No, no, no. Not that kind of robbed. This isn’t a Hamburglar mask-wearing tale of hands held high or smashed car windows in search of easily removable stereos. Nope. This is a tale of aromatics, cat boxes and my grandmother’s curtains.
Crushpad recently hosted a BYOB tasting event featuring Sauvignon Blanc. BYOB at a winery? You bet. And, it was fantastic…unless you were Alex.
He was robbed.
But, not in that way.
Two clients had approached me several months ago asking if Crushpad could host an event where they could bring their own wines from home to share and savor. What a cool idea! But, which varietal to spotlight? It’s summertime and what screams back porches, picnics and warm evenings better than a crisp aromatic white? Let’s do Sauv. Blanc.
The tasting itself was wonderful, with over 25 bottlings highlighting many unique approaches to the fruit. There were even tasty homemade samosas and Peter slipped in a refreshing Gewürztraminer from Lazy Creek Vineyards.
While not popular with other tasters that night, I was intrigued by the 2005 Nederburg Private Bin. I’ll never be mistaken for Nikos Kazantzakis, but if you’ve ever seen me scribble away in my wine journal, you know that I have a tendency to become slightly obsessive. I get this serious look on my face and record minute details on aromatics and how a wine plays across a palate, sometimes broken down in time intervals. Scary. Not this night. My notes were simply awful. Indecipherable scratches and mostly single worded remarks with exclamation points. The South African Nederburg? It read, “Grasses, GINGER!!! Yes, yes!- lean Three thumbs up.” That ain’t gonna win no Robert Parker Pulitzer. Poor tasting notes aside, the Nederburg did stick with me as a nice summery option.
But what about the part where Alex gets robbed?
To add a little mystery, we poured the wines blindly. Bottles were slipped into brown bags with names tags affixed to make it easier to identify whose wine was which at the end of the evening. Dave and I had hit wine shops a few days before in search of interesting bottles. An ’02 Yvecourt from Graves? This could be cool. Let’s get it for Alex!
So we bought him a bottle. If you’ve been to Crushpad, you know Alex. He’s everywhere doing everything. Pressing, bottling, racking, stacking, sorting…driving forklifts at questionable speeds? That’s Alex. He’s our Operations Manager.
Alex’s Yvecourt was a blend of 70% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Sémillon and 5% Muscadelle. When we popped the cork, there was no doubt that this wine possessed the aromatics many associate with Sauvignon Blanc. Time to change the cat box. Cool! This one’s got complexity. People are going to love it!
Perhaps we should have let Alex smell it.
No, it wasn’t corked. However, it was interesting to see the faces of each person who swirled and sniffed. Cartoon-like expressions would emerge previously seen only in the work of an exasperated Daffy Duck. Tom Leaf and I thought it was fun. Nobody else did.
At the end of the night, the Yvecourt was unanimously chosen as the most “unique” and “complex” approach. Tasters offered “kitty litter” and “1970s curtains”. Gulp. Sorry Alex, next time you get the Quilceda Creek.
