Congratulations to all the wonderful participants,sponsors and winners of the first annual Purple Boot Trophy Blind Wine Tasting Event. Thank you to the hosts of the event, Club Sport for opening their beautiful venue and SignatureWines.com for organizing such a great event. A special thanks to Fisker Silicon Valley as our title sponsor. The Fisker automobile pictured below is made by an American Company. Finally an original American Luxury hybrid automobile!! Check out Fiskersiliconvalley.com to schedule a test drive. You can also read about the Fisker story at http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/en-us/about/fiskerstory.
"The Fisker Karma delivers on the promise that we can drive environmentally responsible cars without sacrificing the emotional things that made us fall in love with cars in the first place."
~ Henrik Fisker
The format of this wine event offered a unique opportunity to the attendees. First, Blind wine tastings allow the attendees the opportunity to train their palates by determining the varietal of wine being tasted. Eliminating the foreknowledge of what wine is being tasting improves the wine lovers' ability to discover of what kind of wine flavor profile they prefer. For some this is a surprise. The Purple Boot Wine competition features two distinct wine making regions. Each winery has a great deal of flexibility to determine what wines they will feature for the competition. This year Santa Cruz Mountains featured the following wineries and wines:
Corralitos Wine Company 2010 Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay
Corralitos Wine Company 2008 Livermore Valley Merlot
Domenico Winery 2009 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay
Domenico Winery 2008 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir
Roudon-Smith Winery 2008 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay
Roudon-Smith Winery 2008 Santa Cruz Mountains Merlot
Sarah's Vineyard 2010 Estate Chardonnay
Sarah's Vineyard 2010 Estate Pinot Noir
The Livermore Valley featured the following wineries and wines:
Darcie Kent Vineyards 2010 Monterey County Gruner Veltliner
Darcie Kent Vineyards 2008 Livermore Valley Madden Ranch Syrah
Fenestra Winery 2011 Livermore Valley Pinot Gris
Fenestra Winery 2011 Livermore Valley "Conjugation"
McGrail Vineyards & Winery 2010 Livermore Valley Chardonnay
McGrail Vineyards & Winery 2009 Livermore Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Nottingham Cellars 2011 Arroyo Seco Chardonnay
Nottingham Cellars Non-Vintage Livermore Valley "Alpha Red II"
The unique format of this competition combines the strategy and individuality of a poker game with the spirit of team competition, and the clear winner is the wine lover that attends. Here are the official results:
Winning Appellation: Santa Cruz Mountains
Best White Wine overall: Darcie Kent Vineyards from Livermore Valley, 2010 Monterey County Gruner Veltiner
Best Red Wine overall: Corralitos Wine Company from Santa Cruz Mountains, 2008 LIvermore Valley Merlot
Women's Favorite White: Tied: Darcie Kent Vineyards from Livermore Valley, 2010 Monterey County Gruner Veltiner, Fenestra Winery 2011 Livernore Valley Pinor Gris
Women's Favorite Red: Tied: Domenico Winery from Santa Cruz Mountains, 2008 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir, Sarah's Vineyard from Santa Cruz Mountains 2010 Estate Pinot Noir, Corralitos Wine Company from Santa Cruz Mountains, 2008 LIvermore Valley Merlot, McGrail Vineyards and Winery from the Livermore Valley, 2009 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Men's Favorite White Tied:Darcie Kent Vineyards from Livermore Valley, 2010 Monterey County Gruner Veltiner, Corralitos Wine Company from Santa Cruz Mountains, 2010 Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay, Roudon-Smith Winery from Santa Crua Moutains, 2008 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay
Men's Favorite Red Corralitos Wine Company from Santa Cruz Mountains, 2008 LIvermore Valley Merlot, (Note that the winning red wine was made with Livermore Valley fruit)
