26 years, 25 friends, 15 bottles

I turned 26 on Saturday. To celebrate, I hosted a wine tasting party for my friends. We sampled 15 wines - 3 each of Sauv Blanc, Chard, Pinot Noir, Cab, and Syrah. All were from California, and I set out paired cheeses for each varietal. It was a blind tasting in that no one knew the prices; within each varietal, there were a low, middle, and high-end bottle. Natalie blessed the party with a massive baked brie, Caitlin made bacon-wrapped dates and chocolate biscotti, and Brittany contributed some fantastic olives. I whipped up a little sun-dried tomato dip and picked up some foie gras and chocolate macadamias for nibbling.

People were mostly surprised by the whites. I think a lot of people (myself included until recently) have pegged white wine as foofy or super sweet or just not as good as red. And on top of the general stigma against whites, Chardonnay carries an additional shackle of shame. One thing that pleased me about the tasting was that several people discovered a white they never knew existed (like the unoaked chardonnay), or just realized that white doesn't always equate to the Riesling your lush auntie Martha buys by the case.

The reds were all rather good, but people were a little more wrapped up in the conversation than the wine by that point in the evening. Below, I've highlighted the bottles that received the best reviews.

The wine list:

Sauvignon Blanc

HALL 2008 Napa Valley

Vintjs 2009 Napa Valley

Markham 2008 Napa Valley - this bottle was the first to go

Chardonnay

Poet’s Row 2009 Sonoma County (Unoaked)

SIMI 2008 Sonoma County

RAMEY 2008 Sonoma Coast - no surprise at $40 a bottle

Pinot Noir

Blue Fin 2009 - a few people hated it, but the rest were amazed at the $4 price tag

LAETITIA 2008 Arroyo Grande Valley - smooth and enjoyable

MacMurray 2008 Central Coast

Cabernet Sauvignon

LIBERTY SCHOOL 2007 Paso Robles

Alexander & Fitch 2009 Alexander Valley

HIDDEN RIDGE 2005 Sonoma County - I personally enjoyed this one

Syrah

Barrel 27 2005 Syrah Head Honcho - though you couldn't taste the bacon fat

Alexander Valley Vineyards 2007 Alexander Valley

Quail's Creek 2008

Special thanks to Peter for taking me to get all the wine and cheese, Emmett for contributing the Barrel 27 Syrah, Caitlin and Natalie for cooking, and everyone else for their various showings of birthday love.