Field Trip: Wine Tasting in Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Last weekend, I was visiting my alma mater, Dickinson College, and had the chance to participate in a blind wine tasting as part of my Alumni Council meeting. The tasting was hosted by Professor Steve Erfle, a professor of economics at the college and an experienced wine scholar. Steve's encyclopedic knowledge of wine and the winemaking process is worthy of a master sommelier, and he even teaches a course at Dickinson revolving around the role of wine in culture. So we were in good hands!

The tasting was set up blind, with eight wines in total: four chardonnays and four pinot noirs, all either 2012 or 2013. In most wine tastings, various wines are intentionally arranged to be enjoyed in succession, and the wine tasting leader will go through each wine with participants, discussing tasting notes and talking about the different qualities or faults of the wine. We also had some soft bread and various cheeses to complement the wines.

Some wine tastings have all the wine information present, but as I mentioned, today's is blind. We knew what we were drinking, just not which particular ones were in which order. Our lineup included the following, not in order:

• Domaine Drouhin pinot noir (Oregon)
• Joel Gott pinot noir (California)
• Merryvale "Starmont" chardonnay (California)
• Hob Nob chardonnay (California)
• Oyster Bay pinot noir (New Zealand)
• Tisdale pinot noir (California)
• Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fuisse chardonnay (France)
• "A" by Acacia chardonnay (California)

To start, Professor Erfle instructed the group to sample the first wine, labelled 1 on the placemat. The placemat also has a tasting wheel, developed by famous oenologist and UC Davis professor Ann Noble, which participants can use to help narrow down tasting notes they detect during the tasting. In the center of the wheel, there are basic tasting terms, and as you move outward, the terms branch out into more specific tastes and aromas. This way, a wine taster can work his or her way out from a basic flavor to something more specific. The group used this wheel to discuss each wine we tried.

The tasting followed an interesting process: we first tried Wine #1, had about half the glass in small sips, and discussed what we liked about it and what we were tasting. Water and a few bites of bread later, we moved on to Wine #2. Again, we used the wine tasting wheel to discuss the flavor notes, but now we had the benefit of being able to compare and contrast with the previous wines. And since we left some wine in each glass, we could go back to previous wines in the set and remark on them. I won't go into tasting notes for each wine, but I will highlight a few of the general trends: the group noticed the chardonnays stuck generally to the full and fruity end of the spectrum, with moderate oak on some offerings, but no sharp flavors in any. Some, like #3 (we later found out was the Louis Jadot) were more minerally than others, but overall I enjoyed each of the chardonnays, my favorite being the Merryvale Starmont, which had a big and buttery flavor to it and was remarkably smooth and refreshing. That one retails for around $20. 

And the pinots had a lot of smoky / leather flavors to them, especially the Tisdale, which (as was later revealed) is very cheap - #7 per bottle. I personally found the Oyster Bay to be a little too aggressive (I think the words I used were "uppercut of flavor") but I found the last one we tried, #8, to be the best. It was the 2013 Domaine Drouhin from Oregon - a warm, assertive pinot noir with a velvety smokiness that I enjoyed thoroughly. It's made in the Dundee Hills AVA of Oregon, located southwest of Portland. The climate there is "maritime" - which is a winemaking term to describe a climate of moderate temperature, cool breezes, and above-average rainfall. 

Unfortunately it's $40 per bottle, so a bit beyond by usual price range. But it's a delicious glass of wine which I wouldn't mind having again, and would be pleased to have it with a charcuterie of gouda, liver pate, and French bread.

In conclusion, the tasting went smoothly and was very interesting. It wasn't my first tasting, but it was my first large group tasting with so many wines (of different vintages, as well.) Being able to compare and contrast each offering, and do so blindly, was an interesting exercise. And of course big kudos to Steve Erfle, whose knowledge and guidance made the tasting very in-depth and engaging.

Steve lecturing to the Alumni Council on the finer points of a certain vintage.