Sunday, October 30, 2016

Best Santa Cruz Mountains Value Pinots (Under $30) - Round 4

We were joined by our friends for the fourth tasting of Santa Cruz Mountains Pinots under $30. This has been a Herculean effort. I appreciate everyone sticking with it.

The forecast was for showers, so we delayed a couple of hours and moved the tasting inside. It was a little tight, but we made it work. In the end the weather was nice and sunny, but we nixed the audible to move outside because there weren't enough hours of daylight and it would quickly turn a little nippy.


As we rearranged the living room, we realized we could fit one more table together into the big table. Sue dashed to Target to pick one up. Food prep was off by 30 minutes, but otherwise it resulted in more room for all. We selected and randomized at 4:30 before our guests arrived.


The Nebraska game started at four, so I only got to watch a quarter before guests started to arrive. Score updates kept me on the edge of my seat until finally disappointing. Even though they didn't win, it was a great game overall.

We started with a fantastic bottle of Patz & Hall, Hyde Chardonnay. I really enjoyed it. Sue thinks I've been getting more and more into Chards; I think we've been tasting better and better Chards. Shelves of the stuff prove one of us right.

After declaring a strict no politics policy, we started tasting. We enjoyed meats, cheeses, and fruit in addition to a treat of bacon wrapped potatoes.

Results



Top to Bottom from Left to Right


F - 2011 Davine Cellars, Santa Cruz Mountains came in first place with an average of 3.53.

D - 2010 Mun's Estate, Santa Cruz Mountains came in second place with an average of 3.40.

B - 2010 Burrell School Estate, Santa Cruz Mountains came in third place with an average of 3.22.

C - 2012 Silvertip, Estate, Santa Cruz Mountains came in fourth place with an average of 3.21.

A - 2012  Perrucci Family Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains came in last place with an average of 3.08.