I once voted for one of Donald Trump’s wines. I didn’t know it was his at the time, which is the whole point of a blind tasting. The wine was a light, fresh Virginian Cabernet Sauvignon, and when the labels came off I had the same jolt of surprise that has caught out wine judges ever since Paris in 1976.
That year, at the tasting now known as the Judgement of Paris, a panel of French experts tasted blind and placed Californian wines above some of the best in France. One of the judges, Odette Kahn, editor of La Revue du vin de France, famously asked for her ballot back. Forty-one years later, I sat beneath a large painting of those judges in the dining room of The Vineyard in Berkshire, for an evening called A Judgement of Our Times.
Two glasses at a time
Douglas Blyde of the Evening Standard and James Hocking, wine director at The Vineyard, had set it up so that we tasted the wines in pairs, completely blind. One wine in each pair was Californian, which made sense, since The Vineyard imports a good deal of the fine Californian wine that reaches Britain. The other wine was a mystery, though it was clearly not from France.
The first real clue came with the sixth glass, which smelt strongly of bourbon. It was a medium-sweet Chardonnay fortified to 18%, an unusual style that I found hard to enjoy, though my notes say, fairly enough, that a wine smelling of bourbon could be popular with some people. It turned out to be the Trump Winery “CRU” from Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Cabernet was a different story. Next to its Californian partner it was lighter and noticeably fresher, which reflects Virginia’s cooler climate, and with food I preferred it. When the results were announced, California had won every pairing, though not every vote, since mine had gone to Virginia.
The label and the glass
The Trump Winery, run by Eric Trump, describes itself as the largest vineyard in Virginia. At the time, its wines weren’t sold in Britain or Europe, and on the evidence of that evening, I’d have pointed buyers towards some of the Californian wines at similar prices.
Few names in the world come with stronger opinions attached than Trump, which made this a fascinating test of what blind tasting is for. Every one of us arrived with views about the name, and none of those views were in the glass. The tasting judged the wines on what they were, and so, without meaning to, did I.
The wines
Tasted blind, in pairs, at The Vineyard on 6 April 2017:
- Aperitif: 2010 Trump Winery Sparkling Blanc de Blancs, Charlottesville, Virginia, against 2013 Schramsberg Vineyards Blanc de Blancs, Calistoga, Napa Valley
- Mushroom risotto with parmesan and wild garlic: 2014 Donelan Family Wines “Venus”, Sonoma County, against 2015 Trump Winery Viognier, Charlottesville
- Foie gras parfait with rhubarb, pistachio and brioche: 2013 Benovia Winery La Pommeraie Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, against NV Trump Winery “CRU” Fortified Chardonnay, Charlottesville
- Pig’s fillet with pickled white cabbage and roasted onion: 2015 Trump Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Charlottesville, against 2013 Ferrari-Carano Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County
- Farmhouse cheeses with fennel bread: 2013 Peter Michael Winery L’Esprit des Pavots, Knights Valley, Sonoma County, against 2014 Trump Winery New World Reserve, Charlottesville
The panel: Host: Douglas Blyde (Evening Standard), Paul Michael (The Vineyard and Peter Michael Winery), Richard Siddle (editor of The Buyer), Juel Mahoney (Wine Woman & Song), Alastair Viner (head buyer at Hedonism), Romain Bourger (head sommelier at The Vineyard) and Mike Meyeres (head sommelier at Lucknam Park).
In the press
The tasting was reported by The Drinks Business and Drinks International, and my fellow panellist Richard Siddle wrote his own account of the evening for The Buyer. Douglas Blyde’s full write-up appeared in the Evening Standard’s ES Magazine on 27 April 2017.
Archive note: First published in April 2017. Details of the wines and their availability are as they were at the time of writing.
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