- A derogatory term for a cheap and inferior wine.
- A Usenet jargon term for adding a particular poster to one's kill file such that the poster's future postings are completely ignored.
I'm hoping that you readers don't choose to "plonk" me....
The first definition is what made me rethink this OOI meeting - a hurried email a few days ago that suggested the emphasis on the choice of plonk should be value, not price point.... as I was suddenly worried we'd end up drinking 8 bottles of cheap and inferior wine...
With 8 attendees (an OOI first!) we decided it was time to rent glasses - 64 glasses on one table was not going to work with our usual fishbowl ones... and gotta love putting them back in the box dirty and dropping them off for someone else to deal with! And look how pretty it looks....
With 8 attendees (an OOI first!) we decided it was time to rent glasses - 64 glasses on one table was not going to work with our usual fishbowl ones... and gotta love putting them back in the box dirty and dropping them off for someone else to deal with! And look how pretty it looks....
To make this a bit more interesting, one person masked each bottle (eyes closed, really!) and a second numbered them ( a double blind experiment - this is what happens when the majority of us are scientists...).. Donald and I also secretly stacked the deck - we slipped in a bottle of J. Lohr Seven Oaks Paso Robles Cab Sav which we had opened earlier (and decanted!) for comparison.
On our tasting sheets, we compared colour, nose, taste, and tried to guess the grape and country of origin. Even though the combined years of tasting wines in our group was well over a century, we all found it extremely difficult to identify grapes by taste alone. Donald and I were starting to get worried that we might not be able pick the Lohr (6) out of the bunch. In the end, it did end up coming out on top - wonderful buttery, raspberry notes, and well balanced with a long finish, typical of J. Lohr. 
It also provided a taste comparison for valuing the less expensive wines. The two top contenders for value were the Dancing Bull zin at $12 (1) and the Perez Cruz cab sav at $14 (4). A bit of a surprise - the Masi Campo (at $18) had one of the lowest rankings. As expected, the <$10 wines were at the bottom with chemical notes, poor balance, lack of finish, etc.
Oh yes, and the pizza. In the end, there weren't any photos - didn't last long enough to get a shot I suppose. The four combos were: Spanish chorizo, peppers and onions; pancetta, onion and rosemary; salami, mushrooms, peppers and onions; and pesto, pancetta, mushrooms, onions and French blue cheese.... Which wines did you think went best with the 'za?
1) Dancing Bull Zinfandel 2007, California ($11.95)
2) Hoya de Cadenas Reserva Tempranillo 2006, Spain ($10.15)
3) Terre Avare Primitivo di Manduria 2008, Italy ($12.95)
4) Perez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2008, Chile ($13.95)
5) Masi Campofiorin 2007, Italy ($17.95)
6) J. Lohr Seven Oaks Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, California ($21.95)
7) Masi Serego Alighieri in Toscana 2007, Italy ($14.25)
8) MezzoMondo Negroamaro Salento 2009, Italy ($7.95)
Chris shows us her wine necklace... I think this one is cordless... |
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| Happy birthday Donald! (angelfood cake with a layer of lingonberry jam and Bailey's chocolate icing) |
* Donald's Dad told him that plonk was a British term used in the 1950's to describe cheap wines made in southern France (where the alcohol content was raised by adding sugar during the fermentation process). Anyone else heard of this?
