh garlic, and salt, they made a great dinner.

The wine (did you think I talked about all of this without bringing up wine?!?) was one that I was initially reluctant to open, because I wanted to save it for a special occasion. However, because of the encouragement of the Wineaux Guy, I did so (see mushy, loving smile) and was glad that I did.  The wine was a 2007 Hug Cellars Boulder Ridge Vineyard San Luis Obispo County Pinot Noir. Whew.

I dunno.  Something about “Hug” and “Deer” just seemed to fit.  But I digress.

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A couple of weeks ago I hosted the Tex & Fritz Wine Club and the Vegas Wineaux Wine Club for a special night of appetizers, cheeses, and Opolo wines.  While my intentions were stellar, the proverbial “best laid plans” kind of kicked in.  My beautifully planned five-year vertical … well, let’s just say that I had a slight miscalculation.  Of about four years. Oops.

Let me explain.

According to CellarTracker, I had five years of Opolo Mtn. Zin, 2004-2008. Maybe not.

As it turns out, it appears that the Wineaux Guy and I had indulged at some time and I had been somewhat neglectful about keeping my CellarTracker holdings up to date.  I only had three of the five years:  2005, 2006, and 2008.  What to do?!?

Well, since I had invited all of these people over, I had had to do something!  So I broke out the Rhapsody (insert sounds of heavenly voices here). And, thankfully, I had a vertical!  Opolo Rhapsody – their Bordeaux blend – 2005, 2006, 2007. Whew.  And just for fun, I threw in a bottle of 2007 Opolo Remo Belli Zinfandel.

I’m not even going to pretend like I took notes.  It was a great and yummy night!  A night of Paso Robles rich red Zinfandels.  Along with the great food that everyone brought, a great tooth-staining time was had by all.

And, believe it or not, we did taste, and we voted on the wines.  Which one was the favorite (WOTN)?  Surprisingly, the Remo Belli Vineyard Zinfandel.

Actually, that’s not a big shock.  Every now and then Opolo will explore outside of their “usual’ wines and do something fascinating, and this Remo Belli is a great example of that. Thankfully, I still have one more bottle.

And, um, this time I checked.

So the wines were the following:

• 2005 Opolo Mountain Zinfandel
• 2006 Opolo Mountain Zinfandel
• 2008 Opolo Mountain Zinfandel
• 2007 Opolo Zinfandel – Remo Belli Vineyard (WOTN)
• 2005 Opolo Rhapsody
• 2006 Opolo Rhapsody
• 2007 Opolo Rhapsody

The Contestants

Let me explain.  This was another Trader Joe’s wine adventure, but it was a lot more fun than I had anticipated. It began with a bargain bottle of Newton Chardonnay (that is not a typo), and culminated in a competition between the Central Coast and  Sonoma/Napa.  The wines were 2008 Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Chardonnay – Central Coast and 2008 Newton Chardonnay – Sonoma/Napa.

You all know that I’m a Central Coast gal, and this tasting was particularly challenging.

I had great fun!

First, a little about Chardonnay and me.  Many eons ago I had the opportunity to taste a really good Chardonnay.  It was rich, luscious, loaded with fruit, buttery and wonderful.  Because I was a relative wine newbie at the time, I thought that was normal for Chard and couldn’t contain my disappointment the next time I tasted one and found it to be, well, kind of like lemonade laced with apple juice.  It was hardly the rich and wonderful wine I remembered. Unfortunately, that became my experience through the years as I would try it from time to time, still seeking that ethereal Chardonnay experience.  But it was lemonade. Every single time.  So I became an ABC (Anything But Chard) gal. It was quite a few years before I found the Chard character my palate desired and, as I discovered, you had a spend a little money to get it.  Nowadays – whether it’s because you really don’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy a good Chard or because my palate has matured – I enjoy it on a fairly regular basis.

Yup. Me. Liking white wines. Who’da thunk?

Rather than read lots of stuff about how wonderful (or not) these wines were, enjoy the videos!  I liked this wine tasting review so much that I may do more.  If you’d like that, just let me know.