Last month I hosted a wine tasting event at my home. Four dear friends joined me to taste blindly five Merlot based wines produced in our region. It has been a very pleasant and interesting experience. Pleasant because the participants are all charming people, who are also passionate about wine. Interesting because the wines tasted all very differently.
The ranking of the wines has been unanimous, meaning that every single participant agreed with it.
Unfortunately, the most expensive wine could not be rated because the specific bottle had some flaw. It was a Sassi Grossi 2010, produced by Gialdi. A bottle I bought for 48 CHF in 2013, therefore the flaw may have come from the way it has been stored.
The second most pricey bottle was a Riserva dell’Ör 2011 that sold for 45 CHF at the winery. A wine with a very appealing aroma of raisin and fruit jelly. Too bad that in the mouth it finished abruptly and didn’t have much aftertaste. In any case, it was the most appreciated bottle and was unanimously ranked the first.
The second place went to Ampelio 2015, produced by Carlevaro and sold at Coop for 29 CHF. On the nose the wine gave an initial note of barnyard. However, with some air exposure a much more pleasant cherry aroma came on stage. In the mouth it gave a fruity sensation that lasted in the fairly long aftertaste.
Another bottle was Rubro 2015, a wine produced by Valsangiacomo and sold at Coop for 39 CHF. On the nose herbaceous, with strong moka notes that dominated in the mouth as well. The finish was characterised by an unpleasant bitterness. The aftertaste was rather short. It ranked the third.
Among the wines we tasted, we gave the last place to the Monte Carasso 2016. A wine produced by CAGI and sold at Coop for 28 CHF. On the nose we noticed an unpleasant smell that reminded of burned caramel. In the mouth it was thin and had no aftertaste worth mentioning. Unfortunately it was a far cry from the Monte Carasso 2013 I praised in a post that I wrote 3 years ago.
Overall we had a very enjoyable evening. Unfortunately not all bottles gave us the pleasure we were expecting, but, as it is often the case when tasting wines with friends, the atmosphere played a bigger role than what was in the glass.
Country: Switzerland
Region: Ticino
Grapes: Merlot
Type: Red
Vintage: 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016
Producer: Gialdi, Tenimento dell’Ör, Carlevaro, Valsangiacomo, CAGI
Price range: Medium (15-30 US$), Premium (30-50 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 2/5